July 10, 2000

Fellowship could pick up 5,000 churches, Vestal predicts
___By Bob Allen
___Associated Baptist Press
___ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP)--Changes in the Southern Baptist Convention put 5,000 churches up for grabs to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the moderate group's top official estimated.

DANIEL VESTAL

___CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal told this year's general assembly in Orlando many Southern Baptists are uncomfortable with denominational pronouncements banning women pastors and emphasizing top-down leadership in churches. He suggested they would feel more at home in the Fellowship, an 1,800-church alliance that offers alternatives to SBC programs controlled by conservatives.
___Now is the time for the Fellowship to articulate how it differs from the 41,000-church denomination, he said.
___"I am convinced there are thousands of Baptists that believe in our core values and share our vision and want to become part of CBF," Vestal said. "They would find CBF and CBF networks a denomination-like home in a post-denominational world."
___The Fellowship withdrew from political involvement in the SBC in 1990 after failing to prevent conservatives from taking control. While duplicating many SBC programs, the group has never declared a formal split. Vestal offered several principles the Fellowship stands for that he said contrast with the SBC's current leaders:
___ "We are simple biblicists," Vestal said. "We believe the Bible is inspired by God and that it is true for faith and for life, but we resist man-made documents that require everyone to interpret the Bible the same way."
___For example, he said, the newly revised Baptist Faith & Message claims the Bible teaches that only men should be pastors. While it is possible to interpret the Bible that way, "that's not the only way to interpret Scripture," he said.

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___"But this document is written in a way that if you don't interpret Scripture in a (particular) way ... then you don't believe the Scripture. This places a man-made interpretation of Scripture over Scripture itself."
___ "We are a Jesus people," Vestal said. The SBC expunged language from the Baptist Faith & Message stating that the criterion for interpreting the Bible is Christ.
___"We love and cherish the Bible as Holy Scripture," he said, "but we do not place Scripture over Jesus. If there is a difficult or controversial text, Jesus is the criterion by which it should be interpreted."
___"We always ask the question, 'What would Jesus do?'" he said. "This is a Fellowship that is seeking to follow Jesus."
___ "We want to be known because of what we are for and not because of what we are against," Vestal said.
___Southern Baptists have gained attention for being against Disney, world religions, female pastors, women's equality and freedom of thought, he said.
___"We want to be known because our lives are filled with good works," he said. "We want to be known because we love the poor. We want to be known because we are inviting people to Jesus."
___ "We are a people who believe in a shared leadership in the church. We believe in the church that male and female are equal. We minimize the difference between clergy and laity." The new Baptist Faith & Message emphasizes pastoral authority and says wives should submit to their husbands.
___The Fellowship believes "everyone is a priest," Vestal said, and stands for congregational involvement in church leadership and "servant leadership instead of authoritarian leadership in the church."
___"I believe that surely there are at least 5,000 Baptist churches that share in this convictional identity and should be involved in this Fellowship," Vestal said.

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