Monday, November 17, 2008

Correcting Misinformation... Sharing news from one of our partners...

CBFNC Coordinator Encourages Fellowship to Speak Up

Recent articles in both print and electronic secular media regarding the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have been unfair and misleading. The following statement about CBF National and CBF of North Carolina will provide information for those in our Fellowship to use in responding to questions, criticisms, concerns, etc, that they may receive from church members and others in their communities. Please use the information provided below to write letters to the editor, internet posts, etc., to newspapers, television stations and other media outlets in your local communities. Please speak up. Your positive presentation of our Fellowship will do much to counter the negative perceptions that have been publicized and will provide an opportunity to be a positive witness for Jesus Christ.

Larry Hovis
CBFNC Executive Coordinator

Recent Associated Press accounts of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s meeting Nov. 10-11 have characterized the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as “gay friendly,” “liberal” and “does not support the belief that the Bible is entirely without error.” These are gross exaggerations based on comments made by Fellowship opponents on the floor of the Convention.

These reports are examples of bad journalism. Associated Press presented a one-sided and inaccurate description of the Fellowship. No member of the Fellowship was contacted before the stories were distributed. When national CBF staff contacted AP to correct the misinformation, much of the inaccurate descriptions were left in the story, and the new story that was distributed the next day included only an additional comment about the Fellowship’s hiring and funding policy on homosexuality. For more information about CBF’s position on homosexuality and related issues, visit http://www.truthaboutcbf.net/.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission of Jesus Christ and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. More than 5,000 churches have contributed to the Fellowship since it was founded in 1991.
These churches and individuals are Bible-believing, evangelistic, socially-conscious and committed to resolving difficult doctrinal and cultural issues for themselves through interpreting the Scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Fellowship’s staff does not speak for the Fellowship’s partnering congregations nor dictate Biblical positions.

Headquartered in Atlanta, the Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission. Supported by more than 1,800 churches and an additional 3,500 individuals, the Fellowship has 163 field personnel serving around the world, partners with 15 theology schools and has endorsed more than 600 chaplains and pastoral counselors.

The Fellowships’ core values include the Baptist principles of soul freedom, Bible freedom, church freedom and religious freedom; biblically-based Global Missions; the resource model; justice and reconciliation; lifelong learning and ministry; trustworthiness; and effectiveness. The Fellowship acts on these values through four initiatives – faith formation, building community and networking, leadership development and global missions.

CBF has a priority commitment to the local congregation. By providing resources to enhance the ministries of the local church, the Fellowship lives out its vision for being the presence of Christ in the world. Spiritual formation, Missional engagement, and ministerial readiness are at the heart of the work of the Fellowship. Today more than ever, the local church needs trusted resource providers that will help enhance outreach and enrich fellowship. CBF is committed to being such a partner.

CBF has existed for eighteen years. While still in a formative period, the Fellowship continues to seek God’s guidance and direction. CBF remains committed to the core values that formed it. Additionally, several patterns of effectiveness have emerged.

A strong commitment to partnering – CBF does not intend to own buildings, publishing houses, or delivery systems. CBF seeks partnerships that can extend the ministry of the Fellowship while bringing new relationships into the Fellowship movement. In addition to more than 1,800 partnering churches, CBF collaborates with more than 150 different partnering agencies to expand its reach.

In addition to the national CBF organization, the Fellowship movement includes eighteen autonomous state and regional organizations, one of which is Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC). CBFNC is governed and financed separately from other CBF entities, but works closely in partnership to engage in missions, evangelism, leadership development and support for congregational ministries.

Constituted in 1994, CBFNC has offices in Winston-Salem and a paid staff of ten. Its ministries include missions in North Carolina, Ukraine and Belize; support of theological education; church planting; retreats and conferences for children, youth, adults, lay leaders and clergy; college campus ministries; position search assistance for churches and ministers; and much more. Its stated mission is “bringing Baptists of North Carolina together for Christ-centered ministries.” For more information about the principles and ministries of CBFNC, visit http://www.cbfnc.org/).

CBFNC also has partnerships with historic North Carolina Baptist agencies and institutions such as Baptist colleges, Baptist Children’s Homes, Baptist Retirement Homes and Baptist Hospital. Some churches choose to fund these agencies, as well as CBF and CBFNC, through a giving mechanism called the Mission Resource Plan (see http://www.cbfnc.org/missionresourceplan.asp for more details).

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina
8025 North Point Blvd., Suite 205
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
(336) 759-3456
(888) 822-1944 (toll free)
(336) 759-3459 (fax)
www.cbfnc.org