Larry Hovis is the executive coordinator and Linda Jones is missions coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC). Both of these CBFNC leaders are members of the General Assembly Steering Committee.
I recently asked Larry and Linda to share their thoughts on how CBF can express boldness as a movement. The theme of the upcoming CBF General Assembly is “With Great Boldness,” following 2 Corinthians 3:12 which states: “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”
Below are their responses:
Though in theory we have always known that the “headquarters of CBF is not in Atlanta, 
but in churches scattered all over the country, in practice we have often looked to Atlanta as the source of answers and resources.
The 2012 Task Force vision provides us with a structure to live into our principles like never before.
As the Atlanta office moves to a new location, let’s leave the sign that says “resource center” in the old location, and put up a new sign, “networking center.”
CBF is not a centralized denomination, but a network of mission and ministry networks consisting of individuals, congregations, state and regional CBF bodies, field personnel, chaplains, and partners of all shapes, sizes and configurations.
The answers and resources we need to be faithful to God’s mission are to be found, not in Atlanta, but scattered throughout our Fellowship. We need our Atlanta leadership not to meet all of our needs, but to serve as “networking engineers,” creating effective, efficient, creative ways for us to connect and communicate with one another in order to leverage the tremendous assets that exist throughout our vast Fellowship.
Then, we would live into the original vision of our founders, embrace our size and scale, serve as a model for other faith groups, and fulfill the mission of God to which we have been called.
And it will take great boldness to make it happen.
-Larry Hovis, CBFNC Executive Coordinator
We need to partner and collaborate not only with each other but with other organizations and movements.
There are many organizations and churches trying to discern our culture, where God is working and how to join God in new and fresh ways!
Let’s do it together, boldly!
-Linda Jones, CBFNC Missions Coordinator
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How do you connect with the 2013 CBF General Assembly With Great Boldness theme?
If you are planning to attend the General Assembly in Greensboro, we’d love to hear from you! Please e-mail any reflections to Aaron Weaver – aweaver@thefellowship.info – and we will share here at CBFBlog.com.
See previous posts from this Great Boldness blog series:
Steering Committee members look forward to upcoming CBF General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C. (June 26-28) [April 29, 2013]
Seminary student reflects on 2013 General Assembly theme—With Great Boldness [May 6, 2013]
CBF leaders reflect on General Assembly ‘With Great Boldness’ theme [May 8, 2013]