The Caribbean Baptist Fellowship came into being in 1970 as a regional body of Baptist unions, associations and conventions for mission and evangelism, Christian education and stewardship, relief and development and theological education. However, for reasons deeply-rooted in Caribbean history and geography, which contributed to insularity rather than unity, there was very limited opportunity for meeting each other and working together. At the eleventh Congress of the Baptist World Alliance held in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. in June 1965, and at the instance of the Reverend Dr. Ruben Lopes of Brazil, a proposal to launch a five-year programme of evangelism in the Americas and the Caribbean was accepted. The “Crusade of the Americas” served to bring Baptists of the Caribbean region closer together and revealed the need as well as the opportunity and possibility for a closer working relationship. At the invitation of the Jamaica Baptist Union, a meeting of Caribbean Baptist leaders was held at the Baptist Conference Centre in Duncans, Trelawny, Jamaica, June 1-3, 1969, where thirty-seven representatives of fourteen islands/territories voted to recommend the formation of an organization to be known as the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship. The organization was formally constituted at a meeting held at the Conference Centre of the Florida Baptist Convention, Lake Yale, Florida, U.S.A., on April 13, 1970, comprised of the following thirteen member bodies: Bermuda Baptist Mission, Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, Jamaica Baptist Union, Puerto Rican Baptist Association, St. Kitts Baptist work, Guadeloupe Baptist Mission, the Guyana Baptist Mission, Haitian Baptist Convention, Cayman Islands Baptist Mission, St. Baptist Association, the Baptist Union of Trinidad & Tobago and the Trinidad Baptist Mission. An application sent to the Baptist World Alliance Executive Committee for recognition of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship as a regional entity in that body was formally approved at the BWA meeting held in Tokyo, Japan in July 1970. WHAT WE BELIEVE
DECLARATION OF FAITH: The Caribbean Baptist Fellowship is a voluntary association of Baptist entities bound together by the following commonly-held tenets of faith and practice:
Belief in:
1. A sovereign and loving God who reveals Himself as Creator of the universe and Supreme Lord of history and human destiny; who redeems humankind through personal faith in Jesus Christ; and who enables each believer and the church to fulfill their mission in the world through the work of the Holy Spirit;
2. The Holy Scriptures as the inspired Word of God and the final authority in all matters of faith, conduct and practice;
3. The Church as a community of believers who:
a. are united through personal faith in Jesus Christ;
b. observe the two scriptural ordinances of believers’ baptism and the Lord’s Supper;
c. acknowledge the centrality of preaching in the proclamation of the gospel;
d. covenant together to obey the teaching of Jesus Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture;
e. subscribe to the autonomy of the local Church and are committed to voluntary association and cooperation at various levels for the advancement of the kingdom of God; and
f. believe the scriptural teaching that every Christian is commissioned and equipped by the Holy Spirit to participate in the mission of the Church to advance the kingdom of God on earth.
