Bringing Baptists of North Carolina Together for Christ-Centered Ministry
PERMIT NO. 162 8025 North Point Blvd., Suite 205
NC 27106
888-822-1944
www.cbfnc.org Return Service Requested
In This May 2007 Edition ~
Page 3 “Free to Be the Presence of Christ” CBF General Assembly Information Page 3 2007 Fall Fellowship Gathering Information Page 4 It’s, Like, a
by
4 Youth Events for 2007-2008 Page 5 Spring New Day Tour Schedule
Page 6 Loving Our Muslim Neighbors by Linda Jones, Missions Coordinator
Page 7 Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty by Jeff Huett
The Gathering is published ten times a year; delivered by the 10th of the month. All questions may be directed to Natalie Aho, 888-822-1944 or naho@cbfnc.org.
Upcoming Events ~
May 2007
New Day Tour
April 30, Greenville
May 1, Ahoskie
May 14, Fayetteville
May 15, Raleigh
May 17, Wilmington
May 21, Wingate
May 22, Winston-Salem
Visit www.cbfnc.org for more information and to register.
May 10-11, 2007
emerging church conference
Yates Baptist Church Durham, NC
Sponsored by CBFNC
With Tim Condor, Pastor, Emmaus Way; author of “The Church In Transition”
June 28-29, 2007
CBF National General Assembly Washington, DC
CBFNC meeting June 28
A focus on religious liberty and how it enables ministry around the world. Visit the CBF website to pre-register at www.thefellowship.info.
July 10, 2007
Emerald Pointe Water Park
Greensboro, NC
Cost is $30 per person. Balance due June 15.
Visit www.cbfnc.org for more information and to register.
September 7-9 or 21-23, 2007
Youth Fall Retreats
Sea Palms Motel
Myrtle Beach, SC
Cost is $105 per person.
Non-refundable deposit of $15 per person due August 1, 2007. Balance due August 17. Visit www.cbfnc.org for more information and to register.
Find a complete list of 2007-2008 CBFNC Youth Events on page 4.
Page 1 Minority Report by Larry Hovis, Coordinator
Habit
Rick Jordan, Church Resources Coordinator
The Gathering
of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina
II have been a resident of Forsyth County for two years. After paying property taxes for twenty-four months, I think I have the right to comment on the behavior of our county commissioners. I’m sure that most of their work receives little attention, except when they decide to raise taxes. However, the most recent actions of our commissioners has the potential of placing our community in the national limelight.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation
Minority Report
by Larry Hovis, Coordinator
of Church and State have joined forces to bring suit against our county leaders for allowing sectarian prayers at their board meetings. Similar action has been directed toward neighboring counties, who decided that rather than spending public funds to fight a lawsuit, they would acquiesce. The county attorneys advised the commissioners to follow the example of our neighbors, but they have chosen a different course. Private funds have been raised and an outside legal team has been enlisted to fight this lawsuit. Leading the fight for the county government’s position are Christian ministers, including some Baptists.
Interestingly, both sides are taking refuge in the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” The ACLU and AUSCS appeal to the first part of the amendment, often called the “establishment clause,” arguing that since almost all of those who pray at county board meetings are Christian ministers, this practice constitutes a de facto “establishment” of one particular
CBF National General Assembly
Washington, DC June 28-29, 2007
CBFNC Meeting on Thursday, June 28
3.
religion over others. The supporters and attorneys for the commissioners appeal to the second part of the amendment, the “free exercise” clause, arguing that to prevent the commissioners themselves and the ministers who lead the prayers (who are county citizens) from praying at these public meetings is an infringement of their religious freedom.
Religious freedom is indeed sewn into the fabric of the American experience. And Baptists have been at the forefront of the fight for total and complete religious liberty for all persons.
“Baptists believe in religious freedom, not just for ourselves, but for all people.”
That’s why I find the current Forsyth County controversy so interesting – and disturbing.
Continued on page 7.
