2003 September/October

CBF SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

fellowship!

C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P

INSIDE

Students Train in Cross-cultural Ministry

Meet CBF’s New Moderator: Cynthia Holmes

Child Provides Example of Sacrificial Giving

New Church Start Flourishes in North Carolina

Being Baptist: A Fellowship Perspective

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Texas Volunteers Gather in Rio Grande Valley for Work in ‘KidsHeart’ Partnership JULIAN VIGIL RAISED THE HAMMER

over his head and, with a violent swing, struck the bedroom ceiling of Jorge and Ramona Lopez. As he pulled the hammer down, Vigil brought with it a cloud of dust,

Russ Dilday photo

Vigil’s swing launched a three-day project to gut and rebuild the interior of the Lopezes’ home in Progreso, Texas. Vigil, a member of Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, was part of a joint mission project sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Texas, Buckner Children and Family Services and the Global Missions office of national CBF. More than 200 volunteers from 23 Baptist churches across Texas worked in the lower Rio Grande River Valley during the first-ever KidsHeart work week, rebuilding homes, hosting Vacation Bible Schools, ministering to women and running sports KidsHeart brought more than 200 camps. The project in volunteers from 23 Texas churches the Valley is part of a to the Rio Grande Valley to run larger, international Vacation Bible Schools, do home repairs and conduct sports camps. partnership between

Russ Dilday photo

drywall and rat feces.

Children attended Vacation Bible School at four local Hispanic churches and one community center during the KidsHeart work week.

the Fellowship and Buckner known as KidsHeart. Through the partnership, the Fellowship provides substantial funding and volunteers to assist the ministries of Buckner in colonias — small, rural communities with substandard housing that lack services such as electricity, water and sewers. The project was part of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, and was organized by former CBF Texas Administrative Coordinator Judy Battles and the missions committee of CBF Texas. Buckner has been working in the colonias of the Rio Grande Valley for Online Newsletter more than 20 years, and year-round churches You can access the fellowship! come down to work. newsletter online in a PDF format.

“That’s the beauty of Go to Newsstand/fellowship! [continues p. 2]

newsletter at www.cbfonline.org.

COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP’S MISSION: SERVING CHRISTIANS AND CHURCHES AS THEY DISCOVER AND FULFILL THEIR GOD-GIVEN MISSION.

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

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this partnership,” says Tom Ogburn, CBF’s liaison to Buckner for the KidsHeart partnership and assistant coordinator for partnership missions. “Buckner has been working here for 25 years, so they know the people, they know the needs. CBF has made a 25-year commitment to be here and improve the conditions. We have access to resources to plug into the existing work as well as the commitment to be here long term.”

Church groups composed of children through senior adults traveled up to 15 hours to participate in the pilot project that resulted in changed lives, among both the church workers and Valley residents alike.

“When we met in January in Dallas to begin planning for this event, we asked ourselves, ‘How can we capture the hearts Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and and imaginations of First Baptist Church of Gatesville helped run Vacation Bible School at Iglesia Texas Baptists?’” says Bautista Southside in Mercedes, Texas.

David Wright of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston and chair of the CBF Texas missions committee. “We all knew the answer – missions and ministry. That’s how this was born.”

The committee, with guidance from Jorge Zapata and Tommy Speed of Buckner and Ogburn of national CBF, decided to plan an event where small and large churches

Participating KidsHeart Churches VOLUNTEERS CAME from the following Texas churches: Ash Creek Baptist Church, Azle; Clear Lake Baptist Church, Houston; Crossroads Baptist Church, Rotan; Elkins Lake Baptist Church, Huntsville; First Baptist Church, Arlington; First Baptist Church, College Station; First Baptist Church, Copperas Cove; First Baptist Church, Donna; First Baptist Church, Gatesville; First Baptist Church, Harlingen; First Baptist Church, Hereford; First Baptist Church, Lewisville; First Baptist Church, Richmond;

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First Baptist Church, Tyler; Gambrell Street Baptist Church, Fort Worth; Iglesia Bautista Getsemani, Elsa; Iglesia Bautista Southside, Mercedes; Keys Valley Baptist Church, Belton; Mision Bautista Calvario, Weslaco; Primeria Iglesia Bautista, Santa Maria; The Springs Baptist Church, San Antonio; Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston; and Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas.

First Baptist Church, Abilene; First Baptist Church, Sanger; and Iglesia Bautista, Alice, sent donations for the work.

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could plug into a preDo Something planned project.

Teams and individuals are needed Zapata, director of to volunteer in the Rio Grande border ministries for River Valley area in the following Buckner Children and positions: Family Services, identi• Children, Family and fied the construction Construction Ministry Texas. sites as one of the most Working with Buckner Children and Family Services, types of ministry pressing needs in the opportunities include food basket Valley colonias. Under preparation, distribution of winter Ogburn’s supervision items and school supplies, home and with approximately and church repairs, sports camps, $7,500 from the VBS, summer enrichment programs Fellowship, the conand construction. struction projects made • Community Building and dramatic gains in three Construction Texas. Working with days.

Valley Baptist Mission Education “I wasn’t expecting Center, duties could include office this much help,” says help, facility remodeling and homeowner Jorge Lopez repairing, groundskeeping, VBS, ESL, backyard Bible clubs, through an interpreter. missions in Mexico, teaching, “I thought we might get library, beach ministries, sports the bedroom and bathand recreation. Dormitory housing room finished, but they and RV hook-ups are available. have done the whole (Length: 1-2 weeks.) house.”

For more information, call In addition to the (877) 856-9288 or e-mail construction projects, volunteer@cbfonline.org. the churches hosted Vacation Bible Schools at five sites and sports camps each evening that drew nearly 100 kids at each of the three locations.

“We’re excited because we’re seeing people being transformed by the power of God and by the love of these people who came from all over Texas,” Zapata says. “Even though there are a lot of churches, we have become one body this week.”

Each work team brought school supplies for the children at Valley community centers to assemble into packages to send overseas through World Vision’s school kits project.

“The children can give of their time and energy to put these packets together, and they get to feel the satisfaction of doing something for someone else,” says Battles, the main logistical organizer on site during the week. f!

For more information about KidsHeart, contact Tom Ogburn at (800) 782-2451 or togburn@cbfnet.org.

By Scott Collins, Buckner Communications, and Lance Wallace, CBF Communications

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Scholars Transform a Few Dollars into Blessings for Charlotte Residents W H E N 5 0 C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P L E A D E R S H I P S C H O L A R S

attended the

Ministry Leadership Retreat at this year’s General Assembly, they expected to hear a message about missions from North Carolina pastor Michael Tutterow. But as the seminarians entered the room, it became immediately clear that this would be much more than an ordinary lecture.

