Entries for July 2009

American Baptist International Ministries announced the Xtreme Team Mission Adventure Program is preparing to send a group of 9 young adults and leaders to do mission outreach in Russia this summer.

Workshops are an integral part of the learning experience for attendees at the Biennial Meeting of the American Baptist Churches.  The International Ministries (IM) workshops offered by the missionaries proved to be very popular with the Biennial crowd this year.

The lunch programs sponsored by American Baptist International Ministries on Saturday, June 27^th and Sunday, June 28^th were a chance to give Biennial delegates and attendees a brief snapshot of what they might expect to find at the World Mission Conference.

American Baptist Women’s Ministries has updated its website at www.abwministries.org with a new look and new features to better serve ministries with women and girls in American Baptist churches.

With the theme of “These Hands, These Feet,” American Baptists gathered by the hundreds in Pasadena, CA, during the last weekend of June to hear and experience ways they have been, currently are, and soon will be, the instruments of God’s work on Earth.

At the Saturday afternoon gathering of the American Baptist Biennial meeting in Pasadena, CA, June 27, delegates overwhelmingly accepted the two Statements of Concern brought to them by the Statements of Concern Committee.

At the Saturday afternoon gathering of the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial meeting in Pasadena, CA, June 27, delegates elected new officers for ABCUSA, for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2010.

The problem with Christians today is “heart failure,” according to Dr. Robin Smith, speaking Sunday evening, June 28, at the closing worship service of the Biennial meeting of American Baptist Churches USA. 

“You have a choice,” Dr. David Coffey, president of the Baptist World Alliance, told the American Baptist Biennial on Sunday morning, June 28.  “You can do it Jesus’ way, or choose to do it your way.”

The Office of the General Secretary, ABCUSA, today announced the release of a new website for the denomination. The site's address will remain the same—www.abc-usa.org—but the site has been aesthetically and functionally redesigned to more effectively serve those who use it.

At the ABCUSA 2009 Biennial, June 26-28, American Baptists celebrated the resettlement of more than 100,000 refugees through National Ministries’ Direct Human Services office since the cooperative effort with Church World Service began after World War II.

At the Saturday business session of the American Baptist Biennial meeting in Pasadena, CA, delegates narrowly defeated the by-law changes brought by the General Board. 377 delegates voted in favor of the changes and 217 opposed them, with 20 abstentions. Two-thirds of the delegates present are needed for by-law changes to be accepted.  

Nick Vujicic began the Saturday morning worship service of the Biennial meeting of the American Baptist Churches, meeting in Pasadena, CA, June 27, with stirring words. “Isn’t it ironic that God can use a man without arms and legs to be the hands and feet of Christ.”  

The opening worship service of the Biennial Meeting of the American Baptist Churches USA began on June 26 with the blare of a Mariachi Band, and ended with the swell of an old hymn tune adorned with new words.