Bringing Baptists of North Carolina Together for Christ-Centered Ministry
Photo courtesy of McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum
The Gathering
of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina
With four months to go in the fiscal year, supporters of CBF Global Missions have contributed $3.84 million toward the $6.32 million goal for the Offering for Global Missions. Because the Offering directly pays for field personnel salaries, benefits and ministry expenses, we must reach the goal in order to keep field personnel on the field. Pray that we will reach the goal in the next four months. Pray that lives will continue to be transformed through the ministries of field personnel supported by this Offering. Pray that churches and individuals will give generously and the goal could be exceeded. Give thanks to God for all who have contributed this year. Give today through your church or online at www.thefellowship.info. Videographers
Are you an experienced videographer?
CBFNC is looking to enlist experienced videographers from across our state who are available to attend a CBFNC event in your area to shoot some raw footage for us to use in a video we are producing next year. You would need to bring and use your own equipment (preferred 3CCD camera) and provide us with footage in a mini DV format. We are looking for B-roll footage to be delivered as raw footage and are not looking for editing at this time.
Please send us a 3-5 minute sample of your work as soon as possible to 8025 North Point Blvd, Suite 205, WinstonSalem, NC, 27106. If you have any questions, please contact Natalie Aho at naho@cbfnc.org or 888-822-1944.
Also, to all churches, please send us video footage from your summer mission experiences.
CBF National General Assembly
Washington, DC
June 28-29, 2007
CBFNC Meeting on Thursday, June 28 at 3:45 p.m.
A focus on religious liberty and how it enables ministry around the world Register online at www.thefellowship.info to find hotel and transportation information and details on the schedule and auxiliary events.
Highlights include:
Combined evening worship with American Baptist Churches USA on June 29 Ethics Conference “The Minister and Politics: How to Be Prophetic Without Being Partisan” with Tony Campolo, Melissa Rogers, Jim Wallis, and Greg Boyd on June 27
Baptist Unity Rally for Religious Freedom hosted by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty on June 29
Featured Assembly Presenters:
June 27
Companions in Christ Training* BTSR event on Re-Shaping Worship*
The Minister and Politics Conference
June 28
8 - 10:15 am Freedom from Hunger and Poverty 9:00 am Workshops 10:30 am General Session I 12:15 pm Lunch & Auxiliary Events 2:00 pm Workshops
ABP and First Freedoms Project Joint Banquet* 7:00 pm General Session II
June 29
7:00 am Baptist World Alliance Breakfast*
8 - 8:45 am Rally for Religious Freedom 9:00 am Workshops 12:15 pm Lunch & Auxiliary Events
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty Lunch* 2:00 pm General Session III
3:30 pm Workshops
5:00 pm Dinner & Auxilary Events
7:00 pm Combined Worship with ABCUSA *registration required. Auxiliary events italicized. Visit www.thefellowship.info for more details.
Fifth Annual CBFNC Fall Fellowship Gathering
November 13, 2007
First Baptist Church, Greensboro
This gathering will include a format that’s been expanded from previous years. In the afternoon, there will be a seminar led by musician and speaker, Kyle Matthews, entitled “Ending the Worship Wars.” This seminar will be of interest to church staff members and lay persons alike. Following dinner, we will worship together in the FBC sanctuary, led by Kyle and Emmanual McCall, Atlanta pastor and past moderator of CBF National. Registration information will be available at a later time. Save the Date!
Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey
CBF Moderator Emmanuel McCall
Artist in Residence Kate Campbell
Worship Leader Susan Deal
CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal
CBF Global Missions Coordinator Rob Nash
IIt’s springtime, and summer is right around the corner. ‘Tis the season for weekend Inasmuch outreach efforts and week-long mission trips. We are a very mission-minded people. We prove it every season.
