Dear friends,
We are one month away from the 178th Annual Gathering of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin! Be sure to join us on Saturday, October 8th, from 8:30-4:30 at First Baptist Church of Beloit. Hotel information, registration, and more can be found here.
Our guest speaker is my friend Rev. Rick Barlow. Rick is a development consultant with the American Baptist Foundation and serves as a Servant Leader at Seattle’s historic Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Some of you know Rick through his work in the foundation, others know him as a gifted preacher. He is my friend, and I’m glad he will be with us for our celebration together.
This is one of our first in-person events since the pandemic began in March 2020. We are also offering the gathering online as Covid is still a risk, and we are glad to be able to embrace current technology for a hybrid experience. Whether you join us in-person or online, we do hope you will register for the Annual Gathering.
This year, our focus is on reconnecting with one another and seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit as God calls us into a new time. Our theme of Isaiah 43:19 reminds us that God is the one who makes a way in the wilderness. The verse prior states that God is “about to do a new thing; now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?”
What is it that is on the tip of your tongue? What is it that is just beyond your vision? What is it that you are reaching for? God is doing something new among us as American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin. As I visit our churches, I am seeing where God is making a way through this wilderness: of Covid, politics, greed, environmental degradation, racism, sexism, poverty, and all the other barriers that might try to stop us. God is making a way through. Can you sense it?
Join us on October 8th. We will have fellowship. We’ll have a time of Table Conversations to share what we have learned and lost over the last two years and what we hope for. We will share in the business of the region together: electing our new Board of Managers, sharing the news around us, and looking to our future with hope. To top it off, we’ll have a wonderful celebratory lunch followed by worship together (and worship will be streamed on Facebook Live).
Register now for the 178th Annual Gathering, with Rev. Rick Barlow preaching.
With you on the journey of faith,
Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell
Executive Minister