2010 CBF-NC General Assembly

Our General Assembly this year was a blast. This year marked the 16th year of CBF-NC. This year is also the last year that my mom helped with the setup of exhibits as she is rotating off of that committee next year.

If you haven't read them yet Tony Cartledge has two excellent postings on the 2010 CBF-NC General Assembly. Here is a snippet from the main posting---Baptists Today Blogs: CBFNC at "Sweet Sixteen":

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC) celebrated its sixteenth year March 19-20 by affirming core partnerships, approving a record budget, and looking to a hopeful future. More than 950 persons packed the ornate, historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for the opening session on Friday night, and the house was comfortably filled for the closing worship on Saturday morning.

Built on the theme "Generations Connected: One Family, One Faith, Many Journeys," the annual assembly recognized the founding generation of the CBF movement by hearing from from Cecil Sherman, CBF national's first coordinator, and gave attention to emerging generations with a closing message by Craig and Jennifer Janney, a young couple who serve as both ministers and instructors at Chowan University.

Sherman noted that the national Fellowship movement is now approaching 20 years of organized existence, and reflected on the importance of remembering how CBF emerged from a conflicted Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), even though some younger people "don't want to hear our war stories." Sherman related both the "face of conflict" from in an SBC overtaken by conservatism and credalism, and the "face of growth" that emerged as moderate Baptists coalesced around the historic principles they believed had been violated.

Although some early participants wanted CBF to focus on single issues, Sherman said, its early and continuing focus has been to provide a "missions delivery system for the churches" that defined missions as more than evangelism and church starts, to support Baptist theological education, and "to teach Baptist polity to people who have forgotten it or never knew it."

Sherman acknowledged that his generation will be off the stage as the next generation of CBF leadership emerges, but he advanced three ideas "that I hope some of you will keep in mind" as future decisions are made. "I hope you stay in touch with mainline Baptists," he said -- not just an elite group and big churches, but Baptists across the spectrum of size and locality. "If the decision makers know Baptists, they'll make good decisions," he said.

The second posting is about the presence of female ministers and female ministries within the CBF world in NC. Here is a snippet from that post:

There may be more, but the number of Anglo Baptist churches in North Carolina I know of who have women pastors can be counted on my fingers with some left over. A few others have women serving as co-pastors. There is no question that churches would be well served if there were more. The eleven moderate seminaries established in the past two decades have helped to train and prepare a number of God-called women for ministry roles -- including that of pastor -- but the churches willing to call them are few and far between. I know several women who are convinced of their call and standing ready to serve, but most of the churches willing even to consider them still conclude "We're just not ready for a female senior pastor."

In my more cynical moments, I think they're just chicken. There's no guarantee that all women pastors will be pulpit stars or effective leaders, but there are some real gems out there who could be, if they were just given a chance.

I've seen, and I believe.

Off To The CBF-NC General Assembly

This year there is a heavier emphasis on Social Justice issues. We should have invited Glenn Beck, Todd Friel and John MacArthur to come knowing they wouldn't accept the invitation...haha.

Anyways it should be fun as this year's keynote speaker is Cecil Sherman who was the face of Moderate Baptists during the Conservative Resurgence/Fundamentalist Takeover.

More to tell when I get back.

Liberty Of Conscience: More On Bill Leonard And Baptists

See: Mainstream Baptist: Reasserting, Reinterpreting, and Reforming Baptist Identity: "At the CBF General Assembly"

Highlights from the above post:

I wholeheartedly agree with Leonard's concerns about the Baptist movement, but I was too busy preparing for the Norman New Baptist Covenant meeting to respond at that time. Now, in a series of blogs, I plan to offer my suggestions for Baptist Identity in the 21st Century.

I would begin by reasserting the Baptist emphasis on liberty of conscience. Baptists began by dissenting from the established church and asserting their right to a free conscience on matters of religion. Our appeals for liberty of conscience were made on behalf of all people and not for ourselves alone. 78 years before the enlightenment philosopher John Locke wrote his first Letter Concerning Toleration, Thomas Helwys was writing:

Men's religion to God is between God and themselves; the king shall not answer for it, neither may the king judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure.

