The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is seeking field personnel to fill positions in China and New York City. CBF announced online this week that it needs an individual, couple or family to serve a long-term assignment as a partnership advocate in…
CBF leader charged with shaping Fellowship’s ‘young Baptist ecosystem’
Devita Parnell is no stranger to the occasional confusion and curiosity elicited by sharing her job title with others: young Baptist ecosystem manager for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “One time I mentioned my title to a woman at church and…
Conflict is part of the church’s DNA. Learn to live with it.
When the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina needed someone to lead a conflict resolution workshop recently, they thought of Rubin Ortiz. “I have kind of a Ph.D. in conflict resolution,” said Ortiz, pastor of La Primera Iglesia Bautista in Deltona,…
Black pastor who wowed CBF now has Clinton’s ear on race
Kevin Cosby, the black Louisville, Ky., pastor who has inspired Cooperative Baptists on matters of race may now have the ear of Hillary Clinton as she prepares for her presidential run. The presumptive Democratic candidate attended a racial reconciliation worship…
Growing movement pushing pastors to ‘get real,’ vulnerable with congregations
It takes a lot of guts and humility to be vulnerable. Just look at the New Testament account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, Mary Alice Birdwhistell said. “Since feet were the primary mode of transportation, think how dirty they…
Talking race is — and should be — uncomfortable, Baptist leaders say
Of all the workshops offered at last month’s CBF General Assembly, at least one of them counted on its participants checking their comfort zones at the door. The leaders of “The Elephant in the Room: Engaging in Dialogue around Race…
‘Spiritual friendship’ sustains pastor, layman through vocational challenges
Greg Rogers has had mentors, ministerial support groups and an array of denominational colleagues to draw on during his long career in ministry. But most of the strength Rogers needed to weather the challenges of pastoring a church, at least in…
Separating mission and spiritual formation is bad strategy, say ministers
If he had a magic wand, Trey Lyon says he would likely transform the way churches conceive, fund and experience mission and spiritual formation. Basically, he would combine them. “I would love to see churches with ministers of mission and spiritual…
CBF, New Baptist Covenant team up for civil rights event
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and New Baptist Covenant will host an offsite event June 24 at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum focusing on advocacy and racial reconciliation during the 2016 CBF General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C. Attendees will…