But what if we acted out our missionmindedness not only seasonally, but weekly? What might that look like? Here’s one model: Wednesday night youth missions at Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
I visited recently with the senior class at ABC, all of whom have been members of the youth group since at least the 7th grade, some of whom have been attending the church since birth. When you’ve attended one church that long, it’s possible you don’t know how your experience stands out in comparison to other churches. I asked them about what makes their church different from others. They mentioned different ways of taking the Lord’s Supper and of worship styles. But no one mentioned what is most striking to
me: ministry to others is a weekly event. Every Wednesday night, ABC youth are scattered around the city in active mission efforts. Every Wednesday, they check in at the youth desk, get their assignments, meet up with their adult sponsor and DO missions. They’ve been doing this every Wednesday of these high school seniors’ youth ministry experience. And, this has been the Wednesday night routine for over a decade. What exactly do they do? Here are some examples:
Green Street United Methodist Church has a weekly meal for the needy. What they wanted to do required more people, though. Enter ABC youth. “You’re apprehensive when you first go,” Jennifer Newcomb told me, “but then you realize that these are people not so different from you. They are appreciative of the meal, which may be the only really good meal they get all week.” Noelle Thorpe added, “It teaches you not to be so quick to judge. Some of them look scary at first, but then when you actually talk with them, they are nice people who just don’t have a lot.”
Blair Stone and some other girls signed up to read to the elderly. “We went thinking
we’d read to those who couldn’t see as well, to read the newspaper, or the Bible or whatever they wanted read to them. But then we found out they didn’t want to be read to as much as they just wanted someone to talk to.” The girls often find themselves putting in “overtime” on these visits, but it is a mutual desire that adds to the hour. “It’s interesting learning about their lives. One lady was a professional painter and showed us her work. And there were two sisters that live together. To see how they take care of each other is inspiring. I have a sister and I’ve thought ‘I hope my sister and I will take care of each other when we’re that old’. Now when I see these ladies in church, we recognize each other and hug.”
Many of the guys concentrate on yard work and light construction. After Katrina, ABC renovated a vacant house it owned. The youth stripped the floors, painted the walls and cleaned up the yard. A family from New Orleans then moved into the house. Leaflets are passed out in the Ardmore neighborhood offering free services. “Mostly, it’s the older people who ask for help,” said Stephen Freese.
2007-2008 CBFNC Youth Events
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of NC is excited to offer these spiritually enriching youth ministry events. Our theme this year is Virtually Real, and our focus is on helping youth inject real faith into their daily lives. You’re invited to join us in one or all of these ministries! Watch your mail for a brochure and registration form coming soon or visit www.cbfnc.org throughout the year to register and download free posters.
Emerald Pointe Water Park
Greensboro, NC
July 10, 2007
Cost is $30 p/p. Balance due by June 15.
Fall Retreat
Sea Palms Motel
Myrtle Beach, SC
September 7-9 or September 21-23, 2007
Cost $105 p/p. Non-refundable deposit of $15 p/p due August 1; balance due August 17.
Winter Ski Retreat
Winterplace, West Virginia
January 25-27 or February 1-3, 2008
Cost $149 p/p before upgrades. Contact CTI at 800-285-7273 or twilson@skicti.com.
Spring Retreat
The Vineyard Camp and Retreat Center Westfield, NC
April 18-20 or April 25-27, 2008
Cost $105 p/p. Non-refundable deposit of $15 p/p due February 15; balance due March 15.
Please contact CBFNC with any questions at 888-822-1944 or cbfnc@cbfnc.org.
Rick Jordan
Coordinator
“They’re always appreciative and they always feed us!”
There are many other opportunities including running a fall festival for a poor neighborhood, leading in arts and crafts for children, photography and building picture frames that are given to homebound persons, helping at a free medical clinic, creating greeting cards for prisoners, babysitting the children of battered women at their shelter and playing bingo with clients at the AIDS shelter. Youth have 6-8 week rotations in these and other mission options. Adults serve as drivers, skills teachers and mentors.
