Fellowship Watch

                                                                                                                                                                             Vol. V, No. 2, April 1992

In the 6 Feb. Baptists Today publisher Walker L. Knight writes, "...I am pleased to see Cecil Sherman ... has been named coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. However, the Fellowship itself seems somewhat polarized between those who want more vigorous changes, and those who not only would clone the SBC, but would never leave it no matter what.

"The Fellowship is beginning to take shape, as the adoption of a global mission statement by the coordinating council shows, along with new staffing and the announcement they will seek to fund some of the [SBC] European mission force. This year we will discover if the Fellowship will only be a force reacting to SBC actions, or if it will chart new directions."

Comment: Several interesting points here: (1) The selection of Cecil Sherman puts a decidedly and unmistakable liberal stamp on the CBF. (2) According to Knight there are some in the CBF who do not seek a new denomination but rather wish to remain in the SBC and, presumably, return its course to the pre-1979 direction. (3) Knight and other of the more radical CBF members are increasingly open about their desire to transform the CBF into a new denomination.