MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) – “Missional” engagement will have a high priority in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of the future, if comments from participants at the group’s annual General Assembly are any indication.
During its June 19-20 meeting in Memphis, Tenn., CBF supporters launched a process to discern the moderate group’s future direction. The group’s leaders asked the almost 2,000 participants to meet in small groups to share their “insights and passions and convictions” about what the 17-year-old organization should become.
One vehicle for determining its constituents’ interests was a survey that asked a variety of questions related to broadening the CBF community; training and development; resource utilization; missional engagement; honoring race, gender and generational differences; and interacting with the world community. It also asked respondents to rank the six categories in order of importance.
The responses to that survey will be studied by CBF staff and the group’s Coordinating Council over the next few months as they develop a strategy proposal.
During small-group sessions, participants shared insights that were transcribed on large sheets of paper. They were later posted at the back of the meeting hall in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Missional engagement was cited most frequently, with amplifications encouraging the CBF to educate, facilitate and model what it means to be missional. Participants also favored increasing the number of new church starts; educating and developing missional leaders; increasing the number of CBF field personnel; and increasing funding for global missions.
Other comments posted on the sheets included support for reflecting the diverse demographics of the culture in the CBF movement; developing a national framework to address poverty in the United States; supporting women as pastors; modeling racial, gender and generational inclusion in CBF hiring and leadership; investing in young Baptists; expanding advocacy efforts for human rights, religious liberty and social justice; improving resources for smaller churches; and avoiding political bias/single-party identification.
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