The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has announced the creation of a five-member committee charged in part with guiding the organization through renewed controversy over its longstanding policy against hiring LGBTQ people.
The CBF Governing Board during the recent General Assembly in Greensboro. (Photo/CBF)
The committee is responsible for implementing the Illumination Project, which was adopted by the CBF Governing Board during the 2016 General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C., in June.
CBF describes the Illumination Project as a discernment process ultimately designed to increase unity across the Fellowship.
CBF Moderator Doug Dortch appointed the committee, the Fellowship announced on Thursday. The five members are:
- Charlie Fuller, minister for congregational life at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark. Fuller will serve as chair.
- Paul Baxley, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Athens, Ga.
- Kasey Jones, senior pastor at National Baptist Memorial Church in Washington.
- Steve Wells, pastor at South Main Baptist Church in Houston.
- Rebecca Wiggs, attorney from Jackson, Miss.
Their charge is to facilitate the implementation of the project, Dortch said in a story published on the CBF website.
“I have asked that the committee proceed with this charge through a process that is broad-based and transparent, deliberate and intentional,” Dortch said in the release.