Cooperative Baptists ask for more information on membership proposal

By Steve DeVane

BR Managing Editor

If the plan is approved by a two-thirds vote at the national CBF General Assembly in June, it would redefine membership in the CBF from any church or individual who contributes annually to CBF's budget to "partnering churches" or "partnering individuals" who:

embrace CBF's mission and core values;

pray for CBF, its leaders and its ministries;

engage in the ministries and decisions of CBF; and

contribute financially to the mission and ministries of CBF.

Ed Beddingfield, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sylva, made a motion at the CBF-NC meeting March 17 asking the CBF-NC Coordinating Council to study the proposal, consider any response and provide CBF-NC members with information about it.

"CBF apparently seeks to define partnership and establish requirements for voting membership that may be more restrictive than other Baptist organizations," Beddingfield said. "If any Baptist organization, including CBF, tries to require me or my church to vote on any statement of values or anything else in order to be a voting member, I'm not going to do it."

Beddingfield said he believes financial support should be enough to define membership in CBF.

"I understand that CBF membership maybe an administrative nightmare, but we ought not to solve an administrative problem at the cost of a Baptist principle," he said.

Bob Patterson, the coordinator of CBF-NC, said changes to the national group's by-laws would let churches determine how to respond.

The proposed changes say that each congregation is free "in its own judgment and through its own process" to decide what action to take to identify itself as a "partnering church."

"Nowhere is it said that any church must do anything," Patterson said.

Beddingfield's motion passed unanimously.

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