June 23, 2017

By Aaron Weaver and Carrie McGuffin

DECATUR, Ga. — The CBF Latino Network is La Familia — a network founded on the principles of fellowship, advocacy, ministry and missions, identity, leadership, intergenerational diversity, and alliances. This is the message of a new video released today to introduce Cooperative Baptists and others to the network.

CBF recently announced the selection of noted church planter Rubén Ortiz to serve in the newly-created senior role of CBF Latino Field Coordinator. In this position, Ortiz will focus on charting a future for the Fellowship in Latino contexts and implementing related short- and long-term strategies, as well as work to more fully integrate the CBF Latino Network into the life of the Fellowship.

The CBF Latino Network — La Familia — aims to offer a place for Latino leaders to find a home. In 2005, Ortiz experienced pastoral burnout, and realized that he needed connection with a group that would understand the burdens of ministry, and found that CBF became that family for him. Ortiz is passionate about sharing that feeling of inclusion and belonging with the growing Latino population in the United States. The CBF Latino Network offers that feeling of family to others, according to Ortiz.

“CBF Latino Network is a place where we can come and find each other within the big CBF family,” Ortiz said. “We feel at home here. It is a place where we come and fellowship, sharing our joys as well as our sorrows. It is also the place where we comfort one another and reassure ourselves that, much like a town square, we are in this together.”

For Ortiz and those involved in the CBF Latino Network, family is fundamental, and La Familia of CBF rests on these foundational principles:

F for fellowship — The opportunity to gather together around joys and sorrows.
A for advocacy — To defend — there are still many things the Latino community must fight for.
M for ministry and missions — It is important for us to unite and work together.
I for identity — Why are we Baptist, and what does it mean to be a Cooperative Baptist?
L for leadership — Without our leaders — lay and clergy — we would not accomplish very much.
I for intergenerational — We need to understand and appreciate the diversity within the Latino community.
A for alliances — We would not be able to do this alone.

Learn more about Ortiz and La Familia. Watch this video introduction to the CBF Latino Network below:

Latino Network Introduction (With English Subtitles) from Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on Vimeo.

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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.