ATLANTA (ABP) – An innovative missionary-training process has produced 18 new Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missions personnel, who will be commissioned June 18 during the group's General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn.
The appointees are the first to apply through CBF's new online “cohort” process.
The 10-week stints allow candidates to learn about CBF Global Missions and hear first-person testimonials from current field personnel and staff through online discussion, video and audio streams. The cohorts are the first step in a process — which includes personal interviews, an exploratory conference and orientation — toward more permanent assignments.
The cohorts are divided into 10 sessions, which lead candidates through a process of self-discernment and reflection on how God is calling them. Topics include introduction to CBF missiology and mission strategy; reflection on childhood, adolescent and adult experiences; personal religious history and identification with CBF; and missional church discussion.
“The ability to combine technology with our written reflection process has been transformational,” CBF selection manager Matt Norman said. “These cohorts allow candidates a condensed time of self-reflection and missional discernment that helps inform and empower the unique way they will continue to serve God in the world. Reading and interacting with each other weekly adds a dimension of community building and peer interaction that is essential during times of discernment.”
The commissioning service is slated for 7:30 p.m. June 18 at Memphis' First Baptist Church. New field personnel include Carita and Lindsay, Southeast Asia; Brittany Phillips, China; Matthew and Melanie Storie, Alabama; Elaine Childs, Croatia; Leah Crowley, Florida; Cynthia Levesque, China; Eric and Julie Maas, Belize; Gene Murdock, India; Karen and Kenny Sherin, Missouri; Dan and Jolene Tucker, Mexico; Dee Donalson, Ethiopia; and Christopher and Jessica Rose, Peru.
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— Due to security concerns, CBF does not disclose the full names and specific assignment locations of some of its field personnel.