ATLANTA — The 18th annual Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly meets June 19-20 in Memphis, Tenn., where thousands of Fellowship Baptists are expected to gather for worship, annual business, fellowship and discussion on various social and religious issues.
“The General Assembly is a premier gathering of Baptists with an exciting mixture of worship, learning and fellowship,” said CBF executive coordinator Daniel Vestal.
This year's worship sessions will include a Thursday evening sermon by Lauran Bethell, a Baptist minister and human rights advocate who spent 13 years ministering among human trafficking victims in Thailand. Bethell is an American Baptist Churches USA global ministry consultant based in Prague, Czech Republic, where she helps mentor and facilitate ministry among exploited and abused women and children around the world.
Also Thursday, Vestal will speak during the afternoon business session as the assembly prepares for a time of prayer and discernment about the CBF's future ministry priorities.
“After 17 years of growing ministry, we will have important conversations about the shape of our future,” Vestal said. “Where would God have us focus our energies, time and resources?”
During the annual global missions field personnel commissioning service, 17 people will be appointed for service in the United States and around the world. The service, set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, will be held at nearby First Baptist Church in Memphis.
Throughout the week of the assembly, Fellowship Baptists will engage in local ministry projects at local health and community resource centers, a food bank, an animal shelter, centers for at-risk children and others. College students, who have their own event called “The Memphis Sessions,” will also do service projects in Memphis and in nearby Helena-West Helena, Ark., where the Fellowship's rural poverty initiative ministers year-round.
Through keynote speakers, practical ministry workshops and other events, the Fellowship will explore ways to expand its ministry among the world's most marginalized and neglected people. This includes work toward the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which the Fellowship's coordinating council voted to endorse in October.
“The general assembly is a time when, as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, we renew our commitment to a shared mission,” Vestal said.
Further information about these events and more are available at www.thefellowship.info/ assembly. Pre-register online or by calling (800) 352-8741. Hotel discounts are available following pre-registration.