Without any initial explanation, each student was given a $20 bill. Then Tutterow – who is also on the Fellowship’s missional church task force – read the parable of the talents taken from Matthew 25, challenging the group to use the money in any way they saw fit. Their only instructions were to glorify the name of Jesus by being the presence of Christ in Charlotte that afternoon.

Jerry Layton, from Campbell University Divinity School, joined four other Campbell students. “We brainstormed and decided to pool our money,” he recalls. “One of our members was familiar with RAIN – Regional AIDS Interfaith Network,” which had an office within walking distance.

When the five students asked how they could minister through RAIN, they were shown the supply closet in need of restocking. The group made a list of needed items and found a way to make their money grow.

“We went to local stores and told the various managers what we were doing and asked if they would like to participate,” Layton explains. “We doubled our money through donations and gifts, ending up with more than $200 in supplies.”

Jake Myers, from Gardner-Webb University’s M. Christopher White School of Divinity, formed a two-person team with Brandy Albritton from Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. They decided to use their money to minister to children, buying toys, bottled water and Popsicles, along

Class Notes: News from Partner Schools Baptist Studies Program, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Greg Boyd, pastor of the Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., will speak on open theism at 11 a.m., Sept. 25. For more information, contact David Key at (404) 727-6350.

Logsdon School of Theology, Hardin-Simmons University.

Thomas Brisco is the new theology school dean, succeeding Vernon Davis, who retired in May. Brisco has been professor of religion at Baylor University since 2001. He previously taught and was an administrator at Southwestern Baptist

with two ice-filled coolers.

The original plan was to minister to children at a park in the area, but God had a better idea. After a wrong turn caused them to miss the park, Myers turned the car around, spilling one of the coolers. The first available stop for cleaning up the ice happened to be a church. Going inside for directions, Albritton discovered that the church was a day camp for 40 underprivileged children.

Albritton and Myers spent the afternoon playing games and sharing the love of Christ with the children. They gave them the new toys, tripling what they already had, and presented the remaining $20 to the camp director. Her eyes filled with tears as she explained that $20 would allow another child to attend camp.

That evening, the group gathered again to share a meal and to talk informally about the day’s experiences.

“We were all given the same task – to embody Christ’s presence to a hurting world – and everybody had different ideas,” Myers says. “God worked in different ways, through each person and group, to do something really special.” f!

Use the envelope provided in this issue to help fund the Fellowship’s leadership development initiative. Your contribution to CBF’s general missions and ministries budget will help support leadership scholarships for students.

By staff writer Jo Upton Theological Seminary and was on the faculty at Ouachita Baptist University.

Kenneth Lyle has joined the faculty as associate professor of theology and Greek.

Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. The Dobbs Lecture in Applied Christianity with C. Stephen Evans of Baylor, will be at 9:30 a.m.,

Oct. 8. His topic will be “Can Love Be Commanded?

Kierkegaard on the Foundations of Moral Obligations.” The Willson-Addis Lecture with Ellen T. Charry of Princeton Theological Seminary, will be at 9:30 a.m., Nov. 5. The topic is “The Myth of the Autonomous Individual.” Both lectures are free and open to the public.

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GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

Students Get Firsthand Training in Cross-cultural Ministry M O S T C O L L E G E A N D S E M I N A R Y S T U D E N T S TA K E A B R E A K

during the summer months

to hang out with friends, lounge by the pool, or work for extra money; but none of these

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activities is on the agenda of students who participated with the Student.Go program. The program is a joint venture of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship global missions and Passport, Inc., which provides summer and semester missions opportunities for undergraduate and

Courtesy of Student.Go

“Student.Go is a great program for students because it provides the opportunity to serve alongside CBF global missions career field personnel and ministry partners and learn hands-on what a career of cross-cultural ministry is like,” says Amy Derrick, the Fellowship’s director for the Student.Go program.

“The positions include a wide variety of locations and types of ministry — including creative, innovative assignments, requiring specific skill sets — as well as more traditional ministry options,” Derrick says.

Student.Go projects are not only an interesting way to serve a community; they can also help students confirm or discover a call to missions work.

Jo Ann Sharkey, a third-year student at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, experienced this while serving in Toronto this summer. “This assignment has helped solidify in me a desire to work with internationals,” Sharkey says. “I have always been interested in overseas mission work, yet having the chance to experience it for a brief time this summer has given me a taste of what kind of international missions opportunities are out there for me.”

Experiencing the life of global missions field personnel firsthand, rather than in the classroom, shows students that working in missions means Erica Jordan, Jeannette Jordan, Natalie there is no such thing McIntyre (l-r) and Amy Pennington (front) as a typical day or a assist Sowing Seeds of Hope in Perry typical job description.

County, Ala.

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Courtesy of Student.Go

graduate students.

Deanna Lavery from Mary Washington College interacts with children at Touching Miami With Love Ministries.

Jeannette Jordan just finished her first year at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta and worked with Sowing Seeds of Hope in Alabama. “You just never know what your day is going to be like,” says Jordan, who stayed busy serving with the Alabama component of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative.

“One minute I’m conducting a worship service, the next I’m passing out chicken to the community and the next I’m picking up scaffolding for a construction project.”

Sharkey’s experience was similar. “Each day holds so many surprises,” she explains. “The first month was dedicated to teaching ESL classes to women and assisting with an after-school program.”

During her second month, Sharkey tutored in homes. “I teach the kids reading skills, spelling, pronunciation, and math. I also get the fun opportunity to taste many foreign foods as each family takes pride in preparing a meal for me, which usually consists of foods I have never even heard of before,” she says.

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Courtesy of Student.Go

For more information about Student.Go, call (877) 856-9288 or e-mail student.go@cbfonline.org. Or go to www.destinationmissions.net.

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

Despite the crazy schedules and the hard work, most students walk away from the experience feeling they have made a change in themselves as well as the community they serve.

Julie Case, a recent graduate of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, says that working with the rural poverty initiative in Arkansas “has been out of my comfort zone, but I know that God has been stretching me and molding me and teaching me while I’m here. I may never be the same after I walk out of here.” f!

Julie Case from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor serves as mission teams coordinator in Helena, Ark., for Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative.

