My Vision For The Future Of The Council On Biblical Manhood And Womanhood -- By: Denny R. Burk

Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 21:2 (Fall 2016)
Article: My Vision For The Future Of The Council On Biblical Manhood And Womanhood
Author: Denny R. Burk


My Vision For The Future Of The Council On Biblical Manhood And Womanhood

Denny Burk

President
The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Director of The Center for Gospel and Culture Boyce College
Louisville, Kentucky

Last Summer, the CBMW board chairman invited me to consider coming on board as the new president of the organization. As I began praying about this unexpected opportunity, my thoughts turned very quickly from whether to accept the position to what CBMW needs to be and to do in the days ahead. A very clear vision began forming in my mind. I shared that vision with the board of directors before they elected me last summer, and I would like to share that vision with the readers of JBMW.

The vision I articulated very much aligns with CBMW’s vision statement, which reads:

The vision of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is to see the vast majority of evangelical homes, churches, academic institutions, and other ministries adopt the principles of the Danvers Statement as a part of their personal convictions and doctrinal confessions and apply them in consistent, heart-felt practice.

This remains CBMW’s vision, and I intend to pursue this vision as president. But to do so, CBMW will need both to affirm and to advance.

Affirm

The Danvers Statement must define the mission and vision of CBMW. Danvers is our true north. At the heart of that statement is a biblical conviction about what it means to be created in the image of God as male and female:

Both Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood. . . Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart.

As Danvers makes clear, these truths have immediate implications for leadership in the home and in the church. We believe this to be a faithful summary of biblical teaching.

There is room in the complementarian coalition for differences in application, and indeed we know that individual ministries and churches will carry out the Danvers vision in ways not specified by Danvers. Nevertheless, we welcome all evangelicals who affirm Danvers into a coalition to advance this biblical vision.

We also wish to affirm that the Danvers Statement promotes the full equality of women as co-heirs of the gospel and co-laborers in advancing the Kingdom. We want to affirm that a biblical view of complementarity blesses, honors, and protects women. To this end, I would like to revisit CBMW’s Statement against abuse, t...

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