N.C. pastor plays role in CBF meeting

From Cooperative Baptist Fellowship reports

Jack Glasgow of Zebulon Baptist Church is the new moderator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

CBF photo by Rod Reilly

CBF

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - During the 18th annual Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) General Assembly June 19-20, Jack Glasgow, a pastor from North Carolina, gave a report about Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations.

Glasgow, who begins his term as CBF moderator at the conclusion of the Assembly, was introduced by current moderator Harriet Harral. Glasgow is pastor of Zebulon Baptist Church in Zebulon.

"I am very blessed today to take on this mantle of leadership," Glasgow said. "I am blessed by those who have gone before and served as moderator. I am blessed to have a church back home who loves this Fellowship and is excited that their pastor can devote time to this organization."

This was the first time the CBF met in Memphis, Tenn. More than 2,000 Fellowship Baptists spent time discerning and praying for the future priorities of the organization.

More than 60 workshops were offered during the two-day event, including 18 which related to the MDGs.

In June 2007, the Assembly sent a motion to the CBF Coordinating Council "to investigate the feasibility and means by which the CBF might be involved in acting with other bodies to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals."

The eight goals are eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; decrease HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and create global partnerships for development.

"These goals focus on the very things that matter to a people who seek to be the presence of Christ among the most neglected," said Glasgow, who presented a report during the June 19 business session. "Caring for the poor, the hungry, the sick and the oppressed is consistent with the ministry and teaching of Jesus. It is a part of the missional DNA of our Fellowship movement.

"In the future we want CBF to be a learning community where field personnel, staff and congregations all share ideas and best practices of ministries that address the MDGs," said Glasgow. "We want to assist churches in educating and involving their members in ministries that address the goals. And, we want churches to share with us their unique and creative ways to engage in ministry related to the MDGs. This is the right path for missional churches to travel."

In October, the Coordinating Council voted for the Fellowship to work toward the MDGs. The council also inventoried how CBF field personnel were already working toward meeting the goals. More than 100 related ministry projects are underway, including a new initiative called Water for Hope.

Introduced at the Assembly, Water for Hope "builds on the assets of communities and on partnerships with churches and other groups to overcome the water crisis in places like Ethiopia, Southeast Asia, Thailand and Uganda," Glasgow said.

The General Assembly concluded with a celebration of missional churches, highlighting three church partnerships with CBF field personnel.

"We are living in a world where God is up to doing a new thing," Harry Rowland, the Fellowship's director of missional ministries, told the Assembly in its closing session.

In Kiev, Ukraine, several CBF partner churches from North Carolina have been working with CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky, who minister at a foster home for street children called Village of Hope.

"Our connection to Village of Hope has energized our church far beyond the ministry to Ukraine," said Len Keever of First Baptist Church in Dunn. "(It) has opened our eyes to the needs in our own community. We have discovered a place to participate with God where we may be."

At the evening worship sessions, attendees contributed $17,487 toward the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Offering for Religious Liberty and Human Rights. In its fourth year, the offering will go to the Baptist World Alliance and European Baptist Federation to fund ministries and initiatives that promote religious liberty and human rights.

Additionally, $13,325 was given to the CBF Offering for Global Missions, which pays for field personnel salaries, benefits and operating and ministry expenses.

The General Assembly will next convene July 2-3, 2009, in Houston, Texas.