February 23, 2004

CBF must avoid partisan politics, Vestal tells council
By John Pierce
Executive Editor
Baptists Today

ATLANTA, Ga. — "We are not going to be involved in secular politics," Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating Council at their Feb. 19-20 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 Fellowship¹s mission, to be the presence of Christ in the world, is greater than any secular political agenda, said Vestal.

"Please don¹t divide the Fellowship over partisan politics," Vestal urged the council. "We¹re about something more important than that."

Vestal added that no political party "has a corner on the moral conscience of America."
In an interview following his report, Vestal said his comments were 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," said Vestal, noting that the upcoming presidential election will evoke lots of political debate.

Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told the SBC executive committee Feb. 16 that Southern Baptists will work with other evangelical Christians to promote voter registration through the web site ivotevalues.com.

Land said the coalition effort avoids endorsing particular candidates, but encourages people "to vote their values."

Vestal said a broader statement on avoiding partisan politics will be posted on the CBF web site www.thefellowship.org soon, but he wanted to go ahead and express his concern to the council.
"I wanted to be clear about this before anything comes up," said Vestal.