Courtney Willis, the youth minister at ABC, and Beth McGinley, a parent volunteer, meet to discover community needs and to plan how the youth can address them. Some needs they find through survey cards that are included in Meals on Wheels visits. Some they find through other church members who volunteer at local agencies. Courtney confesses that this kind of ministry takes a lot of work in preparing the rotations. Some sites have age limitations or group size limitations and rotations are more
difficult than doing just one thing every week. But that variety makes the ministry fresh and gives the youth opportunities to get out of their comfort zones from time to time. There are many pluses to this type of ministry, including involving adults who do not want to teach, giving the youth a chance to connect with adults on a different level, and helping the youth realize that you don’t have to be a “preacher” to be a real “minister”.
Youth get credit hours that must be
earned to go on the annual mission trip. Is that a primary motivation? “Sometimes,” Noelle says hesitantly, “but really, I don’t think about it that way usually. It’s, like, a habit. It’s just what you do every Wednesday, a normal part of church.”
“Our youth week theme really sums up what our youth ministry is about,” concluded Chris Rogers, a senior, “‘You catch ‘em, He’ll clean ‘em.’ And we’ve got to leave the building to fish for people.”
Spring 2007 CBFNC New Day Tour
May 14FayettevilleFirst
May 15RaleighTrinity
May 17WilmingtonFirst
May
May 22Winston-SalemFirst
A New Day is dawning in Baptist life in North Carolina. Come and See what CBF and CBFNC are all about.
Each gathering will be from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm and includes ministry workshops, dinner and worship. Cost, including meal, is $10.
Make your reservations no later than one week in advance (online at www.cbfnc.org or call 888-822-1944). Look for more information soon about our Fall 2007 tour of churches in the western half of North Carolina.
Youth from Ardmore Baptist Church work with their leader Dr. Steve Bissette at a medical clinic.
Loving Our Muslim Neighbors by Linda Jones, Missions Coordinator
WWhen CBFNC decided to write on Religious Freedom, I immediately thought of Butch and Nell Green, CBF field personnel currently living in Charlotte. Butch and Nell are Strategic Catalysts for Muslim Internationals. They are in the United States for three years to equip congregations to discover and minister to Muslims in our North Carolina communities. At the North Carolina General Assembly in Hickory, they presented two ministry workshop sessions concerning our ministry to Muslims.
Butch writes, “How many cities in NC have at least one mosque? No one in the breakout came close to the correct number. It is 60! Muslims from all over the world have come to NC. We have [discovered] emotions from some Christians including fear and hatred towards these people. Should that be our response? We shared a list of Ten Reasons Why We Should Love Muslims. God is bringing the world to us. What will be our response?”
Butch and Nell are available to meet with you concerning strategies of reaching out to your Muslim neighbors and other Internationals. You can reach them at bgreen@thefellowship.info or contact our office at 888-822-1944.
North Carolina Cities with Islamic Centers
Ahoskie, Asheville, Battleboro, Belmont, Bladenboro, Burlington, Cameron, Camp Lejeune, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Clemmons, Cleveland, Davidson, Dudley, Durham, Eden, Fayetteville, Fuquay-Varina, Gastonia, Gibsonville, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Greenville, Hamlet, Hendersonville, High Point, Jacksonville, Jamestown, Kannapolis, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Leland, Lexington, Matthews, McLeansville, Morganton, Morrisville, Mount Olive, Naples, New Bern, Newell, Pineville, Raeford, Raleigh, Reidsville, Rocky Mount, Rutherfordton, Salisbury, Sanford, Siler City, Smithfield, Spring Lake, Staley, Statesville, Weldon, Whiteville, Wilmington, WinstonSalem, Woodland
(Source: www.islamicfinder.org)
Ten Reasons Why We Should Love Muslims
1. God loves Muslims! Muslims are loved by God in the same way that He loves all people. Like all humans, Muslims are created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26-27)
2. God calls Muslims to Himself! God designed all of us to seek after Him. That includes Muslims. Like you and I, God has placed “eternity in their hearts.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
3. Muslims are our neighbors. Whether in America or in the Middle East, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are peace-loving, hospitable people.