By contributing writer Amy Walker, Atlanta

THE 29 STUDENTS who served

this spring and summer, with their locations of service are as follows: •Jennifer Adams, Matthew House ministry for refugees, Ft. Erie, Canada; •Bill Ballard, ethnographic interviewing, Fremont, Calif.; •Amanda Bordeaux, Touching Miami With Love Ministries, Miami; •John C., information technology support, Asia (John cannot be identified for security reasons.); •Julie Case, mission teams coordinator for Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, Helena, Ark.; •Adam Cheney, children’s and youth camps, Brooklyn, N.Y., in conjunction with Virginia Baptist Mission Board; •Kristen Connolly, Macedonia; •Christy Craddock, videography, northern Africa; •Adam Dunsworth, videography, northern Africa; •Brian Eastland, children’s and youth camps, Brooklyn, N.Y.;

•Monica Garris, children’s program manager, Raleigh, N.C.; •Richard Grant, research and community development with Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, Arkansas; •Jessy Grondin, ethnographic interviewing, Fremont, Calif.; •Jennifer Harris, ethnographic interviewing, Fremont, Calif.; •Emily Hogge, mission teams coordinator with Buckner Children and Family Services, Harlingen, Texas; •Robbie Hott, missions and media technology support, Houston, Texas; •Erica Jordan, Sowing Seeds of Hope, Perry County, Ala.; •Jeannette Jordan, Sowing Seeds of Hope, Perry County, Ala.; •Deanna Lavery, Touching Miami With Love Ministries, Miami; •Natalie McIntyre, Sowing Seeds of Hope, Perry County, Ala.; •Amy Pennington, Sowing Seeds of Hope, Perry County, Ala.; •Mandy Ransone, teaching English, northern Africa;

•Beth Riddick, medical team, Angola, Africa; •Jo Ann Sharkey, refugees, Toronto, Canada; •Ashley Skiles, Touching Miami With Love Ministries, Miami; •Sarah Slagle, ethnographic interviewing, Fremont, Calif.; •Holly and Matt Sprink, oral history preservation of marginalized people and a mentor ministry, South Africa; and •Sarah Stone, children’s home, northern Africa.

ALSO SERVING with Fellowship field personnel this summer: • Marjorie Patterson, Matthew House ministry for refugees, Ft. Erie, Canada, in conjunction

with Virginia Baptist Mission Board; •Christen Roszkowski, Touching Miami With Love Ministries, Miami, in conjunction with Kentucky Baptist Fellowship; •Sarah Thompson, children’s and youth camps, Brooklyn, N.Y., in conjunction with Virginia Baptist Mission Board; •Bethany Warren, children’s and youth camps, Brooklyn, N.Y., in conjunction with Virginia Baptist Mission Board; and •Christina Wright, Quest Farms, Kentucky, in conjunction with Kentucky Baptist Fellowship.

Courtesy of Student.Go

Student.Go Participants

Student.Go participants enjoy a week of fellowship and training prior to their commissioning. www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

LEADERSHIP PROFILES

Holmes Brings Unique Perspective to Her Role as Fellowship Moderator CYNTHIA HOLMES

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likes to joke that she’s the first “laywoman” moderator of the Cooperative

Baptist Fellowship.

“It’s hard for me to consider a pastor’s wife, a teacher at a Baptist University, a WMU national leader, or someone who has given hundreds of hours of volunteer service to their church as their primary work to be laity,” says Holmes, referring to the five women laity and clergy who have previously held the position of Fellowship moderator.

When Holmes attended the first General Assembly in 1991, she didn’t know anyone in the Fellowship movement.

“I was always proud to be a Baptist because of the principles on which we stand, including absolute religious liberty and soul freedom,” she recalls. Since 1991, Holmes has been at every national and CBF of Missouri Assembly.

The St. Louis attorney will preside at Coordinating Council meetings and at the 2004 General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala. Q What are your I W A S A L W AY S P R O U D goals as moderator?

A My goal is to tell to be a Baptist because of the Fellowship the principles on which we story. I still believe stand, including absolute there are innumerable Baptists out religious liberty and there who do not soul freedom. understand the current realities of — CBF Baptist life. They M O D E R AT O R would find a home CYNTHIA HOLMES in the Fellowship.

After this year’s General Assembly, a story about CBF and me appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

My pastor received telephone calls from numerous people indicating that they had given up hope of continuing to be Baptist, that they did not realize there was a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and people like us.

“

”

Q What are the challenges that you see ahead for CBF in

the upcoming year?

A First, the continuing struggle to finance all of the meaningful initiatives and priorities of CBF. The economy in general presents a challenge as every church and C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P

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nonprofit agency of which I am aware has had a severe falling off of donations. The second challenge is to impart to the next generation the Baptist principles we cherish.

The third challenge is to continue our Baptist tradition of combating an ever increasing agenda by both politicians and some religious people to mingle religion and government. I strongly believe that the Church’s prophetic witness suffers when we look to government for affirmation of our worth, or for financial support for our ministries. Christ did not tell us to look to Caesar to fund the care of the least of His children.

Q What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

A I believe that I have the respect of most of my peers and

clients. On many occasions, a new client has come in the door and when asked who referred them, answered that it was someone in a prior case. Many times it has been not my client, but the party on the other side, who has sent their friend to me.

Q What personal achievement are you most proud of?

A I’m probably most proud that I have maintained my

sanity in balancing my personal and professional roles, and the fact that my husband, Al, still values me as his spouse after nearly 25 years of marriage, and that I have a wonderful relationship with all my family.

Q Where were you born and where did you grow up?

A I was born in St. Louis, Mo., and grew up in Overland, a

suburb in St. Louis County. I still attend Overland Baptist Church, the church in which I was raised and where my mom (now 96) is still a member.

Q What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

A What I enjoy is having free time, which is becoming

more and more rare these days. My hobbies include my avocation, fighting for religious liberty and separation of church and state. Others are running (I have finished four marathons), reading and playing with my husband, dog and family. f!

For more of the Q-and-A with Cynthia Holmes, go to Newsstand/CBF News/News Archive at www.cbfonline.org.

GOING TO HARD PLACES

Would it Be OK if I Give My Money?

Listen, See, Respond E V E R Y PA R E N T A N D G R A N D PA R E N T has children

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Courtesy of TML

stories to tell, I know. But I want to share one of mine.

When she was 9 years old, our granddaughter, Madeline, spent a few weeks with us during the summer.

She helped out around the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship office by folding offering envelopes and doing other odd jobs. My wife, Carolyn, and I promised to take her with us to visit mission work in Miami, and then to drive to Key West for some sightseeing. We paid her a penny each to fold the envelopes, and she earned about $6 as her “spending money.”

In Miami, she sat with us during meetings with the staff of Touching Miami With Love Ministries and for the first time, I believe, she met some homeless people. She went with us to an AIDS hospice and visited the city park where many Fellowship volunteers and staff work among the poorest children in Florida. She quietly overheard our conversations, the plans for ministry, the needs of lost and hurting people.

Later, on our way to Key West, we stopped at Open House Ministries in Homestead, where Madeline met Open House volunteers and saw uninsured poor people who desperately needed medical assistance. Again, she sat quietly as we discussed the ministries and the plight of poor and disadvantaged people.

Headed for Key West, we talked excitedly about what we would experience there. After a long time of silence as we drove through the Florida Keys, Madeline said, “Would it be OK if I gave some of my money to Touching Miami With Love and Open House?”