45 years before Locke said it was "necessary above all to distinguish between the business of civil government and that of religion, and to mark the true bounds between the church and the commonwealth," Roger Williams warned that whenever "a gap" was opened "in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself . . . and made his garden a wilderness."

While John Locke could never bring himself to extend religious toleration to Catholics and atheists, revolutionary era Baptist evangelist John Leland boldly asserted:

Let every man speak freely without fear, maintain the principles that he believes, worship according to his own faith, either one God, three gods, no god, or twenty gods, and let government protect him in so doing

.

PCUSA Releases First Preliminary Report Of The Civil Union and Christian Marriage Task Force.

Here is a snippet from the first draft:

Draft of Preliminary Report
of the
Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union
and Christian Marriage
to the
219th General Assembly (2010)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
September 2009

Introduction

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:27-28).

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like most mainline denominations, is wrestling with the issue of same-gender marriage. Responding to this struggle, the 218th General Assembly (2008) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) directed the Moderator “to appoint a special committee,representing the broad diversity and theological balance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), to study the following, including any policy recommendations growing out of the study:

• the history of the laws governing marriage and civil union, including current policy debates;
• how the theology and practice of marriage have developed in the Reformed and broader Christian tradition;
• the relationship between civil union and Christian marriage;
• the effects of current laws on same-gender partners and their children; and
• the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.”

As members of Christ’s church, we differ profoundly; but can we also see that those who disagree with us are seeking to love one another with God’s grace, advance the radical inclusiveness of the gospel, and promote biblical faithfulness? Though we reach very different conclusions, can we rejoice that our church is willing to wrestle together prayerfully with the question: How do we extend the grace of God to all, calling all persons—regardless of sexual orientation—to repentance and conversion, so that all will experience God’s gracious intention for humanity?
In many ways, life in the body of Christ is not unlike a marriage: In the course of our life together, there are good days and bad days, good times and challenging times. There is great joy and wrenching pain. We talk, we laugh, we cry. We agree and we disagree, and occasionally we get angry and are tempted to walk away. But like any Christian marriage, in the body of Christ we know that the One who holds us together is more important than the arguments that threaten to tear us apart. That One is Jesus Christ, who said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Read the rest: Here.

Snyder Memorial Red Shirt Crew

Here is a Blog post from the Biblical Recorder on the CBFNC General Assembly:

Snyder Memorial Members = Servants
20. March 2009 by J. Shore Traveling alone isn't something I normally do. I panic when I can't find my way, feel like I'm lost or even just get turned around. But when I found out that Fred Craddock was going to be at the CBFNC General Assembly, I knew I'd have to brave my fears for the chance of a lifetime.

I'd not been to Fayetteville before and was surprised at the traffic I encountered. I missed my exit to my hotel and ended up driving too far. Flustered and scared, I finally made it, checked in and rushed to find the church. Luckily, that was easier and I made it without incident.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I had a "Dorothy entering the land of Oz" experience. A nice man flagged my car down with a smile and asked me how I was. He wanted to make sure I found not just a parking space, but a good one. He inquired if I needed to unload anything and then sent me to another smiling and waving man. That gentleman, too, asked me how I was and welcomed me to the church (that I hadn't even entered yet). I parked and started walking in to be greeted by two more men who showed me where registration was. I felt like royalty!

Registering for the conference was a breeze and as soon as I got my nametag, another person was there asking me where they could help me go. Literally, every corner of the church was covered by a volunteer. It was amazing and helped ease my stress from my travels right away.

My night continued on in similar fashion, every time I even thought about something I might need, someone from Snyder Memorial was right there. At dinner time, a sweet lady named Olivia insisted that she take my tray and put it away for me. I tried to explain to her that my mother would have me insist on putting my own dishes away and her response was, "but if you don't let me do it, I won't have anything to do!" I felt guilty for not letting her take it the first time she asked!

Worship was fulfilling. Hearing Fred Craddock was amazing. My brain is still trying to absorb all the information I received. But the members of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church - the "red shirt crew" - will forever be etched in my mind beside the word "servant".

