This message was recorded by Susan Gillies, Interim General Secretary for American Baptist Churches USA. Gillies began serving as Interim on January 1, 2016, and will serve in the position until a new General Secretary is named.
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 7/15/16)—In less than a month, our nation has been riddled with acts of unspeakable violence. On June 12, 2016, forty-nine people were killed and fifty-three more wounded in an Orlando nightclub. More recently, two men – Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile of Falcon Heights, Minn. – were […]
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 07/13/16)—In a historic celebration before a gathering of hundreds of mission supporters, the Rev. Sharon T. Koh of Los Angeles, Calif., was installed as executive director-elect of American Baptist International Ministries (IM). She began her service as executive director-elect on July 1, 2016, and will assume the role of executive director […]
“My time in Taize in June was a profound experience both spiritually and interculturally,” explains Rev. Judith Fackenthal, president of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) and pastor of Garfield Park Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Ind. Before going to Taize I thought it was all about contemplative music and prayer practice,” Fackenthal says. “The root of […]
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 07/12/16)—The search for the next General Secretary of ABCUSA begins in August 2016. According to the ABCUSA By-laws the Nominating Committee of ABCUSA plus one additional person named by the partner boards (ABHMS, IM and MMBB) make up the General Secretary Search Committee. The members of the Search Committee are: 1. Judy Fackenthal, […]
Rev. Jabulani McCalister is the Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Providence, R.I. He oversees the spiritual well-being and growth of a 300-member congregation. I began my faith journey my junior year in college at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. My early church experience was not positive. Fortunately I met some friends in college […]
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 7/8/16)—A Call to Prayer has been issued to American Baptists by the ABC National Executive Council, including: Susan Gillies, interim general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, Jeffrey Haggray, executive director of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Virginia Holmstrom, executive director of American Baptist Women’s Ministries, Reid Trulson, executive director of […]
For Rev. Stacy Emerson of West Hartford, Conn., stewardship is a “way of life” for all of God’s disciples, but stewardship also is a term abounding in misconceptions. “Stewardship is not just about money,” says Emerson, who serves as Stewardship Facilitator for Mission Resource Development, American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA). She works as a deployed […]
A video greeting from ABCUSA President Judy Fackenthal. This greeting is made possible by your support of United Mission. Visit www.UMIsTheVehicle.org for free resources for your church.
A $1,000 Matthew 25 Grant from the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) to The South Church in Mount Prospect, Ill., played a significant role in getting fresh vegetables onto the tables of people in need last year. The South Church Garden yielded 2,150 pounds of vegetables in 2015, the third time in seven years that […]
