General Assembly 2020

The CBF Governing Board approved on April 2 a recommendation from CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley to transition the 2020 CBF General Assembly from a traditional in-person gathering at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta to a virtual gathering scheduled for June 24-26, 2020. The gathering will include a series of virtual experiences of worship, inspiration, education, fellowship and business. A schedule and additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.

Those already registered for General Assembly will receive instructions about access to this virtual assembly and new registration are being accepted. For those who have already reserved hotel rooms for the 2020 General Assembly in Atlanta, there is no need to take any action for the hotel rooms reserved to be canceled. Read Baxley's letter to Cooperative Baptists here.

 

Field Personnel Impacts/Mission Teams Working with Field Personnel

The safety of CBF’s 70 field personnel in the U.S. and around the world is a top priority. Last month, CBF International Disaster Response Coordinator Eddy Ruble sent a memo to all CBF field personnel advising them to take precautionary measures to protect themselves, volunteers, partners and the communities they serve from Coronavirus, which included limiting nonessential travel.

The spread of COVID-19 has affected CBF’s Global Missions work. CBF has evacuated a field personnel family from China, and in conversation with its Japanese Baptist partners, a CBF field personnel family presently in the United States has delayed its return to the region. Also, CBF field personnel in Asia have canceled their annual meeting planned for March in Indonesia, and CBF field personnel that are a part of the Europe team have shifted their meeting online.

April 16: All Short-Term Mission Teams Suspended Through August 1

CBF announced that all scheduled short-term mission engagements alongside CBF field personnel were suspended through August 1. This announcement extends the April 30 suspension date announced in early March. As COVID-19 places more and more communities and individuals at risk, CBF seeks to minimize the threat we pose to the communities in which our Global Missions field personnel serve as well as their ministry partners and volunteers. The fluidity of conditions created by this pandemic make planning mission engagements in the near-term nearly impossible. CBF Global Missions will make a determination on the viability of teams scheduled beyond August 1 at a later date.

Video message from Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey - Manhattan, New York
Video message from Tina & Jonathan Bailey - Bali, Indonesia
Video message from Janée Angel – Antwerp, Belgium
Video message from Matt & Michelle Norman - Barcelona, Spain
Video message from Karen - North Africa
Video message from Jon & Tanya Parks - Košice, Slovakia
Video message from Carson & Laura Foushee - Tokyo, Japan
Video message from Nell Green - Houston, Texas

For missionaries, coronavirus creates ‘an interesting moment in plagues and pestilence’ (Baptist News Global)

 

Student.Go

CBF announced April 16 that it will offer undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity for ministry and mission during the summer through virtual placements with Student.Go and Student.Church, CBF’s student missions and congregational internship programs.

CBF will not be sending students to any physical location for face-to-face experiences due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In this new model, CBF will provide a virtual orientation for students May 18-19, and throughout the summer supervisors will guide the student participants to engage their ministry sites through online interactions with the diverse communities served by their placements. These initiatives will also offer collaborative learning opportunities using a cohort model. Learn more here.