Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001 |
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Carter will be keynote speaker at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Atlanta Fayette County Baptists will be among thousands of Baptists from all over the nation gathering to hear former President Jimmy Carter give his keynote speech at the 2001 General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) in Atlanta June 28-30. Carter, probably the world's most widely known Baptist layperson, will recount his personal journey as a follower of Christ during his speech scheduled for Friday evening, June 29. Carter was the keynote speaker once before, at the 1993 General Assembly in Birmingham. Organized in 1991 in Atlanta, CBF celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and anticipates a record number of Baptists at the Atlanta event. All workshops, sessions, activities and gatherings will be at the Georgia World Congress Center and Omni Hotel at CNN in downtown Atlanta. A "Decade of Promise" banquet is scheduled for Wednesday evening, June 27, and an assembly-wide reception will follow the June 28 evening session. On Saturday morning, June 30, assembly participants will vote on proposed changes to the Fellowship's constitution and bylaws dealing with the role and function of CBF's Coordinating Council and membership proposals for partnering churches and individuals. All sessions are open to the public and registration is free. The assembly will offer a blend of worship, learning, and fellowship, based on the theme ,"Following Jesus." Each general session will include a collaborative theme interpretation presented by musical artist Kyle Matthews and Furman University professor Jeff Rogers. Dallas pastor George Mason will speak at the first general session on Thursday evening and North Carolina minister and educator Tyanna Yonkers Day will lead closing worship and communion on Saturday, June 30. A Congregational Leadership Institute, designed for lay and clergy leaders, is scheduled for June 28 with the theme, "Being Good News People in a Bad News World." Thomas Bandy, a nationally known consultant on church growth and transformation, will be the keynote speaker. The one-day workshop on effective approaches to evangelism will include breakout sessions led by leadership teams from Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Pintlala Baptist church in Hope Hull, Ala., First Baptist Church in Wheaton, Md. and First Baptist Church in Midlothian, Texas. There is no registration fee for the assembly, although some auxiliary events will require reservations. Some related services and events (such as the banquet, Leadership Institute and programs for children and youth) require preregistration and fees. For complete details, visit the CBF Web site at www.cbfonline.org.
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