I came away from the 25th anniversary celebration of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Greensboro, N.C., renewed and invigorated. But amid the hugs and hall talk between sessions, there was a lot of worried, whispered conversation about what to do about CBF’s personnel policy which does not permit hiring non-celibate gays.
After all these years, why still Baptist?
I hear the question all the time. I meet someone for the first time at a party, they eventually ask what I do for work, and then the follow-up is some version of, “How are you Baptist?”
Son of executed woman says no one has the right to say someone cannot change
The youngest son of the first woman executed in Georgia in 70 years spoke publicly for the first time about the experience in a breakout session at last week’s Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C. Dakota Brookshire — son…
Interfaith partnerships, service to those in poverty and an ATM define Louisiana church
Charlene Kelley says her faith is deeper and stronger than it has ever been thanks to her church in Shreveport, La. But it’s not just the usual things, like Bible studies and worship, that have transformed her Christian experience.
CBF leader Joe Crumpler dead at 89
Joe Crumpler, widower of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship founder Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, died June 10 at age 89. The retired 30-year pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Cincinnati was a leader in both the CBF and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Baptist churches should emulate Black Lives Matter movement, says advocate
A Black Lives Matter advocate fired a shot across the bow of Baptist churches, challenging them and other Christians to embrace Christ’s calling to care for society’s most oppressed. “The story of the church in recent years is that that…
Judge criticizes secrecy in U.S. executions
An Arkansas judge who last year declared unconstitutional a law that allows the state to keep confidential the source of drugs used for execution by lethal injection has lamented a 5-4 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court reversing his ruling….
CBF General Assembly spawns two statements condemning Orlando massacre
Elected leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship passed a rare social commentary statement June 24 condemning the June 15 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. “CBF is not a like-minded fellowship about matters related to human sexuality,”…
CBF adopts new model for funding field personnel
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is embarking on a new course for national and international missions, one designed to broaden relationships between churches and field personnel and to boost the Fellowship’s global presence. CBF members voted during its General Assembly in…