Editor’s note: While the issue addressed in this column speaks primarily about the Southern Baptist Convention, the ordination processes referenced are typical of many Baptist bodies in America, which operate with complete autonomy on clergy ordinations. Two years ago, the…
CBF Georgia adds coordinator for young Baptist ministries
Megan Turner Doud grew up Baptist without knowing of the diversity of the Baptist universe. “I didn’t know what CBF was. I didn’t know women could be in ministry. It wasn’t until I started looking for seminaries that I learned…
CBF Governing Board focuses on partner relationships, marks anniversary of COVID pandemic
The next phase of implementing its Toward Bold Faithfulness initiative will lead the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to reimagine its relationships with partner organizations, members of the CBF Governing Board were told Jan. 29. Meeting via Zoom due to the ongoing…
The death penalty is dying a slow death; it’s time we pull the plug
The death penalty is dying in America. I cheer its death. Capital punishment has been abolished in 22 states. Ten of the remaining 28 states have not had an execution in a decade. According to the Death Penalty Information Center,…
What would happen if immigration policies were based on majority opinion in the U.S.?
What would happen if U.S. immigration policy were crafted based on the majority views of Americans? The two major political parties express often polar opposite views on immigration, and even presidents who are perceived as open to immigration (Barack Obama…
Fellowship Southwest becomes independent, ecumenical ministry
Fellowship Southwest, founded by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2017 and known for its outreach to immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, has spun off from its Atlanta-based parent to become an independent, ecumenical ministry. “Fellowship Southwest is incorporated now in…
Kentucky seminary receives Baugh Foundation grant to start Institute for Black Church Studies
Supported by a $750,000 multi-year grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky will launch the Institute for Black Church Studies in Louisville, Ky., this fall. The institute will offer continuing education for Black church leaders and a…
Seminarian, CBF and Georgia church find fellowship together
Seminarian Wallace Montgomery III is brand new to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and to the moderate Baptist movement — things he didn’t even know existed until last spring. But the 35-year-old Arkansas native already is planting roots in CBF life….
With in-person disaster relief work curtailed due to COVID, Louisiana volunteers came up with a new idea
A record 2020 U.S. hurricane season combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has created an additional population of victims: eager and skilled disaster-recovery volunteers prohibited from traveling to assist devastated communities. Many of them are members of American congregations with long…
Baptists in Virginia get two new theological education options
The rapidly changing landscape of theological education for moderate and progressive Baptists will take yet another new turn next fall with a focus on Virginia. Less than two years after the closure of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, two new…
CBF staff reorganization made known
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has reorganized its Decatur, Ga., staff around nine major areas as an outgrowth of the Toward Bold Faithfulness initiative and budget constraints. In October, the CBF Governing Board approved a balanced budget for 2020-2021 that required…
Is missions giving ‘paying dues’? And what counts as ‘missions’ anyway?
Several years ago, in my previous life as a pastor, a well-meaning member of our Missions Committee looked at the church’s missions budget, noted the large sum of money we were sending to state and national denominational groups and declared…