The Missions Council met at First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga.

By Carrie McGuffin

The CBF Missions Council is meeting this week in Decatur, Ga., to continue the conversation of Global Mission strategic planning that began in January 2015.

With the introduction of CBF Global Missions’ new mission distinctives to focus the missiology of the Fellowship, the Missions Council is in a position to make great strides in planning for the future successes of the Global Missions enterprise. Since the world has come to the doorstep of many of our communities, CBF field personnel are living out these commitments alongside CBF congregations and the structure of Global Missions must take the most effective shape to engage in most effective missions.

These mission commitments are:

• Cultivating Beloved Community
• Bearing Witness to Jesus Christ
• Seeking Transformational Development

And these function within three global contexts:

• Global Poverty
• Global Migration
• Global Church

As the Council, with chair Alan Sherouse, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.,  gather together for strategic planning, it is with these commitments and contexts in mind. This time of change, Sherouse said, sets in front of the Council a situation in which they are “leaning.”

Missions Council Chair, Alan Sherouse

“What we face now is much like the tenuous anticipatory situation that we read about after the ascension of Jesus, as the disciples gather around and the Spirit visits,” said Sherouse, describing the two accounts of this story in the Gospel of John and the book of Acts and offering a word of encouragement to the Council.

“In the Gospel of John, it describes the disciples as gathered together and the door was locked out of fear….I think we can resonate with that in a new missionary situation—yet I contrast that with the situation in Acts where the disciples were almost immediately out in the streets. I believe that group was leaning. I would ask us today to think about faith and fear and hold it all together. Let’s try to keep the windows and doors open and keep leaning out in anticipation that the Spirit will be with us.”

Before this conversation of great anticipation and planning, the Council also heard updates from Global Missions staff to look back at the successes in 2015.

CBF Global Missions Coordinator Steven Porter gave an overview of the happenings since January 2015 with excitement for a thrilling year in missions.

CBF Global Missions Coordinator, Steven Porter

“I just want to give you a sense of some of the really great things going on,” Porter said. “Throughout this year we have not only seen Global Missions, but all of CBF engaging in new ways. …The next step from the groundwork that has been laid with the mission distinctives is that we can now develop resources that can be used for church engagement and provide a sound missiological framework for discussion of what guides their mission.”

Council members also heard of more ways that CBF Global Missions is engaging with churches through the Offering for Global Missions emphasis for 2015-2016, the Encourager Church model, Together for Hope, CBF Mission Collectives and church engagement networks.

To learn more about CBF Global Missions and all of the ways that you and your church can get involved during this year of “leaning,” go to www.cbf.net/missions.

Additional reading:

• CBF Missions Council meets in Decatur, Ga. (Jan. 2015)
• CBF forms ad hoc committee to aid future implementation of Global Missions strategy (Jan. 2015)
• Strategic, innovative leader named CBF Global Missions Coordinator (April 2014)
• Harrell, Smith shirt roles to promote strategic growth of CBF Global Missions (June 2015)