CBF must avoid partisan politics, Vestal urges_22304

Posted: 2/27/04

CBF must avoid partisan politics, Vestal urges

By John Pierce

Baptists Today

ATLANTA (ABP)—”We are not going to be involved in secular politics,” Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating Council at its winter meeting in Atlanta.

Fellowship participants are “all over the board when it comes to secular politics,” Vestal said, describing a broad spectrum, ranging from “rock-ribbed Republicans, to yellow-dog Democrats, to the tree-hugging Green Party.”

The Fellowship’s mission—to be the presence of Christ in the world—is greater than any secular political agenda, Vestal insisted.

“Please don’t divide the Fellowship over partisan politics,” he urged. “We’re about something more important than that.”

No political party “has a corner on the moral conscience of America,” he stressed.

In an interview following his report, Vestal said his comments were made not in response to the recent announcement by Southern Baptist Convention leader Richard Land about a new voter registration effort or any other particular action or concern.

“I was being preventative,” Vestal said, noting the upcoming elections will evoke political debate.

Land, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, announced Southern Baptists will work with other evangelical Christians to promote voter registration through the web site ivotevalues.com.

The coalition effort avoids endorsing particular candidates, but encourages people “to vote their values,” Land claimed.

Vestal said a broader statement on avoiding partisan politics will be posted on the CBF web site, thefellowship.info, soon.

But he wanted to go ahead and express his concern to the council, he added. “I wanted to be clear about this before anything comes up.”