By Bob Allen
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the CBF of Virginia have a new partnership agreement designed to help the state organization to grow its staff.
The move flows out of a recommendation by a blue-ribbon task force in 2012 calling for a more seamless relationship between the national office in Decatur, Ga., and 18 states and regions around the country, Suzii Paynter, executive coordinator of the Decatur, Ga.,-based Fellowship, told members of the CBF Governing Board Sept. 12.
Paynter said there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to how state and regional partners relate to the national organization, but there are some commonalities. CBF churches in Virginia and Texas, for example, have the option of channeling their gifts to the national Fellowship through their state convention.
While both states have a large number of CBF-friendly churches, Paynter said, they have fewer staff members than other state and regional organizations with fewer churches but a different funding model allowing them to afford multiple staff, providing “more touch” with the local church.
Under the current plan, CBFVA sends all monies it collects to CBF national, and 10 percent is returned to the state. Next year the national office will allocate a line item of $250,000 to CBFVA, allowing the hiring of two additional staff.
Paynter said it means CBF national will be remitting more funds to the Virginia affiliate than in the past, money that formerly was used for programs administered by the national staff.
“That’s a reflection of my commitment to the states and regions for their importance and the importance of shared work as reflected in the mandate from the 2012 Task Force,” Paynter said.
Much of the Friday morning agenda of the Sept. 11-12 Governing Council meeting at First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., was in executive session.
CBF bylaw governing open meetings says: “All meetings of the Fellowship, the Governing Board, the Missions Council, the Ministries Council, and any sub-group of the Governing Board, with the exception of the Personnel Committee, shall be open to any member of the Fellowship. However, a meeting pertaining to legal matters, contracts, or personnel matters shall be open only to those admitted by the group which is meeting.”
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