August 6, 2020 By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has provided $5,000 in emergency assistance to support relief efforts following the August 6 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed more than 135 people, injured 5,000 and displaced at least 300,000. CBF field personnel Chaouki and Maha Boulos, who are based in … Continue reading
Author Archives: Aaron Weaver
CBF’s Kasey Jones to focus leadership on outreach and growth
By Jeff Huett July 29, 2020 DECATUR, Ga. – Kasey Jones, whose current work at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship includes both operations and outreach, will begin a transition to a role that focuses her leadership on the Fellowship’s outreach and growth initiatives, including CBF’s work for racial and ethnic diversity. This shift in focus comes … Continue reading
CBF announces Renée Owen as leader of chaplaincy, pastoral counseling ministries
July 21, 2020 By Aaron Weaver and Jeff Huett DECATUR, Ga. — A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-endorsed healthcare chaplain with more than 20 years of experience meeting the unique spiritual, religious and cultural needs of patients, their families and healthcare providers has been named as CBF’s Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministries Director. Renée Lloyd Owen will … Continue reading
CBF leaders speak out against rollback of ‘payday’ loan regulation
July 7, 2020 By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders spoke out against the decision announced today of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to remove borrower safeguards intended to ensure that vulnerable consumers have the ability to repay short-term, high-interest “payday” loans. “For nearly a decade, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has sought … Continue reading
Flying This Plane While We’re Still Building It: Remembering Hardy Clemons (1933-2020)
By Aaron Weaver Beloved and influential Baptist pastor Rev. Dr. Hardy Clemons passed away July 1 at the age of 87. Clemons was a founding leader in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and served as CBF Moderator from 1993-1994. He also served on the CBF Coordinating Council from 1992-1996. From 1961-2008, Clemons served as pastor of … Continue reading
Virtual General Assembly concludes with challenge to “go together with bold faithfulness into a resurrected and reimagined future”
June 26, 2020 By Aaron Weaver and Carrie Harris DECATUR, Ga.—What would it mean to live boldly in the midst of the harsh realities of COVID-19 and racial injustice? Will we, like Joseph of Arimathea, have the courage to show up? Will we as a Fellowship have the courage to go together with bold faithfulness … Continue reading
Baxley calls Cooperative Baptists toward bold faithfulness, commitment to racial justice and healing
June 25, 2020 By Carrie Harris and Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga.—The journey toward bold faithfulness demands more of ourselves and more of the church in this current cultural moment marked by racial injustice and the sins of white supremacy, CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley preached during the Thursday evening worship service of the 2020 virtual … Continue reading
Preying on fear, pandemics spark hatred, violence and injustice
By Elket Rodríguez Across the ages, pandemics have packed punitive punches: From 1347 to 1351, the black death swept across Europe. Mobs scapegoated Jews, murdering thousands. In the early 20th century, the Spanish flu spread throughout the world, and millions died. In the United States, the pandemic spawned racial and social unrest, prompting the deaths … Continue reading
Former CBF chaplaincy leader George Pickle passes away at 77
By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — George Pickle, an innovative and formative leader of CBF’s chaplaincy and pastoral counseling ministries, passed away June 22 at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Ga., following injuries sustained in a fall at his home the previous week. In June 2013, Pickle retired after 12 years of service as CBF’s … Continue reading
CBF leaders celebrate Supreme Court decision on DACA, call for action from Congress
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18 decision that blocks deportation of about 700,000 residents who came to the United States as children and who have been protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, or DACA. In Department of Homeland Security (DHS) v. Regents of the University of … Continue reading