March 3, 2017

By Carrie McGuffin

DECATUR, Ga.— Deepening its historic partnership with the National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc. (NBCAI), the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has provided funding to assist in the rebuilding efforts of a place of hope, friendship, safety and education for an entire community, the Greater Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La.

During the NBCAI Mid-Winter Board and Mini Congress 2017 in Albuquerque, N.M., CBF Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter presented a gift of donated disaster response funds totaling $150,000 that will help to rebuild and restore Greater Mount Olive to full capacity after devastating floods damaged the church in August 2016.

The CBF-NBCAI partnership began in October of 2016 and was established with the goal to “build an authentic and Christ-like community through shared work.”

NBCAI is a fellowship of voluntary churches approximating 3.5 million African-American Baptists which seeks to holistically impact the world through education, missions and evangelism. CBF is a Christian Network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry eff­orts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.

In early February, the CBF Governing Board affirmed a memorandum of understanding from CBF to the National Baptist Convention of America, International Inc. The memorandum addressed to the Rev. Dr. Sam Tolbert, president of NBCAI affirmed CBF’s partnership, plans for a joint summit called the “Angela Project” with NBCAI and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and pledged resources, volunteers and other support for the repair and restoration of the buildings and facilities of a vital community church of NBCAI which suffered significant damage from the massive flooding in Baton Rouge, La.

“The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship affirms our partnership with National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc. (NBCAI).

“We affirm the work of volunteers and supporters to aid in the disaster recovery efforts following the devastating floods of 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“We affirm the sustaining community leadership of Pastor S.C. Dixon, Reverend Jesse Carruthers and the dedicated ministry of Greater Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, a vital community church of NBCAI.”

Greater Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church houses the Greater Mount Olive Christian Academy, which provides a foundation of biblical and educational instruction to community preschoolers and their families.

Through this collaboration and this gift, Paynter affirmed the Fellowship’s commitment to partnership and Baptist principles.

“We celebrate our partnership in the spirit of cooperation, goodwill and common faith,” Paynter said. “We reaffirm our commitment to Baptist values including evangelism, education, helping those in need and promoting religious liberty. Our partnership is an important effort to bring together Baptists from diverse racial, theological and regional backgrounds.”

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CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry eff­orts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.