Carolyn and I looked at each other, and Carolyn said, “Why, sure, sweetheart … if that is what you want to do, I think it would be a wonderful thing to do.” Madeline thought further and said, “I think I’ll give $2 to TML, and $2 to Open House … and then I will still have $2 for myself!”

I could see Madeline in the rearview mirror as she contemplated this, happy and at ease in sharing what she had.

The Offering for Global Missions gives each of us the opportunity to follow Madeline’s good example. “Would it be OK if I gave some of my money? …” You and I have been blessed to such an extravagant extent that, by comparison, Madeline’s $6 seems paltry. But, in proportion to the resources available to her, Madeline’s generosity inspires us.

You and I are much more knowledgeable than Madeline about Fellowship global missions. We know about unevangelized, poor, isolated, marginalized people — living on the

Thanks to volunteers from Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., children at Touching Miami with Love Ministries summer camp ‘traveled’ back to the land of Egypt.

edge, without justice, homeless, hurting. Our field personnel in hard places communicate the needs and challenges and victories. We have ears to hear and eyes to see and resources to share.

As you prayerfully prepare to participate in the Offering for Global Missions, will you respond generously?

Fellowship field personnel depend on our financial support, and many people are blessed by the resources we can garner to share Christ-like love. [“Everyone … Everywhere: Being the Presence of Christ” is the theme for the 2003-04 Offering for Global Missions, with a goal of $6.1 million.]

Also, since our hearts and treasures coexist in the same place, will you pray with all of your heart for the work of Christ throughout the world?

Listen, see and respond … give, pray and go … . f!

The insert in this issue provides information about 2003-04 Offering for Global Missions resources.

By Patrick R. Anderson, Fellowship missions advocate www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

Everett Gill photo

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PA S T O R G A I L C O U LT E R R E C E I V E S G U E S T S on the front lawn of Providence Baptist Church on a perfect summer Sunday morning when she notices that several letters have fallen to the bottom of the church message board.

With a quick turn, she excuses herself and dashes into the church, returning with a screwdriver.

Clutching the screwdriver in her right hand, her left gingerly retrieves and replaces the recalcitrant letters.

“When you’re the pastor of a small church, you have to be prepared to do almost everything,” she says with a laugh.

Providence Baptist Church in Hendersonville, N.C., is a church start sponsored by six Fellowship churches in the Asheville area, in cooperation with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, national CBF and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Two local Baptist associations refused to admit Providence because it is aligned only with CBF. Refusal of fellowship by the association dictates that the Baptist State As pastor of a small church, Gail Coulter Convention may not does a little bit of everything — which provide new church sometimes includes fixing up the church’s message board. support to Providence.

A second problem: their pastor was a woman. The pain of those rejections ended when the United Association of Charlotte, a group of like-minded congregations, invited the fledgling congregation to join them. Providence was thrilled to find a home.

Recently, with the financial and spiritual support of 11 partner congregations and the sacrificial giving of its 40 members, the congregation moved from a rented movie house and bought a “real” church building in a historic Hendersonville community. Despite the controversy swirling around its formation, the small congregation is growing in numbers, in love for each other and in ministries to its community.

According to those who know her best, Coulter’s practice of shared leadership, her loving, welcoming spirit and her

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Everett Gill photo

New Church Start Flourishes

By God’s ‘Providence’

Using creative worship planning, pastor Gail Coulter hangs tongues of fire around the Communion table and behind the pulpit for her sermon on Pentecost.

unflappable style are key to the congregation’s successful beginning.

“There is something of Christian elegance about Gail,” says Buddy Corbin, pastor of Calvary Baptist in Asheville, and her mentor. “For her, it was never about being a woman pastor. It was all about calling. She is flexible, articulate, creative and grace-filled, able to extend herself to people who are very critical of her role as pastor. She’s turned something negative into something positive.”

E R E ’ S A N O P E N N E S S H E R E to show “T H Christ’s love to all people and to impact

the lives of those who would fall through the cracks.

”

— C A R O LY N S I E R K

,

PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH MEMBER

“There’s an openness here to show Christ’s love to all people and to impact the lives of those who would fall through the cracks,” says Carolyn Sierk, who with her husband, Herb, has been a part of the church since the beginning.

“Most churches are inwardly focused,” adds Herb. “This church is outwardly focused.”

Providence is Coulter’s first pastorate. Now a grandmother, she began her journey to ordination in middle age with the solid support of her husband, Dutch, and their three children. While assistant pastor of First Baptist

Resources Assist Congregations in Fulfilling Their God-given Mission

running the vacuum, from serving on the finance committee to making Chrismons for the Advent tree.

“This is a family,” says Arbuna, shedding tears of gratitude. “We all do whatever we can.” f!

Contact Gail Coulter at gail@providencecongregation.com or (828) 697-2878.

For more information on new church starts, contact Phil Hester, CBF associate coordinator for church starts, at (678) 429-9753 or phester@cbfnet.org. Or go to www.churchstarts.net.

By contributing writer Rachel Granger Gill, Weaverville, N.C.

To subscribe, e-mail Bo Prosser at bprosser@cbfnet.org. (free)

Congregational Life THE FELLOWSHIP and its

partners offer the following resources to help Christians and churches discover and fulfill their God-given mission.

Web/e-Resources Online Resource Catalog.

Resources for congregations and individuals are organized around the areas of inclusiveness, learning/teaching, pastoring, proclamation, relationships, servanthood and worship. Post reviews online.

To access, go to Resources/Resource Directory at www.cbfonline.org. (free) The Truth About CBF Web Site. CBF has launched a new Web site for correcting and addressing ongoing attacks by groups that seek to discredit CBF and its ministries. This site, www.truthaboutcbf.net, has up-to-the-minute postings correcting misinformation from Baptist or secular media along with educational articles on Baptist history. (free) It’s Time: an Urgent Call to Christian Mission Study Guide.

This online study guide

accompanies Daniel Vestal’s book, It’s Time: an Urgent Call to Christian Mission. A downloadable PDF version of the 12-page study guide is available at Resources/Study Guides/Its Time at www.cbfonline.org. (free) Copies of Vestal’s book are available from the CBF Resource Link at (888) 8014223 or the CBF e-Store at www.cbfonline.org. ($9.95, plus shipping) EthicsDaily.com e-newsletter.

Delivered three times a week to subscribers, this e-newsletter produced by the Baptist Center for Ethics contains ethics sermons, movie reviews, book reviews and articles related to current topics. To subscribe, go to www.baptists4ethics.com and E-Newsletter. (free) Congregational Life e-zine.

Produced each month by the Fellowship’s coordinator of congregational life, this e-zine provides a compilation of resources and ideas related to all aspects of congregational life. Also includes Web links for Fellowship partner resources.

