North Carolina Baptists allowed to give to CBF

North Carolina Baptists allowed to give to CBF

CARY, N.C. — The giving plan that allows North Carolina Baptists to send missions funds to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) instead of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) does not violate the state convention’s constitution, according to a study committee. The six-member committee, equally divided between conservatives and moderates, was asked to determine if the so-called Plan C — which funds the CBF but not SBC — is consistent with the constitution of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

The constitution says, in part, “The purposes of the convention shall be to assist the churches in their divinely appointed mission; to promote missions, evangelism, education, social services, the distribution of the Bible and sound religious literature; and to cooperate with the work of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

The heart of the committee’s report, according to chair Charles Page of Charlotte, is the finding that, “It is neither logically nor legally necessary that each action of the Baptist State Convention fulfill each purpose of the convention in order for the action to be in furtherance of the multiple purposes of the convention.”

Plan C giving fulfills all the purposes of the convention with the exception of cooperation with the SBC, Page said.