Nash to unveil new CBF Global Missions strategy

By Patricia Heys

CBF Communications

ATLANTA - Following a year of conversation with congregations, mission leaders and field personnel, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) will unveil a new vision and restructuring of CBF Global Missions at this year's General Assembly June 28-29 in Washington, D.C. The changes reflect a conviction on the part of CBF congregations and missions leadership that the 21st century will be the century of local congregations in global mission.

Rob Nash

"The engagement of local congregations in global missions is one of the great seismic shifts among evangelicals in the last decade," said CBF Global Missions coordinator Rob Nash. "We want to do all that we can possibly do as a mission entity to facilitate that engagement and to work alongside congregations in being the presence of Christ in the world."

The restructuring will elevate local congregations in CBF's global mission strategies through the formation of a missional church team, which will begin work at the CBF Resource Center in Atlanta August 1.

The missional church team will work alongside the existing field ministries team in the CBF Global Missions initiative area. The new team will facilitate the connection of congregations to global mission, assisting churches in formulating global mission strategy, training congregations for cross-cultural engagement, nurturing missional leaders in congregations and connecting congregations to the work of field personnel and partners.

"This restructuring moves us far beyond an approach which understands congregations as 'volunteers' who do 'projects' on 'mission trips' and places congregations in full partnership with field personnel and other partners around the world in a powerful global mission engagement for the 21st century," said Nash.

The missional church team will consist of current CBF employees who have passion for the global engagement of congregations. The search for a director of the missional church team is currently underway. The team will be divided into two sub-teams to work with CBF's Leadership Development and Congregational Life initiatives.

As part of the restructuring, CBF has relocated employees from its Dallas office to the resource center in Atlanta. Karen Gilbert, currently CBF's global mission partnership and volunteer manager, will remain in Texas to work with congregations there.

Nash will formally announce this new direction and restructuring during his keynote speech June 29 at 2 p.m. during the third General Session of the General Assembly.

Nash will also lead a workshop called "The New Global Mission: Local Congregations and Mission in the 21st Century" on June 28 at 9 a.m. in Independence Ballroom B at the Grand Hyatt. "Engaging Your Church in Missions" will be held June 29 at 9 a.m. in the Independence Ballroom E at the Grand Hyatt. This workshop will continue the dialogue about local congregations and global missions.

To learn about partnership opportunities, contact Karen Gilbert at kgilbert@thefellowship.info or (800) 352-8741.