Check out reasons 4-10 online at www.cbfnc.org.
(Source: Frontiers)
Linda Jones
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
FFrom the time Roger Williams established a settlement in Rhode Island where religious liberty reigned, Baptists have labored to maintain religious vitality by keeping it free from government. Today, as for seven decades, the Baptist Joint Committee is a leading voice in Washington, DC, fighting to uphold the historic Baptist principle of religious freedom. The BJC stands at the intersection of church and state, defending the first freedom listed in the First Amendment. The BJC is primarily an education and advocacy organization that works with churches and conducts issue briefings for congressional staffs and think tanks. BJC staffers also testify before Congress and submit friend-of-the-court briefs to advocate religious liberty in the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts.
Continued from page 1.
On the one hand, I want to advocate as strongly as I can for religious freedom. No one, not even the government, should be allowed to limit another’s freedom to practice one’s faith at home, in a house of worship or in any appropriate venue. On the other hand, when government is sponsoring the religious expression, the picture gets much more cloudy.
Legal arguments aside, for me it comes down to protection of the minority. When we Baptists fought (and suffered, and even died) for our religious freedom, we were a distinct minority. The government supported one religion over another in
Overlapping meetings of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and American Baptist Churches USA, June 28 – July 2, provide attendees a unique opportunity to celebrate religious freedom in the nation’s capital. The Washington, DC-based Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is sponsoring a host of opportunities for convention-goers to do just that.
On Thursday, June 28, the BJC is hosting a workshop on speaking out on religious liberty. The workshop will equip attendees with the tools to effectively advocate for religious liberty in the halls of Congress and elsewhere. The BJC is also assisting those interested in scheduling meetings with their member of Congress or their staff. To request assistance, please email us at advocate@BJConline.org.
On Friday, June 29, the BJC is sponsoring two events to celebrate religious liberty. At 8 a.m. the Baptist Unity Rally for Religious Freedom will begin on the U.S. Capitol grounds. The rally is centered around Baptist pastor George W. Truett’s historic address on religious liberty given more than eight decades ago. The BJC
a variety of ways and we stood up to oppose that kind of system. But for many years now, especially in the South, we Baptists have been in the majority. We are totally free to worship and express our faith at home, in church, and in the free marketplace of religious ideas. We have been very successful in this environment, sharing our faith freely without government support or endorsement. Now, we seem to be much less concerned about the needs and feelings of the religious minority, and more insistent on our rights as the majority.
On May 6, 1920, George W. Truett, then pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, stood on the east steps of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and delivered a sermon on religious liberty. In that message he
has assembled a group composed of leaders from the religious, political and educational realms to read excerpts of the speech. Those scheduled to participate include Rep. Chet Edwards, TX, Rep. Bobby Scott, VA, President William Underwood (Mercer University), Daniel Vestal (Coordinator, CBF) and Stan Hastey (Executive Director, Alliance of Baptists).
Also on June 29, the BJC will host its annual Religious Liberty Council Luncheon.
Randall Balmer is the featured speaker. Balmer is a professor of American Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University; a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School and the author of Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical’s Lament. Tickets to the luncheon are $40. Reservations may be made online at the www.BJConline.org or by contacting Phallan Davis at pdavis@BJConline.org or by phone at (202) 544-4226.
stated, “A Baptist would rise at midnight to plead for absolute religious liberty for his Catholic neighbor, and for his Jewish neighbor, and for everybody else.” Baptists believe in religious freedom, not just for ourselves, but for all people. It’s easy to advocate for that position when in the minority. The real test comes when we are in the majority. I don’t know how the Forsyth County case will play out in the legal system and in the media. But I pray that we Baptists will be leaders in putting the needs of others at least on an equal plane with our own. After all, the One we worship and serve told us that the true test of his followers is love – not just love of God, but also loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.
