A Window on CBF

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                       Vol. VIII, No. 7, August 2000

This is a time of turmoil for many Southern Baptist churches springing from the issue of, "Which national and state Baptist body should our church be aligned with?"

As most Southern Baptists know by now, our convention has been involved ever since 1961 in a titanic struggle between the fallible-Bible-liberals that held the SBC in a velvet-gloved iron grip during the 60s and 70s, and those leaders and laymen who believe God is powerful enough to say exactly what He intended in His Book.

The first victory for conservatives was the election of Adrian Rogers as SBC president in 1979. The presidency is critical because of the process shown below.

The chart tells you two things: Through his appointments to the Committee on Committees the president can influence the three-year appointment-nomination-election process. Second, remembering that it is the trustees who decide policy for SBC entities such as the seminaries and mission boards, and that most trustees normally serve eight or ten years (depending on the terms for their specific agency), and that no selection process will pick the right people 100% of the time, it takes a long time to change the majority on boards so heavily dominated by liberals as were SBC boards in 1979, and even longer to achieve a comfortable working majority.

This change has been completed at the national (SBC) level, but what liberals lost in the SBC they are trying to maintain in state conventions, local associations, and local churches. Without tediously reviewing every date and detail, just remember the following major liberal organizations:

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: A national group of churches which bills itself as a fellowship, not a denomination, but has virtually every characteristic of a denomination. The Baptist General Association of Virginia provides a budget track (WM3) in which ALL the money that leaves the state goes to the CBF. CBF was created specifically to give liberal churches an alternative to the SBC.

Baptists Committed: A series of state organizations dedicated to fighting "fundamentalists". Originating from Texas Baptists Committed, which has offered $25,000 no-interest loans to help other state chapters get underway.

Mainstream Baptists: Another series of state organizations closely associated with Baptists Committed that concentrate on rallying political support and countering conservative efforts. The June 2000 Texas Baptists Committed newsletter lists "Mainstream" contacts in 14 states and notes "Some states have formed a Baptist Committed or Mainstream organization, others are in the process of organizing and a few states are seeking to discern the level of interest in forming an organization." Mainstream Baptists and Baptists Committed handle the political offensive while CBF focusses on denominational activities.

The SBC held its annual convention 10-11 June in Orlando's Convention Center. On 30 June-1 July the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship held it's annual meeting in the very same hall. The June/July issue of The Baptist Banner reported on the SBC meeting. This issue reports on the CBF gathering and the controversy surrounding the new Baptist Faith and Message.

In this issue are six articles which shed light on the positions of these liberal organizations on critical issues. I have added bold print in some of the articles to call attention to those points. Let me suggest you save this issue so that you can show these articles to those who may have questions about CBF or one of the other liberal organizations mentioned.