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Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists approves name change

Church Administration / The Baptist Horizon / Canadian Baptist Builders

Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists approves name change

 

By Harold Campbell

CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND—Culminating a process that began four years ago, messengers to the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists annual convention—held on the campus of the University of Prince Edward Island June 30 through July 2—overwhelmingly voted to change the convention's name to Canadian National Baptist Convention.

The final tally was 86 percent voting in favor of the name change to 14 percent voting against.

"We're still Southern Baptists, that did not change," said Gerry Taillon, CNBC national ministry leader, addressing messengers and guests attending the annual convention at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.

"Our relationships with Southern Baptist churches, associations and agencies are just as solid as ever."

In an interview following the meeting, Taillon said he thought the change was needed to establish the Canadian convention's identity.

"It was necessary to clear up confusion with the uninitiated who come to all the wrong ideas of who we are," he said.

Taillon told the messengers each of the four words in the new name holds significance:

  • Canadian as the identity for the convention.
  • National as the scope for the convention's churches across Canada.
  • Baptist as the convention's heritage and belief system.
  • Convention as how the organization works together.

The convention's new name in French—Canada’s official languages are English and French—will also have the same CNBC acronym: Convention Nationale Baptiste Canadienne.

The Charlottetown convention did contain some discussion over the issue, however.

Although he said he would go along with the final decision, Shan An, pastor of Dixie Baptist Church in Toronto, Ontario, said he thought the Southern Baptist name held a valuable significance.

In addition, he said he thought the word national was what he called "outdated."

"There is nothing wrong with CCSB," he said. "It is what we heard for 20 years."

However, others commenting at the convention supported the change.

Dwayne Bartley, pastor of Cambrian Heights Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta, said he thought national was a "very good Canadian word" and said name changes have Biblical precedent.

"There were times when someone changed their identity when God was getting ready to do a new thing in their life," he said.

This month's vote was the second and final vote on changing the convention's name. In the first vote 97 percent of the messengers at the CCSB's annual convention in Richmond, British Columbia, last July voted in favor of the change.

The Canadian convention's constitution requires two votes for changes to the document.

Jeff Christopherson, pastor of The Sanctuary in Oakville, Ontario, and outgoing CNBC president, said the process for changing the convention's name began in July 2004, when messengers to the CCSB national convention in Toronto recommended appointment of a study committee to look at the possibility of changing the name.

In November 2004, the CCSB National Leadership Board, under Rob Blackaby, named a study committee representing a wide variety of views. The committee sent out a survey to every CCSB church and received 124 responses.

In addition, the committee received a one-year extension to complete its task.

In November 2005, the committee submitted a report to the National Leadership Board indicating there seemed to be a "heart" for changing the convention's name.

However, the committee set two non-negotiable parameters: the words "Baptist" and "convention" would remain part of any new name since they represent the heritage and values for the convention and how Southern Baptist churches in Canada work together.

In July 2006, the leadership board presented messengers to the CCSB national convention in Ottawa with a recommendation in favor of a name change, with the first vote to take place at the 2007 national convention.

Taillon said implementation of the new name would be gradual.

As a cost-saving effort, he said the convention would use CCSB letterhead, stationery and other materials as long as they last. However, he said it is already possible to access the convention's Web site at the new address, www.cnbc.ca, while staff email addresses would also be changed.

There is also some paperwork to be filed to make the name change go into full effect, he said.

However, the convention's logo with the Canadian maple leaf emblem with a cross in the middle will not change.

Taillon also emphasized there would be no change to the convention's commitment to Southern Baptist ministries. The Canadian convention, he said, has six partnerships with state conventions, while there are thousands of U.S. churches partnering with individual Canadian Southern Baptist churches.

"We have never been so closely connected with Southern Baptists as today," he said.