Companions in Christ. A 28week spiritual formation resource made available through the Fellowship’s partnership with Upper Room Ministries. Weekly two-hour sessions are aimed at strengthening the Christian walk. A sampler provides an overview with sample pages from various Companions in Christ resources. Order from the CBF Resource Link at (888) 801-4223 or the CBF e-Store at www.cbfonline.org. (free, plus shipping) Celebrating Baptist Heritage Brochure. Judson Press has produced a brochure that features books on Baptist history, Baptist identity, Baptist guides and Christian education.

To order, call (800) 458-3766 or go to www.judsonpress.com. (free) FaithSteps for Preschoolers and Children. A dated Sunday school curriculum for preschoolers (except for infants-twos) and children produced by Smyth & Helwys Publishing. The series supports Bible skills development, family ministry

and worship education. For additional information, go to www.helwys.com/faithsteps. To order, call (800) 747-3016. (prices vary) “True Survivor” Gathering for Christian Educators.

Providence Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., will host this gathering Feb. 29 - March 3.

Cost is $50 per person, plus lodging. Speakers include Dan Bagby, Theodore F. Adams professor of pastoral care at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. For more information, contact Toni Draper at (770) 220-1654, tdraper@cbfnet.org or Bo Prosser at (770) 220-1631, bprosser@cbfnet.org.

Blueprints. Church leaders and planners can develop and coordinate church activities with the congregation’s mission in mind using this 16page workbook. Order from the CBF Resource Link at (888) 801-4223 or the CBF e-Store at www.cbfonline.org. (free)

www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

Church of Asheville, Coulter served on the Hendersonville CBF church-start committee – whose tasks included finding a pastor. Jim Fowler, missions coordinator for CBF of North Carolina, asked, “Gail, how about you?”

“It took my breath away,” Coulter recalls. “His question was like a bolt out of the blue – only from the imagination of the Holy Spirit.” Now, after two years as pastor, she describes Providence as “a group of courageous, committed Christians, authentic in their faith and in relating to folks around them.”

Arbuna and Guy Wiggins came to Providence from a larger church where they didn’t feel needed. No longer.

At Providence they happily do it all: from maintenance to

9

CBF BUDGET

CBF Dips into Reserves to Balance Year-End Deficit Total Revenues Grow by 12 Percent A CONTINUING DECLINE in undesignated contributions from 10

Endowment Inc., resource sales and other earnings. While total revenue increased by 12.3 percent compared to the same period last year, contributions from churches fell by 2.1 percent and contributions from individuals increased by 18 percent.

The number of churches and individuals contributing to CBF increased for the fiscal year. More than 1,800 churches and 3,700 individuals made contributions to CBF in fiscal 2002-03. Church counts are approximate because CBF of Florida began reporting church-by-church contributions mid-year and because CBF does not receive the names of churches that contribute through the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. CBF also is a part of giving plans through the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baptist General Association of Virginia. Those two states provide church counts to CBF. Undesignated contributions from churches and individuals total $9.03 million, 1 percent more than last year.

Designated contributions have experienced a 23 percent increase over 2001-02. To break down the designated category even further, the Offering for Global Missions brought in $5.3 million during this fiscal year. Other designated gifts jumped by 43 percent. This increase is attributed to the grant from the Lilly Endowment and an anonymous $5 million gift.

Contributions from churches and individuals ran ahead of the 2002-03 budget by 32 percent.

Fellowship officers recently appointed a seven-member group to study the Fellowship’s partnership relationships, chaired by Charles Cantrell of Mountain View, Mo. The new committee will continue the discussions of how the Fellowship’s partners should be funded and evaluated. +/– The Fellowship has also begun several new, growth6.1% enhancing projects under the supervision of CBF -2.1% Coordinator Daniel Vestal and the recently-appointed 20.6% growth team. Because of this work, the Fellowship 18.0% remains optimistic about future growth.

“We are grateful for the gifts that have sustained 1.0% this movement of Christ from its earliest days,” Vestal 23.0% said. “We know there are more people who want to join 13.3% in this movement, and we will continue to discover ways for churches and individuals to discover and -8.4% fulfill their God-given mission.” f!

12.3%

churches and individuals resulted in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship cutting ministry and program budgets and dipping into reserves by $513,000 in fiscal year 2003, which ended June 30. However, thanks largely to a $5 million anonymous gift, designated contributions helped the Fellowship’s gifts surpass the previous year’s total by 13 percent.

Through years of sound financial management, the Fellowship maintains reserves of $8 million and has enacted a repayment plan to the reserves as contributions rise during the next few years.

A $5 million gift in April allowed the Fellowship to commission 18 new global missions field personnel at the recent General Assembly. Without that gift, which designated $4.2 million for global missions over the next three years, the Fellowship would not have been able to send new field personnel. The gift also included $500,000 designated for endowment for the CBF Church Benefits Board, $250,000 for church starts and $50,000 for a new, shared database system in the Atlanta Resource Center.

“There were no surprises at year’s end,” said Jim Strawn, the Fellowship’s chief financial officer. “We knew this was going to be a down year, the mid-year contribution numbers confirmed it, and we began making cuts and taking fiscally responsible action early. Without those moves, the deficit would have been more.”

Total revenues for the fiscal year reached $23.9 million, with $20.8 million coming from churches and individuals.

The remainder came from a grant from the Lilly

CBF Year-end Contributions Fiscal Year

2001-02

2002-03

Contributing Churches

1,715

1,819

Church Contributions

$13,929,598

$13,640,915

Contributing Individuals

3,128

3,773

Individual Contributions

$6,104,366

$7,205,837

CBF Ministries (undesignated) $8,943,419

$9,032,145

Designated Giving*

$11,358,291

$13,973,157

Total Contributions

$20,301,710

$23,005,302

Resources & Earnings

$1,002,964

$918,239

Total Revenues

$21,304,674

$23,923,541

* includes Offering for Global Missions and Lilly Endowment grant (2002-03)

C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P

www.cbfonline.org

By Lance Wallace, CBF Communications

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES

CBF, Partnership for the Environment Build Water System for Macedonian Village A S M A L L V I L L A G E I N N O R T H E A S T E R N Macedonia

“… T H E O P P O R T U N I T Y to bring a witness by our actions is a powerful way to demonstrate the love and grace we know as Christians.”

— TERRI MORGAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PFE

The Baptist General Convention of Texas, which houses PFE at its offices, was instrumental in guiding and supporting the work early on in the project, Morgan says.

“In preaching the Gospel without words, our board and officers found a level of interest among Texas Baptists that allowed us to meet human needs in very practical ways,” she says. “CBF was our first international partner in a specific foreign mission project.”

