Messengers also approved a church to church covenant which Jeff Christopherson, outgoing convention president, said defines the "substance" of where Canadian Southern Baptists are heading.

A total of 136 messengers, along with 148 guests, registered for the June 30-July 2 convention at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

In balloting on the new name, 86 percent voted in favor of the change; 14 percent against.

"We're still Southern Baptists, that did not change," said Gerry Taillon, CNBC national ministry leader, addressing messengers and guests at the

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

In an interview following the convention, Taillon said the change was needed to establish the Canadian convention's identity, noting, "It was necessary to clear up confusion with the uninitiated who come to all the wrong ideas of who we are."

Taillon told the messengers that 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 have the same CNBC acronym: Convention Nationale Baptiste Canadienne.

The proposed change did cause discussion prior to the vote.

Shan An, pastor of Dixie Baptist Church in Toronto, said he would go along with the final decision, but he thought the Southern Baptist name was valuable. In addition, he described the word national as "outdated."

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

In support of the new name, however, Dwayne Bartley, pastor of Cambrian Heights Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta, said he thought national is a "very good Canadian word" and 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," Bartley said.

The vote was the second and final vote on the convention's new name. In the first vote in July 2007, 97 percent of the messengers at the annual convention in Richmond, British Columbia, 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 at the annual convention in Toronto recommended appointment of a study committee to look at the possibility of a new name.

In November 2004, the convention's National Leadership Board, under Rob Blackaby as board president, 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 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 of the convention and how Southern Baptist churches in Canada work together.

In July 2006, the leadership board presented messengers to the annual convention in Ottawa with a recommendation in favor of the name change, with the first vote slated for the 2007 annual convention.

Taillon said implementation of the new name would be gradual.

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

Also, some paperwork is yet to be filed for the name change go into full effect, Taillon 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.

CHURCH TO CHURCH COVENANT

The church to church covenant will be "a symbol to churches that you are not alone," said Bob Shelton, leader of the convention's church strengthening team. "We're in a covenant together. That is the way God designed it to be."

The covenant asks churches to make five commitments:

-- To affirm the church as God's primary vehicle for advancing His Kingdom by committing to share Christ, send missionaries and start and strengthen churches, connecting churches in association and valuing the contribution of each church as unique and significant.

-- To honor the rich heritage God has given Canadian Southern Baptists by upholding a commitment to the CNBC Statement of Faith, being on mission with other CNBC churches and partnering with Southern Baptist entities and churches.

-- To practice God's desire for interdependence by realizing churches can do more together than alone, accepting responsibility for one another and giving sacrificially through the Cooperative Program.

-- To welcome God's protection found in accountability by initiating dialogue with churches and leaders in times of need, welcoming assistance of churches and leaders in times of crisis and praying together for forgiveness and restoration in times of moral failure and spiritual distress. Continued...