Kindling Hope

A Recap of CBF General Assembly 2026

My friend Erin called it to my attention. “Usually, a conference does not start in such a delightful way,” she said with her usual whimsy. And she was right. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship(CBF) General Assembly was held in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17-19 at the Hyatt Regency on the St. John’s River. The first meeting scheduled for the four of us coming from our church, the Tallahassee Fellowship, was the regional meeting for CBF Florida and the Caribbean Islands, and it was a dinner cruise. We set sail from a dock in easy walking distance of the hotel and enjoyed an evening of gentle breeze, dolphin sightings, good food, and yes, good fellowship. 

Other regional groups met in various places in and around the hotel that first evening and I am sure had great gatherings, but what a joy to be together on the water as the evening was falling. The “Gathering Place,” think trade show, was filled with helpful information, exuberant people, steel drums, a live podcast, and great desserts, keeping us engaged as we all milled about. And the late-night worship, modeled after the tradition of the first Watch Night service held December 31, 1862, as enslaved people gathered to worship late in the evening awaiting news of freedom to come through the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, seemed particularly meaningful on the near eve of Juneteenth. 

The next morning about fifty of the 1,200 gathered at the convention met at the foot of the “blue bridge” or the Main Street Bridge, crossing the St John’s River from the hotel to the Friendship Fountain, for a peace walk. Our leader, Deborah Garrard, explained that this was a silent walk and a slow walk and as we crossed the river, she would pause for us to reflect on peace. If we had any distractions, which were surprisingly many at 6:15 AM, we were instructed to say to ourselves, “I am peace. You are peace. We all are peace.”  

The silence, combined with the beauty of the sunrise over the river, worked peace in my spirit, even with all the distractions of traffic and others who were not on a peace walk as they talked to each other.  Garrard, who runs the nonprofit wellness initiative, “be(e) well serve well,” has a holy mission of encouraging and empowering the overall wellbeing of those who serve our communities. She gifted those of us who made the walk with a small but powerful book, How to Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh, sharing briefly how much she has learned from a Buddhist monk that has deepened her own Christian faith. And the “Sound Bath,” a deeply immersive sound experience designed to relax the body, calm the mind, and uplift the spirit using crystal “singing” bowls, chimes, and other healing instruments, that Garrard arranged for those who came to start the day on Juneteenth, was yet another powerful reminder of how self-care and stillness matters to our wellbeing and deepening spirituality. 

The thirty-two-page conference schedule booklet we were given at registration is filled with descriptions of the learning labs, worship experiences, and celebrations from which we couldchoose. I was excited by the variety of offerings. A favorite for me was the CBF Advocacy Breakfast, when four people from across the nation shared their varied advocacy testimonies followed by the remarks of the executive director of the ACLU of Florida, Bacardi Jackson. 

She began by telling a story of a former sharecropper, Dennis Bevel, who was brave enough to go to the front door of the landowner’s plantation where he worked to tell him that he was the father of his children, and only he, as their father, could direct them where to be and when. She marveled that neither the former sharecropper, nor his children, who had been ordered to the fields to pick cotton by the landowner, were harmed. It turns out that brave father, speaking the truth to power, was Bacardi Jackson’s grandfather, and such boldness and courage has continued to run in their family since. Dennis Bevel built one of Mississippi’s first “substantive” schools for Black children. His son, Bacardi’s father, was a key strategist behind the voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, which led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Her mother, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants who escaped persecution in Russia, was a young anti-apartheid activist who, among other things, fought for hot lunches for school children in Memphis. And now Dennis Bevel’s granddaughter heads the ACLU in one of the most contentious states in the nation, Florida.

It was powerful to hear her speak about the need for us all to find our deepest courage to stand up for those we know have been wronged. It was heartbreaking to hear her speak of how she never thought she would be fighting the same battles her grandfather and her parents fought, and yet, she told us, she was filled with hope. 

Another powerful speaker for me was our current Moderator for CBF Global who was passing the torch after conducting our business meeting on Friday morning. While only mentioning it briefly, Pastor Tanya Parks, daughter of retired CBF Coordinator for Kentucky, and former missionary to the Roma people with CBF in Košice, Slovakia, spoke regarding the recent decision of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) disallowing women in any ministerial role in the church. Her heartbreak paralleled my own, in the SBC decision to eliminate half the human population from serving God in a role that is crucial for spreading the gospel of love and inclusion that Jesus taught. Yet, Rev. Parks, too, reminded us all of the need to be faithful to our calling and live with hope.  

I was so grateful that the schedule of our group’s return to Tallahassee did not preclude us from staying until the end of worship on Juneteenth, when we were guided by a local Jacksonville ensemble in a passionate singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The words to this amazing anthem are so profound and singing them with a chorus of 1200 voices, so meaningful. 

In retirement, I do not go to as many conferences as I once did. I am forever grateful that I attended this wonderful 2026 CBF General Assembly held in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. I appreciate the friendships that were renewed and the remarkable progress that CBF has made, by the grace of God, to increase our diversity, our concern for justice, and our openness to the movement of the Spirit of God in creative, meaningful ways. 

It is my prayer that we all will find ways to kindle hope and encourage justice as we live lives that give priority to those who are marginalized and hope to those who despair, even as we care for our own spirits. 

Rev. Candace McKibben