June 27, 2024
Last week I attended the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Greensboro. It was a wonderful time of community, ministry, and encouragement with sisters and brothers from around the globe.
Our Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley (who preached at Ardmore last year) did a wonderful job of reminding everyone that there is more that unites us than divides us. CBF is a truly moderate organization; there are churches that would consider themselves to be conservative and there are churches certainly on the more progressive side of things. Paul reminded us that the Gospel brings us together as CBF Baptists. Paul’s message filled me with hope about what it means to belong to CBF. After Paul finished, a friend of mine in the room jokingly texted me, “You know, I think we just might make it.” I encourage everyone to listen to Paul’s message to hear a deeply needed word about unity and faithfulness: CBF Executive Coordinator Report
During the Friday morning meeting, Ardmore Baptist Church was one of three churches presented with the Missions Excellence Award. Amy Gallaher and I accepted the award on behalf of our church and we were honored to represent you on that stage. At that session, we also heard from our incoming CBF Moderator, Rev. Juan Garcia (who will be preaching at Ardmore in early 2025). You can view the Friday morning session here: CBF Friday Morning Meeting. After the Friday Morning Meeting, members of Ardmore Baptist attended the Baptist Women in Ministry luncheon where our church had bought a table. As we shared a meal with one another, we heard about the work BWIM is doing to encourage female pastors and those feeling the call of God on their lives to serve in vocational ministry.
Now, if you will allow me one more instance of risky-talk: For two weeks in a row, Baptists held significant meetings. The week prior to the CBF General Assembly, the Southern Baptist Convention met for its Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. At that meeting, they disaffiliated from a church in Alexandria, Virginia because they had a female children’s pastor on staff, they passed a resolution denouncing the use of IVF treatments (reasonable Christians can disagree on this issue, but I have very close friends and family who have received blessings of life from IVF treatments), and (though it ultimately failed) 61% of those present voted on the Law Amendment which would further entrench the Southern Baptist doctrinal position that only men are qualified to serve as pastors.
I do not bring all of that up because I wish any ill will towards my Southern Baptist sisters and brothers. I feel that they are following God’s call as they see fit and I applaud their courage in living out their convictions. But the stark contrasts between the two meetings gave me encouragement about my belonging to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. I felt good about being that sort of Baptist; you know, we just might make it.
And it made me proud of Ardmore Baptist Church.
