by Sandy » Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:41 am
It seems that the hiring policy is going to have to be one way or the other. I like the comment about both sides being equally upset, so it must be in the right place. If you've ever served in a church, you know exactly what that means.
I was around when CBF started up, belonged to one of its most supportive congregations for more than a decade, and participated in a number of its general assemblies and regional meetings. Among the things which I found attractive about it was that in its polity, it really did strive to be genuinely true to its Baptist identity and roots. While it did identify some common threads related to its organizational structure, it does allow churches to become involved, or disengage, pretty much at will. It has made policy, and identified some theological perspectives that are part of its in-house guidelines regarding employees. The hiring policy, and the funding policy, represent the will of their constituency.
I think they need to be careful. Hiring is a personnel matter, not a place to make a statement. Using the denominational structure to make statements is certainly a big reason why many churches joined CBF, and distanced themselves from the SBC. And while it has attracted some Baptists who are more theologically liberal, especially on LGBT issues, it is still largely made up of Baptists who believe that all sinners must go down the pathway to conviction and repentance in order to receive grace that saves. The biggest difference between them and the SBC is that they're willing to continue ministry cooperation with you if you feel differently, but they also feel that the fellowship organization needs to be sympathetic to the perspective of its constituents, and also understand that's part of its identity.