A moderate Baptist fellowship that emerged from the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1990s, emphasizing soul competency, the priesthood of all believers, and Baptist distinctives without fundamentalism.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) was formed in 1991 by moderate Southern Baptists who had lost the denominational battles of the 1980s–90s, when a conservative resurgence took control of the Southern Baptist Convention and moved it in a more fundamentalist direction. CBF churches share the core Baptist convictions — believer's baptism, congregational autonomy, the priesthood of all believers, and the authority of Scripture — but interpret them through a more moderate theological lens.
CBF affirms the historic Baptist principle of 'soul competency' — the belief that every individual stands before God without need of a mediating priest or creed, and that each believer is responsible for interpreting Scripture for themselves. This leads to a more open approach to theological diversity within the fellowship. CBF churches tend to be more open to women in pastoral ministry, more ecumenical in their relationships, and more moderate on social and political issues than SBC churches.
CBF is not a denomination — it is a fellowship that provides missions, education, and ministry resources to autonomous Baptist churches. Its churches remain fully self-governing and many maintain dual affiliation with other Baptist bodies.
CBF is distinguished from the Southern Baptist Convention by its moderate theological culture, its openness to women in ministry, and its rejection of the fundamentalist direction the SBC took in the 1980s–90s.
Varies widely by congregation. CBF churches tend to be warm, community-oriented, and focused on preaching and discipleship.
Atlanta, Georgia, 1991.
Emerging from the Southern Baptist controversy of the 1980s–90s and providing a moderate Baptist alternative to the SBC.