American Baptists Conclude General Assembly
The American Baptist Church General Assembly concluded Saturday with the election of new officers, adoption of resolutions, and a call to evangelism.
The American Baptist Church General Assembly concluded Sunday with the election of new officers, adoption of resolutions, and a call to evangelism.
The Rev. Dr. Arlee Griffin Jr., pastor of Berean Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. Griffin and current vice president of American Baptist Churches USA, was voted-in as president-elect. His term begins 2006-2007.
Meanwhile, Rev. Mary Hulst, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Denver, Colo., was voted as vice-president elect for the same term, which begins January 1, 2006.
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More than 2,000 American Baptists gathered in Denver, Colorado for the biennial celebration, which began Friday. This year, a special emphasis was placed on understanding the mission and ministry of the denomination.
On the last night of the assembly, the Rev. Dr. Molly T. Marshall, president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged the delegates to be “found by God.”
"God never intended to be an isolated monarch; God desired to be with us from the beginning," she said, according to a press release. “God calls us to radical trust; God is with us and for us ...that we might be the form of God's compassion.”
"We do not find God; we are continually found by God,” she said.
Meanwhile, Rev. Dr. Denton Lotz, the general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, gave a special message calling for a unity centered on Christ.
"We belong together because we belong to Christ," Lotz said.
Lotz mentioned that when the BWA was founded, 80 percent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America. He added that now, 60 percent of the Christian population is found in the third world, which “will re-evangelize the Northern Hemisphere.”
The BWA will hold a centenary celebration this month.
The American Baptist Church is a major Baptist denomination in the U.S., with roots stretching back nearly 100 years. As of 2001, the ABC-USA claimed 1.4 million members in all fifty states.