The village’s needs were assessed in summer 2002, and the project proceeded with the full support of local governments and volunteers until its completion in late 2002.

“The men of the village worked tirelessly, digging ditches by hand and carrying slabs of broken concrete and were well-rewarded for their labors,” says Darrell Smith, who has been working in Macedonia since 1997.

Supported with in-kind contributions from the community, outside grant funding, and funding from PFE and the Fellowship, the entire project was completed for about $15,000. Project management was an in-kind donation

11

Filed personnel photo

has water flowing again thanks to a collaborative effort between the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Partnership for the Environment.

Earlier this year, Fellowship global missions field personnel Darrell and Kathy Smith worked with Terri Morgan of PFE to complete a project that restored the supply of fresh water to the village of Turija.

“The need for potable water in communities across Eastern Europe is severe,” says Morgan, president and chief executive officer of PFE, a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to agriculture, water and sanitation projects that improve the quality of human life. “When Darrell asked PFE to help, we were delighted to provide the technical assistance and basic engineering needed to resolve the problem. Collaborating with governments and local businesses … is an application of the Gospel that is deeply gratifying.”

Local workers dig a trench for the new water line along the hillside in Macedonia. Because of the rocky terrain, most of the excavation work had to be done by hand.

from Darrell Smith, Morgan and PFE board members.

The local people became “stakeholders” in the process, Morgan says. “It was also amazing to see how far a little bit of money went in improving the living conditions of the people,” Morgan adds.

Next on the agenda for the CBF-PFE partnership is a sewerage project in Kamenjane, Macedonia, an area 50 miles from the border of Kosovo. The current wastewater disposal method consists of rock-lined cisterns, a primitive system which causes the spread of disease.

The Macedonian government has not addressed the public health needs of the Albanian Muslim population of Kamenjane. PFE has contributed $3,000 for the first phase of this project, estimated to cost $1.5 million.

“The high rate of disease – especially among children – is closely related to a lack of clean water and sanitation throughout the region,” Morgan says. “Because the community is Muslim, they face severe discrimination from their own government, even for humanitarian needs. But the opportunity to bring a witness by our actions is a powerful way to demonstrate the love and grace we know as Christians.” f!

The Fellowship’s October 2003 missions education curriculum focuses on ministry among Albanians living in Macedonia.

The November curriculum highlights CBF’s Offering for Global Missions. (Annual subscription: adult and youth, $20; children and preschool, $80. Shipping will be charged.) To order, contact the CBF Resource Link at (888) 801-4223.

By Lance Wallace, CBF Communications www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

AS WE JOURNEY

Being Baptist: A Fellowship Perspective IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEFINE B A P T I S T in numerous ways. Some 12

define it from a historical perspective. Baptist is a faith tradition born out of a historical context and shaped by historical circumstances.

Like all Christian faith traditions, the Baptist tradition gives witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptists share a common commitment with other followers of Jesus to the historic Christian faith. They also share a common commitment with one another to certain biblical truths that have defined their heritage and tradition. These include commitments to the priesthood of all believers, the authority of Scripture for faith and life, freedom of conscience, the autonomy of every local church, believers baptism, religious liberty and the separation of church and state. The Baptist faith tradition is still strong and vibrant.

Others define Baptist from a denominational perspective. In faithfulness to their principles, the “nerve center” in Baptist life lies in the individual believer and in the local church. However, from their beginning, Baptist churches and individuals have held to the concept of voluntary cooperation and formed themselves into associations/unions/conventions/ societies/alliances/fellowships for witness and ministry. The idea of organized and organizational cooperation is not new to Baptists.

Within the Baptist faith tradition, there are hundreds of structures and systems in which Baptists work together. In more recent time, the word “denomination” has come to be equated with a particular organized Baptist body, whereas for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, it C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P

www.cbfonline.org

seems more accurate to say that each of these organizations are a part of the Baptist denomination.

Still another way to see Baptists is from a global perspective. Estimates vary, but there are perhaps as many as 50 million Baptists worldwide. In some places, they are a small persecuted minority, and in other places, they are intertwined in the majority culture. Globally, Baptists share commitments to historic principles but are diverse in theology, leadership, worship and liturgy. A global perspective is foundational for collaborative mission and enriching fellowship.

For Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, all of these perspectives on being Baptist are important, but the one that is most important is the congregational perspective. Our mission is to serve churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission. With a commitment to our faith tradition and the principles it has championed, as an organized body within the Baptist denomination and with a global view, we want to be a resource to and for local churches.

Our passion is the health and welfare of Baptist churches. Our vision is congregations being the presence of Christ locally, globally, cooperatively.

Our strategy is to network, empower and mobilize churches. We partner with schools in theological education to prepare future congregational leaders and we partner with a number of institutions to strengthen the witness of churches.

Why is our focus so centered in congregations? Because we believe that this is where the Great Commission will be fulfilled and where the Great Commandment will be lived out.

Peace, reconciliation and justice will

O U R P A S S I O N I S the “ health and welfare of Baptist

churches. … Peace, reconciliation and justice will come in the world as churches incarnate the life and ministry of Christ and proclaim the Kingdom of God in word and deed.

”

—CBF C O O R D I N AT O R D A N I E L V E S TA L

come in the world as churches incarnate the life and ministry of Christ and proclaim the Kingdom of God in word and deed. f!

Reprinted with permission of The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University, from the July 2003 issue of the e-magazine, The Baptist Studies Bulletin.

By CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal

FELLOWSHIP FARE

Fellowship Roundup News from CBF’s states, regions and national offices ALABAMA SOWING SEEDS OF HOPE –

Alabama’s component of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative – had more than 600 volunteers come to Perry County, May through August.

Fisher H. Humphreys received the first-ever Beeson Divinity School Teaching Award at Samford University in Birmingham. A Beeson faculty member since 1990, Humphreys specializes in systematic theology.

GEORGIA C B F O F G E O R G I A F A L L convoca-

tion will be Nov. 9-10 at First Baptist Church, Columbus, with CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal as speaker. Highlights include a ministry fair, panel of CBF leaders, sermons by McAfee and Candler school students, missionary speakers and Tomislav Dobutovic, director of the Bible Institute of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

CBF of Georgia is co-sponsoring a church leadership academy Sept. 20 at First Baptist Church, Gainesville.

New Horizons Camp, a missions summer camp for children in grades 3-5, registered more than 100 children in attendance for the two weeks of 2003.

Touching Taliaferro with Love, a CBF of Georgia children’s day camp for children in grades K-12 in Taliaferro County, enrolled 218 children and adult workers. A third week, a baseball camp, was added this year with an enrollment of 54 children and adult volunteers.