CBFNC General Assembly Day 2

The theme of the 2009 General Assembly:

About 4 or more hours ago, I returned from 3 long Spirit-filled days at my first CBFNC General Assembly. Anyways, Day 2 was a day of fellowship around displays on CBF friendly missions and other projects that CBF takes part in. I will blog on all the displays in subsequent posts. Also going on around this time was a gathering of Baptist Women in Ministry of North Carolina in another church in Fayetteville, in which another FBC-Wilmington resident member, Mary Margaret Brooks was recognized for her years of service to the Baptist community. She is a dear friend of our family as she kept me in the nursery when her husband Lamar was the pastor of our church at FBC-Laurinburg in the early 80's. See also: Baptists Today Blogs: BWIM NC celebrates preaching without words. A deli lunch was provided for the exhibitors which my mom, my grandmother and I assisted with and Snyder Memorial Baptist Church of Fayetteville, NC for non-exhibitors. After lunch, people milled around and/or attended various breakout sessions. My grandmother and I attended these 2 breakout sessions:

Charles Barrett Howard: Preacher, Professor, and Philanthropist, Glenn Jonas ...............................................................B1052
(2:15 p.m. - Annual Meeting of the NC Baptist Historical Society - Room B1052) and New Church Start Track
Emerging Faith Communities in the 21st Century, Beverly Hatcher and Pete Zimmerman ............................................ A2002.

I'll blog more on them later. All through the day I ran into old friends, Campbell people, blogging buddies and new friend which is a testimony to the openness of CBF. At dinnertime, we ate in the Fellowship Hall with Jim Everette---we have to get ideas for the 2013 General Assembly as FBC-Wilmington is hosting that one. Following dinner was our evening worship service with Dr. Fred Craddock preaching on “Hearing What is Said.” The main theme of Craddock's sermon was truly listening to what people say. An audio and video of the service should be available soon on the CBFNC official website. Sitting beside us on the front left pew with us was a family friend, Steve DeVane, taking pictures for the Biblical Recorder. Tony Cartledge was taking pictures and blogging from the front right pew for Baptists Today.

CBFNC General Assembly Day 1

Today I helped my mom and our Assistant Pastor Brad Smith setup exhibits at Snyder Memorial. While I was there I checked out the Youth room and thought I saw a picture of a girl I went to FMA with. Anyways, I'll blog more thoroughly on the General Assembly when I get home as we are staying with my grandmother in Dunn and it's hard for me to use her computer.

In closing here is a snippet of a post by Tony Cartledge from another CBFNC event I went to:

In a closing message, Mike Queen, pastor of First Baptist Church in Wilmington, said Baptists are “tribal people.” Christians have divided themselves into many tribes, he said, and Baptists have developed tribes of their own, but “that’s how it’s always been in the Kingdom of God.

Queen noted how Moses instructed the Israelites to encamp by tribes surrounding the tabernacle, each flying its distinctive banner. Thus, “both unity and uniqueness were celebrated” in the peoples’ “corporate identity as children of Israel and particular identity as members of their tribes.”

As a former president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) General Board, Queen was a tireless advocate for unity within the BSCNC during the 1990s, an effort that ultimately ran aground in the rising conservative tide that now dominates the state convention. During the same period, CBFNC emerged as an alternative nexus of cooperation and fellowship for those who felt disenchanted with or disenfranchised by the BSCNC.

“I spent a long time chasing the wrong things in Baptist life the past 25 years,” Queen told the congregation. “CBF of North Carolina is my tribe in the Baptist nation,” he said, “but it is not a denomination to be won: it’s all about mission and freedom.”

“It’s exciting to be a part of something that is still new and filled with hope we can scarcely imagine,” Queen said. That hope can be found in Jesus alone and calls for vigilant focus, he said, for “When you fall in love with an institution, you may lose the ability to follow Jesus.”

“The easy part of our faith is to believe,” Queen concluded. “The following part gets hard: that’s where we need one another.”

In a key component of the convocation, representatives from 23 organizations recognized as CBFNC ministry partners joined CBFNC leaders and the congregation in a litany of common mission and mutual support.