ATLANTA — In a procedural about-face, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) will reconsider a recent change to its purpose statement that deleted language about Jesus Christ and evangelism.
The revised statement was part of several amendments to the fellowship’s constitution and bylaws that were considered minor when proposed to the annual CBF meeting July 1. But the statement stirred strong reactions both within the fellowship’s constituency and beyond. The first sentence of the revised statement says the CBF’s purpose is “to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.”
The old statement said, in part, the fellowship’s purpose is “to bring together Baptists who desire to call out God’s gifts in each person in order that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be spread throughout the world in glad obedience to the Great Commission.” Fellowship leaders said the change was intended to make the language of the constitution consistent with other CBF documents adopted in recent years, particularly the group’s mission statement — “to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.”
The Coordinating Council, which approved the changes in February, will revisit the issue when it meets again Oct. 13–14.
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