MISSOURI Milton P. Horne, professor of religion at William Jewell College in Liberty, has been appointed execu-

tive director of the Partee Center for Baptist Historical Studies at the college. Horne’s appointment follows the retirement of Donald Wideman, who had served as executive director of the center since 1997.

The annual Ministers’ Retreat sponsored by CBF of Missouri will be Sept. 22-23 at Windermere Baptist Conference Center. The retreat leader will be Roger Paynter, pastor of First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas. For more information, contact Steve Graham at (816) 781-2824 or Keith Herron at (816) 942-1729.

The Mid American Indian Fellowships will gather Sept. 26-28 at Linn County Park on LaCygne Lake, Kan. For more information, e-mail Robert Francis at janrob@netection.net.

CBF Missouri will meet Nov. 4, in St. Louis.

NATIONAL Christen “Sissi” Green, daughter of Fellowship global missions field personnel Butch and Nell Green, was selected as one of 350 young scholars to attend the 2003 Global Young Leaders Conference, Aug. 314, in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Green, 17, serves with her family in Brussels, Belgium.

NORTH CAROLINA T H E C H O I R from First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C., sang at the opening ceremonies of Habitat for Humanity’s Jimmy Carter Work Project in Anniston, Ala. Minister of Music Clark Sorrells said the choir hoped their performance would inspire other churches to combine music ministry with work projects.

The choir joined more than 2,000

Coming Attractions Oct. 12-16 Green Lake Chautaugua Conference Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wis. Leaders: Tom Clifton, Jan DeWitt, Roger Fredrikson, Molly Marshall, Lee McGlone, Roy Medley, Walter Shurden, Jeffry Zurheide Theme: "Awaken to a New Day" Cost: $340 per person, includes lodging, meals, program fee Contact: (800) 558-8898, www.glcc.org For a complete schedule of events, go to Community/Calendar at www.cbfonline.org.

volunteers who built 92 houses in Alabama and Georgia.

OKLAHOMA M O R E T H A N 8 0 ministers met this summer at All Tribes Community Church in Tulsa to discuss how to better mobilize Native American congregations for outreach. Keynote speakers were Emerson Falls, pastor of Glorieta Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, and former president of Cook Theological School; and Richard Twiss, writer and co-founder of Wiconi International. Other seminar leaders included Robert Francis, Mid American Indian Fellowships; Herschell Daney, retired director of Indian Ministries for American Baptist Churches USA; Will Brown, director of Indian Ministries for ABC; and Tom Ogburn, CBF associate coordinator for partnership missions. The conference was sponsored

by Indian Ministries of the American Baptist Churches and CBF.

www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

13

FELLOWSHIP FARE 14

SOUTH CAROLINA

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE CBF OF SOUTH CAROLINA

C A LVA R Y B A P T I S T C H U R C H

fall convocation is scheduled for Nov. 10 with keynote preachers James Dunn and Brenda Kneece.

recently elected Amy Butler as senior pastor of the 141-year-old congregation. Butler previously was associate pastor of St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. While in New Orleans, Butler also was a CBF urban missionary.

TENNESSEE T H E S E C O N D C H U R C H Starters

Workshop will be Oct. 3-4 at Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg.

Leaders will be Dan Page, Dynamic Development Design Network, Greenville, S.C., and Greg Mumpower, church starter, The Church at Mountain Home, Knoxville. Cost is $75 for individuals and $100 for couples. For more information, contact Tennessee CBF at (888) 6618223 or tcbfoffice@tncbf.org.

Vol. 13, No. 6 CBF COORDINATOR • Daniel Vestal EDITOR • Ben McDade MANAGING EDITOR • Lisa M. Jones PHONE • (770) 220-1600 FAX • (770) 220-1685 E-MAIL • fellowship@cbfnet.org WEB SITE • www.cbfonline.org

fellowship! is published 8 times a year in Jan./Feb., Mar., April/May, June/July, Aug., Sept./Oct., Nov., Dec.

by The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Inc., 3001 Mercer University Dr., Atlanta, GA 30341-4115.

Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, GA, and additional mailing offices.

USPS #015-625 POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to “fellowship!”

Newsletter, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 450329, Atlanta, GA 31145-0329

C O O P E R AT I V E B A P T I S T F E L L O W S H I P

www.cbfonline.org

BWA Votes to Extend Membership to CBF THE BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE

voted July 11, 78-25 to extend membership to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship during the BWA’s annual General Council meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The vote concludes a three-year process by the Fellowship to gain membership into the largest and most diverse international Baptist body.

“It represents an important step for CBF to be a part of the world Baptist family,” said CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal. “This decision of the General Council of the BWA represents a validation of CBF. It was heartening and encouraging to be received as a member body.”

“We want to be a contributing member body of BWA, entering into their mission, participating and doing our part financially to provide support,” Vestal added.

The Fellowship first applied for BWA membership in 2001. The membership committee deferred action on the request at that time, citing concerns about the Fellowship’s relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as whether the Fellowship could be identified as a separate Baptist entity.

The Fellowship reapplied in 2002 with additional supporting documentation, gaining a favorable hearing from the membership committee, which recommended granting full membership.

The BWA exists to promote Christian fellowship and cooperation among Baptists worldwide, to lead in world evangelization, to respond to people in need and to defend human rights and religious freedom. The BWA is the official global fellowship of 211 Baptist unions and conventions comprising a membership of more than 47 million baptized believers.

Cobb Accepts Position with Children’s Defense Fund REBA S. COBB, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship chief operating officer, accepted the position of religious action director for the Cobb Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) in Washington, D.C., effective Sept. 1.

Cobb, who also served as coordinator of the Fellowship’s Atlanta Resource Center, has been with the Fellowship since 2001.

“Reba Cobb is a gifted individual with a heart for service and mind for problem solving,” said CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal. “She has accomplished much in her time with us in Atlanta, and we pray for her continued success as she seeks to be the presence of Christ in the world.”

Cobb said, “It is with mixed emotions that I leave my place of service and ministry with CBF to pursue God’s calling in another arena. I appreciate the opportunities to use my gifts and abilities at CBF and look forward to new challenges ahead.”

A graduate of Samford University and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Cobb is also a founder of Baptist Women in Ministry. f!

News articles by Lance Wallace, CBF Communications

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 2004 General Assembly June 24-26, 2004 • Birmingham, Alabama Reserve quickly at www.cbfonline.org/community/ga/ Hotel Choice See hotel listings below. If you list only one choice and that hotel is full, you will be assigned to the next closest available property.

COMPLETE HOTEL RESERVATION form and return no later than May 23, 2004. Three ways to reserve your room:

1st choice:

1. MAIL: Birmingham Convention Housing & Visitors Bureau 2200 Ninth Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35203-1100

2nd choice:

2. FAX: (205) 458-8088

3rd choice: Arrival Time, if known:

3. ONLINE: Go to www.cbfonline.org/community/ga/ and make reservations online with the Birmingham Convention Housing Bureau.

