By Aaron Weaver
DECATUR, Ga. — The Baptist Fellowship of the Northeast (BFN) in collaboration with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has selected Faith Bynoe of Brooklyn, New York to serve as its full-time coordinator. Bynoe will also serve as a member of CBF’s Outreach and Growth team.
A transformative leader and licensed Baptist minister new to CBF, Bynoe has worked with diverse groups across the United States and around the world for more than 20 years at the intersection of wellness and social equity. A multifaith chaplain and TEDx speaker, she is a recognized voice in the healing justice movement, dedicated to redefining holistic well-being and community advocacy on a global scale.
As a chaplain, Bynoe provides integrative pastoral care to staff, patients and families. Her work includes institutions from both nonprofit and for-profit sectors, including Level 1 trauma centers, foundations, NGOs and companies.
A native New Yorker with Barbadian roots, Bynoe received her Master of Divinity degree from Howard University School of Divinity as well as Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Psychology from Long Island University. She also is a graduate of the nonprofit management executive certificate program at Georgetown University. Bynoe was licensed to the ministry by Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va.
Bynoe has served thousands through individual spiritual care, retreats and workshops. Her emergency response and recovery work includes providing support to NY Presbyterian Queens Hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiding social justice leaders in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina and offering care to medical providers in Haiti after the 2012 earthquake. She has worked with organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the Children’s Defense Fund and NYC Department of Health.
As BFN Coordinator, Bynoe will serve as a vital resource for Baptist churches, pastors, chaplains and friends in the Northeast region, which is comprised of churches and individuals located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. She will focus on fostering a culture of calling and connection, emphasizing the development of both clergy and laity in the region. Bynoe will also lead efforts in engaging new church partners, coalition-building, public advocacy and program management. This will enhance fellowship among churches of all sizes, promoting diversity and inclusion while offering support and opportunities for discernment and exploration of gifts.
CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley expressed his gratefulness to the search team and selection of Bynoe.
“I am deeply grateful to the search team from Baptist Fellowship of the Northeast and to my colleague Kasey Jones who prayerfully and faithfully sought a new coordinator for the region who will also be a member of our CBF Outreach and Growth Team,” Baxley said.
“I am overjoyed that they came to the determination that Faith Bynoe should be invited to serve in this important role and that Faith has accepted this calling and is beginning her new ministry with us. Though Faith will be new to our CBF community and leadership, she has impressive gifts that suit her for this role, and it is an incredibly encouraging sign of our Fellowship’s growth that we can welcome the leadership of those who have not been long among us but who are sent to us by God to help us learn and grow.”
Kasey Jones, CBF Coordinator for Outreach and Growth, said she was honored to work with BFN leadership through the search process.
“As one who came to know CBF through one of its regions, it’s been an honor to work with BFN leadership throughout this call process,” Jones said. “I enjoyed hearing what the leadership wanted BFN to look like in five years, which directly led to the priorities for the BFN Coordinator position.
“Faith’s energy, gifts and talents will allow her to build on the important foundation Phyllis Boozer set as BFN’s longest serving coordinator,” Jones added. “Faith’s experience shaping leaders and transforming organizations from a wellness framework will continue to grow the work of recent BFN coordinator Grace Martino-Suprice of deepening relationships and strengthening the BFN community. I look forward to see what Faith and the BFN community will do together for the Kingdom of God.”
Boozer, who currently serves as BFN’s treasurer said she appreciated Bynoe’s enthusiasm for the BFN community “and the wealth of experience she brings which will benefit our region.”
Martino added, “With the visionary leadership of Faith and the dedication of the incredible leaders who call BFN home, I am eager to see how we move forward together.”
BFN Coordinating Council member Antonio Vargas also expressed his excitement for the selection of Bynoe.
“Faith’s transition to BFN coordinator at a time where churches in the Northeast are at a brink of new growth and innovation is nothing short of God-ordained,” Vargas said. “It is clear that Faith has got the grit, creativity and faith-fueled leadership to integrate and lead BFN to a new chapter. We are so excited.”
Bynoe said she is “thrilled to join the CBF family.”
“Each day, we’re given the gift of deepening our relationship with God and building the Beloved Community,” she said. “I’m honored to walk alongside the BFN members, sharing in the challenging, yet fulfilling, journey of embodying God’s word.”
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CBF is a Christian network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry efforts, global missions and a broad community of support. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.