VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 9/26/18)—The American Baptist Churches USA Office of the General Secretary will purchase a new office building close to the current location of the American Baptist Churches Mission Center at 588 N. Gulph Road, King of Prussia, Pa.
In the midst of the expected sale of the Mission Center property, part of a collaborative process examining mission partners’ operational needs in the context of the current ABC Mission Center, which has been ongoing for over four-years, the Board of General Ministries this summer unanimously approved the purchase of a new ABCUSA Office of the General Secretary building. An agreement to purchase a new building was signed in June 2018.
General Secretary Lee B. Spitzer explained in a recent message to the Regional Executive Ministers Council, “We are currently in the due diligence period, doing all the obligatory surveys and tests, and that is why I am not sharing the exact address. We are planning to close and gain possession of the property by the end of November 2018, and after renovations, move in during the first quarter of 2019. AB Historical Society will also have an office in this facility. It is a perfect size for our current ministry and its future.”
“This purchase and renovation of a new ABCUSA building will be entirely financed by utilizing a special fund we possess whose principal is specifically designated for such a purpose. We will not incur debt and no United Mission money will be diverted for the purchase. God has directed us to a perfect space for our present and future needs as we seek to offer pastoral service to the whole family.”
Mission partners located in the American Baptist Churches Mission Center have made decisions on relocation based on their ministry needs. On February 2, 2018, the domestic personnel of International Ministries (IM) made a half-mile move to a new office space, at 1003 W. 9th Ave., Ste. A, King of Prussia, Pa. The American Baptist Home Mission Societies, American Baptist Extension Corporation and American Baptist Women’s Ministries announced a move to 1075 First Avenue, King of Prussia, Pa. The American Baptist Foundation is moving to a building it has purchased and renovated in nearby East Norriton, Pa. The Ministers Council has relocated to an office in the Baptist Church of West Chester, PA. MMBB has historically maintained its primary offices in New York City and will continue to do so.
“As we transition from the current Mission Center,” said Spitzer, “We have created an American Baptist neighborhood in which the Office of the General Secretary, International Ministries, the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, the American Baptist Extension Corporation, American Baptist Women’s Ministries, the American Baptist Historical Society, the American Baptist Foundation and Ministers Council, can easily and conveniently work alongside one another collaboratively and fellowship together. Centuries of Baptist history affirms that what unites us is Jesus, our common mission aims and ABC identity, not real estate.”
“Beyond our immediate ministry neighborhood, ABCUSA/OGS will continue to serve alongside MMBB in New York, our Regional offices across the country, and other partners. American Baptist Churches has no center – we live, fellowship and serve all over our mission field. We are a movement, which focuses on the centrality of the local church as God’s context for mission and fellowship. In a new day, let us recommit to take the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world!”
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.