If dates are not listed, you will be assigned the official convention housing dates at the top of this form. (June 24-26)

If you encounter difficulties making your reservations, please call (770) 619-9671 for assistance.

Arrival Date:

Departure Date:

1. Reservation forms must be RECEIVED by the Birmingham Convention Housing Bureau no later than May 23, 2004.

Room Type ■ Single (1 person, 1 bed)

■ Double (2 people, 1 bed)

■ Double/Double (2 people, 2 beds) ■ Triple (3 people, 2 beds) ■ Quad (4 people, 2 beds) Special Requests: ■ Nonsmoking

■ Disabled

■ Rollaway

■ Other __________________________________ Unfortunately, special requests are not guaranteed.

Attendee Information Send acknowledgement and confirmation to: (one acknowledgement/confirmation per room) First Name:

Last Name:

Company/Church/Organization: Mailing Address: City:

State:

Day Phone:

Fax:

Zip:

Email: Sharing Room with:

Deposit Information Please charge my first night’s deposit to my credit card (check one): ■ American Express ■ MasterCard

■ Diners Club ■ Visa

■ Discover Card

Credit Card Number: Expiration Date: Cardholder’s Name: Cardholder’s Signature (Required): Guests wishing to avoid an early checkout fee should advise the hotel at or before check-in of any change in planned length of stay.

Reservations received after May 23, 2004 will be referred to available hotels.

Available Hotels: • SHERATON BIRMINGHAM (Headquarters Hotel); Rate: $100; across the street from Convention Center • THE TUTWILER HOTEL; Rate: $100 Single; $109 Double; 2 blocks from Convention Center • CROWN PLAZA – THE REDMONT HOTEL; Rate: $95 Single/Double; $110 Triple/Quad; 3 blocks from Convention Center • RADISSON HOTEL BIRMINGHAM; Rate: $89 Single/Double; $99 Triple; $109 Quad; 1.5 miles from Convention Center

2. All requests for room reservations must be made in writing or by e-mail. We are unable to process applications via telephone.

3. Sharing a room: Please submit only one application per room requested listing all occupants in each room. An acknowledgement listing each occupant will be sent from the Convention Housing Bureau to the individual who submitted the request (primary occupant).

4. REQUIRED DEPOSIT: In order to process your request, the housing application must be accompanied by an amount equal to one night’s room rate at your first choice hotel for each room requested. Deposits are accepted by credit card only, you may fax the form to (205) 458-8088 or go to our website (www.cbfonline.org/community/ga/) and click on the Convention Hotel Reservations button, then follow the easy steps to send reservations online. Your credit card will be charged for one night’s deposit by the hotel. This is refundable if cancellation is made 72 hours prior to arrival unless otherwise stated on the confirmation you receive from your assigned hotel. Please include the number and expiration date of your credit card. An acknowledgement will be sent to you from the Housing Bureau stating that your reservation has been made, and to which hotel you have been assigned. Faxing and mailing this form twice may cause us to duplicate your reservations. The BCVB is not responsible for duplicate reservations.

All reservations holding more than 5 rooms will be required to forward a non-refundable, one nights deposit for each room held by April 1, 2004. All rooms held will be released back to the housing bureau if no deposit is received.

5. Changes/Cancellations: The Convention Housing Bureau makes all changes and cancellations requested in writing until May 23, 2004. After that date, changes and cancellations must be made directly with the hotel assigned. Please reference your acknowledgement number when making a change or cancellation. Changes, cancellations, and inquiries concerning reservations may be faxed to (205) 458-8088 or e-mailed to: housing@birminghamal.org 6. RATES DO NOT INCLUDE 14% TAX. YOU WILL BE CHARGED 14% SALES AND OCCUPANCY TAX WHEN YOU CHECK OUT OF YOUR DESIGNATED HOTEL. www.cbfonline.org SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

HOTEL RESERVATION FORM

Official Hotel Reservation Form

15

A Q U I LT I N S P I R E D Tomahawk Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., to discover a unique and effective way of promoting Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Offering for Global Missions.

Each year, Tomahawk uses the month of February to focus on raising funds for the Offering for Global Missions.

“Everyone … Everywhere: Being the Presence of Christ” – the theme for the Fellowship’s 2003-04 Offering for Global Missions based on Acts 1:8 – focuses on communities of faith being Christ to those around them. This year’s offering goal is $6.1 million.

A new way to promote the offering got its start this year at Tomahawk when several church members bought quilts from Fellowship global missions field personnel Melin and Ron.* Then one of the members hit on the idea of using the quilts to promote the offering. After some brainstorming, a creative solution was reached.

Instead of using a real quilt, members of the congregation created a “quilt” frame that fit exactly over the church’s baptistery opening. A cardboard grid with 48 squares was placed over the frame to represent the squares of the quilt.

Each square was given a $55 value, for a grand total of $2,640. For every $55 contributed toward the Offering for Global Missions, one of the squares is filled in with the photo of a Fellowship field personnel member.

“We just selected 48 missionaries at random from the CBF promotional material, and I enlarged them on the computer and then printed them out,” explains Pastor Clay Thornton.

The church’s high school mission group contributes to the project by decorating the areas around the photos. The group is also in charge of hanging the photos on the “quilt” as the money is raised. “They have really had a lot of fun with this,” Thornton says. “It’s kept them busy for a number of Wednesday nights.”

In fact, the project seems to have energized the entire congregation, Thornton reports. “This is as good of a

P. O. Box 450329 Atlanta, GA 31145-0329 Address Service Requested

Field personnel photo

GLOBAL MISSIONS & MINISTRIES 16

Quilt Inspires Virginia Church to Support Global Missions with Creativity

Receipts from CBF's Offering for Global Missions assist the ministries of field personnel who are being the presence of Christ to “Everyone … Everywhere.”

response as we’ve ever gotten to the Offering,” he says. “I think the quilt has given our members something to focus on.” The church exceeded its $2,640 goal with a total of $3,416.36.

Thornton says he thinks part of the project’s success lies in the fact that the $55 amount placed on each quilt “square” was a good amount for many people to contribute.

“Some of our members have given more than usual,” he says. “I think the fact that the amount for each square was not so terribly high made it seem more doable for many people.” f!

All Fellowship churches that have contributed to the Offering for Global Missions have been sent a 2003-04 offering resource packet. If your church has not received a packet, contact the CBF Offering for Global Missions Promotion Office at (770) 220-1653 or go to Missions/Involvement/Offering at www.cbfonline.org. Offering resources information is also available in the insert provided in this issue.

*Melin and Ron’s last name is withheld for security reasons.

By contributing writer April Shauf, Bluefield, W.Va.