The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a Georgia-based network of 1,800 churches with missionaries in more than 30 countries around the world, announced Friday that it has lifted an 18-year hiring ban on practicing homosexuals for some roles but will not consider them for leadership roles in the organization.
“CBF is moving from a hiring policy focused exclusively on sexuality to a policy that focuses on Jesus and His work to transform the world,” CBF Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter said of the organization’s new hiring policy. “We are a Fellowship, a big tent of faithful believers and autonomous, innovative churches in partnership. While we do not agree on everything, we have shown Baptists and others that we can come together in a relatively short amount of time, focus on what unites us and come of out it poised for a bright future.”
In the organization’s previous hiring policy, CBF leaders pointed to an adherence to a traditional biblical understanding of human sexuality as a requirement for employees.