Welcome to the 2023

General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship!

Whether this is your very first General Assembly or you have been coming each year for decades, we are so grateful for your presence among us. These days each year give us the opportunity to see more clearly how God is at work among us, inviting us into an increasingly diverse and growing community in which we are being equipped for bold faithfulness and transformed so that, by God’s grace, we might be agents of God’s transformation of the world through Jesus Christ.

We are serving Christ in a cultural moment that is increasingly recognized as extraordinarily challenging for congregations and their leaders, as well as for denominational communities. Recent times have only intensified and exacerbated the challenges that have faced congregations, denominations and communities for years. In the midst of all the change, uncertainty and instability, it is easy to be overtaken by a cynicism about the present and future of congregational life—particularly in the United States and North America. Sometimes it seems like the best we can do is just figure out a way to survive.

Our prayer as we gather in Atlanta this week is that our entire Fellowship community, in these days and in the weeks and months ahead, will be seized by a holy ambition for Christ’s mission, the necessity of our ministries and the uniqueness of the way each of our congregations participates in Christ’s life in this moment. The word “ambition” has mainly negative implications in our time, but the fact that the Apostle Paul warns the Philippians about a “selfish ambition” causes us to wonder if there is not an ambition that is holy. I believe as we listen to Scriptures, remember the life and ministry of Jesus and consider the mission of the Church as the body of Christ in the world, we will see that the Triune God is, by nature, ambitious; that God has an ambition for the healing of the world through the power of a resurrecting, relentless love. Isn’t that what we see in the face and life of Jesus as he moves toward the cross and the resurrection? Isn’t that what we hear in the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and in the astonishing statement of Jesus in John 20, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”?

I’m increasingly coming to believe that, for us to be faithful in the lives of our congregations, the ministries of our field personnel around the world and in the cultivation of a truly authentic Christian public witness, we will need to set aside a mindset of survival and instead be equipped with holy ambition.

So, as we gather and worship, as we pray and learn, as we find space for conversations with old friends and as we welcome the gift of new friends, what kind of holy ambition will be stirred among us? What holy ambition will well up in you for your own faith? For the life of your congregation? For Christ’s mission in this broken world?

May Christ be powerfully present among us in these days.

PAUL BAXLEY Executive Coordinator

It’s here! You’re here! I’m here! We’re here!

Welcome to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly 2023. These next few days will be filled with friends, family, fellowship and faith. I’m grateful to experience this alongside you.

This past year I’ve had the opportunity to worship with some of your congregations, gather at your state meetings or serve with you at the Together For Hope, Building Hope Weekend. I’ve been able to come into your spaces, to see and experience your hospitality and your desire to serve our God well as you care for others in the community and world.

I have seen God at work in the ways you support our field personnel, fund relief efforts, begin new initiatives and learn how to advocate for racial justice. I have been honored to work alongside some of the brightest and most faithful voices in Baptist life. I’ve met gifted adults who love Jesus, are passionate about their calling and are eager to share Christ’s love.

This is not happenstance. Congregational leaders have been intentional in the ways they are leading, influencing, partnering and helping their congregations imagine what God can do when we exhibit bold faithfulness.

Holy Ambition is our theme this year, and with it comes several thoughts and challenges. We are reminded that if we are made in the image of an adventurous God, isn’t it necessary for us to be overtaken by God’s ambition? How can our lives and world be different if we allow ourselves to embrace the ambition God models?

These days of business meetings, evening worship, Learning Labs, luncheons and late-night receptions are times for us to continue to build community, learn from one another, and strengthen our Fellowship. Jump in and experience what General Assembly has to offer. And let’s take a selfie together!

I’m grateful for you, my brothers and sisters, and for the family we find in our Fellowship.

DEBBIE MCDANIEL Moderator

Learning Labs

Worship Services

50 Thursday Evening Worship

In worship, we will explore the theme of Holy Ambition as it pertains to our individual and congregational callings. Through prayer, song, Scripture and proclamation, we will be inspired to stay on the journey together. The sermon will be delivered by Laura Ayala, CBF’s new Coordinator for Global Missions.

57 Friday Evening Worship

In worship, we will explore the collective nature of Holy Ambition. Kat Kimmel, pastor of First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tenn., will offer the sermon. We will also participate in the commissioning of chaplains, pastoral counselors and field personnel, as well as celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a Fellowship.

47 Thursday Plenary

When your church states that it supports women in ministry, does the congregation have a biblical foundation for understanding why? How does your church put that support into action? Join Meredith Stone (BWIM) and Brian Foreman (CBF) for an interactive session about these questions and a resource you can use in your congregation.

54 Friday Business Plenary

A highlight of the Assembly each year is to listen to a report from CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley and hear the dreams of the incoming CBF moderator, as well as other leadership reflecting on the impactful work of the Fellowship. Join us as we also vote on the CBF budget and leadership nominations for 2023-2024.

Commissioning

60 Newly-Endorsed Chaplain and Pastoral Counselors

See details about our newly-endorsed chaplains and pastoral counselors.

64 New Field Personnel

Meet newly-commissioned field personnel Delores Stimpson, Beverly and William Baker, Stella Perrin and Jana Lee.