CBF says it’s not Southern Baptist!

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                    Vol. XVI, No. 1, January 2003

The “Cooperative Baptist Fellowship” (I place the name in quotation marks because I do not believe it is truly cooperative, Baptistic, or a fellowship) has recently acknowledged publicly for the first time – to the best of my knowledge – that CBF has “separated ourselves from the structures and organization of the SBC, and have a diverse understanding to the SBC of what it means to be an organized body of Baptist churches and individuals in covenant relationship.” This quote is from the statement adopted by the CBF Coordinating council at its 17-19 October 2002 business meeting in Atlanta.

CBF applied last year to join the Baptist World Alliance. The BWA requires that members not be “an integral part” of any other BWA member. So the October CBF statement was in response to BWA’s requirement about not being an integral part of any other BWA member. The SBC is, of course, a BWA member. The CBF statement continues:

“Furthermore, we offer the following twenty indications that we are no longer integral to the SBC:

  1. We have repeatedly and publicly stated that we are not part of the SBC.

  2. The SBC has acknowledged that we are a separate entity by refusing to receive funding through the CBF for the past seven years.

  3. We have our own published and widely distributed philosophy, mission statement, core commitments and key initiatives.

  4. We have our own annual assemblies that routinely draw 3,000 to 5,000 of our constituents, at which we elect leadership, pass budgets and conduct business.

  5. Last year we adopted an organization-wide strategic plan setting our direction for the next decade.

  6. We have substantial organizational documentation, including a Constitution and Bylaws, which clearly establishes our unique and separate identity.

  7. We have our own organizational structure, including a board of directors, formal annual budgets, and a large group of employed staff and office buildings.

 8. We have organized autonomous states and regions with their own boards of directors, formal budgets, employed staffs, and office buildings.

  9. We own and operate our own missions sending agency, foundation and a benefits board with over 300 participants.

10. Our 140 missionaries are in partnership with other autonomous entities worldwide as representatives of the CBF.

11. We share no common agencies or institutions whatsoever with the SBC.

12. We have over 150 partnering churches that have no formal membership in the SBC.

13. We have planted over fifty churches that partner only with CBF at the national and international level.

14. We are recognized as an official endorsing body for chaplains and pastoral counselors by the US Armed Forces Board; national pastoral care, counseling and education organizations; and other viable entities. Since 1998 more than 250 people have been endorsed.

15. We are recognized a non-governmental organization (NGO) by the United Nations and have participated as such on the world stage.

16. We have many negotiated partnerships with established entities that recognize us as a separate and distinctive organization.

17. We are listed in the European Baptist Federation Directory as a separate entity.

18. Many of our present leaders have never participated in the SBC or considered themselves Southern Baptist.

19. We have applied for membership as a distinctive, autonomous Baptist association in the Baptist World Alliance.

20. We are recognized by numerous U.S. Baptist state conventions as a legitimate national Baptist body, including Virginia, Texas, and North Carolina, each of which offers a channel for its churches to give to CBF through its state budget.

“Though fully independent of the SBC or any other union, we do not declare that we are a denomination or convention. Rather, we are Baptist by conviction and we are a partnership of churches and individuals by philosophy. We have chosen instead to define ourselves as a ‘fellowship,’ which means that we are ‘a Baptist association of churches and individuals’ in partnership for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.”

It strikes me that what the above statement really does is simply define “denomination” but call it a “fellowship”. At least thirteen of the above numbered items would be equally true of the SBC if “CBF” were simply changed to “SBC”. Those items that do not apply to the SBC cite CBF actions, in one case an SBC action, the non-SBC participation of some CBF leaders, or actions by three SBC state conventions.

Dear reader, there you have it straight from the most authoritative source possible regarding the CBF, its national Coordinating Council. Read the list again and ask yourself whether you consider CBF a separate denomination. If you do and if your church is in any way affiliated with the CBF or with one of the three state conventions (BGAV-VA, BGCT- TX, SCBNC) which provide a formal funding channel to CBF, ask yourself what you should and your church should do about it. I suggest that in Virginia and Texas your church has the option to join a thoroughly biblical and thoroughly Southern Baptist state convention. If you are in North Carolina, attend the state convention next fall and vote to eliminate the budget track that funds CBF.