wfn.org | ABCUSA: Biennial Meeting Update: 7/3/05

["CHANDLER, David" <David.Chandler@abc-usa.org>]

Biennial Meeting, American Baptist Churches USA
Denver, Colo., July 1-3, 2005

GRIFFIN, HULST AND HAMBLIN ELECTED OFFICERS FOR 2006-2007 BIENNIUM

Delegates voted last night to elect denominational officers for the
2006-2007 biennium.

President-elect is the Rev. Dr. Arlee Griffin Jr., pastor of Berean
Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Griffin, currently vice
president of American Baptist Churches USA, has served as a member of
the General Board and its Executive Committee, the Board of National
Ministries and the ABCUSA Nominating Committee, and has served as vice
president of the Board of Managers of The Ministers and Missionaries
Benefit Board.

The Rev. Mary Hulst, vice president-elect, is pastor of Calvary Baptist
Church in Denver, Colo.  She is a member of the General Board, has
served on the boards of trustees of Redlands University and Central
Baptist Theological Seminary, and has been a member of the General
Council of the Baptist World Alliance.
The Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hamblin, budget review officer-elect, is executive
pastor of South Parkersburg Baptist Church in Parkersburg, W.V.  He is
the former executive minister of the West Virginia Baptist Convention
and has served previously in several pastorates in West Virginia.

The officers will serve from Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2007.

Also elected were five members of the Statements of Concern Committee:
Shirley Fair, Alden, Kans.; Paul Hayes, Noank, Conn.; Edgir Jean,
Newark, N.J.; Joyce Kellam, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Patricia Stratton,
Bowdoinham, Me.

MARSHALL: EMBRACE 'RADICAL TRUST IN GOD'S FAITHFULNESS'

Challenging more than 2,000 American Baptists here last night "to mirror
God's own outreach [to us] to the world," the Rev. Dr. Molly T. Marshall
urged the "sharing of radical trust in God's faithfulness."

Marshall, president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas
City, Kans., based her message on several scriptural passages, including
Psalm 121, "Our help comes from the Lord."

"God never intended to be an isolated monarch; God desired to be with us
from the beginning," she said.	For God, "there is no higher or lower
place.	God established a connection with humans and created humans to
live in community [just as] God enjoys in the Holy Trinity."

Although the challenge is that	"We aren't sure we can be in
relationship with those who are different" from us, "God grants us the
vocation of reconciliation" as part of His blessing to us, she said.

"God calls us to radical trust; God is with us and for us ...that we
might be the form of God's compassion."  Indeed, "God, in great
humility, is made in our likeness as Word becomes flesh."

Emphasizing the psalmist's admonition that only in receiving God's help
are we made whole, Marshall maintained that "We do not find God; we are
continually found by God."

MINISTRIES OF BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE CELEBRATED

Ministries of the American Baptist-related Baptist World Alliance, which
is celebrating its centenary later this month, were lifted up during
evening worship last night through a time of sharing with the Rev. Dr.
Denton Lotz, BWA general secretary, and through an offering.

"We belong together because we belong to Christ," Lotz said.  At the
BWA's founding in 1905 80% of the world's Christians lived in Europe and
North America and now 60% of the Christian population is found in the
Third World, which "will re-evangelize the Northern Hemisphere," Lotz
said.

TWO STATEMENTS OF CONCERN AFFIRMED

Delegates approved two Statements of Concern yesterday.

"A Call to Responsible Action" urges American Baptists to: "teach and
model prayer in both private and public life; become change agents that
enable the love of God to be placed in human hearts and not expect any
government to assume what is our responsibility; disciple one another in
the skill of living a Christ-centered life in secular society; engage in
public ministry in their community; advocate our core belief of
separation of church and state as inspired by scripture and tradition;
study God's Word to discern God's will for Christians in the secular
society; address our governments at all levels to refute interference in
religious life."

"Re-affirming the Association Principle" calls American Baptists to:
"practice the historic Baptist principle of voluntary association at all
levels; encourage leaders to foster a variety of ways to work together
under the guidance of God; recognize that diversity exists within our
American Baptist family and celebrate the many ways we cooperate in
service to God; witness that the body of Christ consists of many
different members, that not all members are alike, and that each member
is necessary for the healthy functioning of the church."

FIVE RESOLUTIONS AMENDING BYLAWS APPROVED

Delegates voted yesterday to affirm five resolutions that amend the
ABCUSA bylaws.	The changes relate to the authorization of telephonic
Board or committee meetings; to the dissolution of Educational
Ministries; to Associated Ministry Organizations; and to changes made to
the bylaws of the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board.  Another
resolution, relating to how the number of Biennial delegates will be
determined, was returned to the General Board.

QUOTABLE

"We are saved at the cross and validated at the grave.... Jesus' death
was not the announcement that the world, the principalities and the
powers have won.... The cross does not create a hierarchy of sin. And if
the cross covers it all, then the task of the household of faith is to
tell the old, old story. The cross must be honored as that event that
changes the reality of everyone who believes.... The miracle of the Holy
Spirit coming at Pentecost was that they could all understand each
other. ... Pentecost is a commandment of unity.... The role of
theological education in these days is to keep the focus in the center,
where the cross calls all men and women to new life. We need to stay in
that broad place of conviction so we can understand where we've been,
where we are and where we're going."--the Rev. Dr. Keith Russell in
"Will the Center Hold?," at National Ministries' Disciple-Making dinner,
July 1

"How can any war be a religious war?...The word religion means 'put back
together that which has been separated'.... Jesus is a person who calls
us to become carpenters of peace. Jesus is not for peace today and for
war tomorrow. Jesus wants us to know that the sword He brings divides
people into two camps: those who love peace and those who love war. ...
Jesus says, 'You must love me more than the pressures of your peers or
the call of culture.'"--The Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr. in "The Mystery
of Religious Wars and the Prince of Peace," at the Micah Meal, July 2

"Fifty percent of 300 million people [in the Arab world] can't read the
front page of a newspaper...to win [their] hearts and minds we must have
control of TV and radio...as their primary source of information.  This
is a unique way to touch people [who] are expressing astonishment at the
Christian faith...The Arab world is not resident to the Gospel."---Dr.
Terry Ascott, CEO, SAT-7, Christian satellite media in Middle East and
North Africa, at the Board of International Ministries luncheon, July 2