By Mallory Monroe What are you currently reading? If you are like Co-Pastors Dr. Griff Martin and Dr. Mike Massar of Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s University Baptist Church, you are reading a plethora of works ranging from the poetry to historical fiction. IF you are like many American adults, however, perhaps you are reading nothing at … Continue reading
By Bob Perkins At the annual luncheon for CBF Church Benefits, President Gary Skeen told members that Church Benefits is in the midst of great change. Skeen announced that total investments for the CBF retirement plan (403b) has surpassed the $50 million milestone, a significant increase from where the plan started at $20 million in … Continue reading
June 19, 2015 By Aaron Weaver and Carrie McGuffin DALLAS — “Change conjures up a host of emotions,” said outgoing CBF Moderator Kasey Jones at the Friday morning business session of the 2015 CBF General Assembly. “Every institution I have been a part of has undergone change.” This change, said Jones, who serves as senior … Continue reading
June 18, 2015 By Elizabeth Starr DALLAS. — At the 2015 General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Mary Elizabeth Hanchey of Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., provided pastors, chaplains and other attendees with programming, resources and methods of ministry to congregants coping with fertility grief. Hanchey helped her audience get inside the … Continue reading
By Merianna Harrelson This morning at the CBF General Assembly six people gathered for the single-staff breakfast. We quickly learned that although we were from states all across the country, the issues we were facing in our congregations were quite similar. We were not your typical CBF churches, or were we? Rick Jordan who is in … Continue reading
By Phillip Harris Davis Passion is a powerful thing. Passion compels people to action and the pursuit of seeing that passion become reality. Joining the work of CBF Global Missions over the past year, I have seen that the individuals, churches, and global partners that comprise this fellowship are passionate about their mission. Though these … Continue reading
By Lawrence Powers We’re impulsive, passionate, creative and each one of us is unique. The Church desperately wants to reach us, but often does not know where to start. Many don’t even know how to define us or what to do with us when we show up in sanctuaries and Sunday School rooms–if we even … Continue reading
By Adam J. Chaney Dr. Todd Still delivered a theologically robust, yet infinitely practical exegesis of scripture for attendees of his talk at a workshop during the 2015 CBF General Assembly. The name of the workshop captured the question of the hour: “How, Then, Shall We Live? Romans 12-16 Responds.” Simply put, this workshop explored … Continue reading
By Edwin Clark Together for Hope. Hope. Funny how hope means different things for different people. Stephanie Vance, Manager for Together for Hope, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, hopes workers’ stories from around the country encourages, engages and renews communities wanting change. Hope for the teacher in rural Mississippi is their students have … Continue reading
June 18, 2015 By Aaron Weaver and Carrie McGuffin DALLAS — “Perhaps the most radical thing [we] can do is sit down and listen.” So began a conversation between George Mason, senior pastor of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-partner Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, and Gary Simpson, senior pastor of the historic Concord Baptist Church of Christ … Continue reading