ABHMS board meets for February retreat

VALLEY FORGE, PA (3/7/19)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies’ (ABHMS) board of directors met for a three-day February retreat last week at ABHMS’ new mission center, King of Prussia, Pa.

Agenda items included welcoming new board members: the Rev. Dr. Mia Chang, founder and senior pastor of NextGen Church, West Windsor, N.J.; Denise Gibson-Bailey, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Gibson-Bailey Associates, which provides strategic management consulting and customized training to leaders of nonprofit enterprises; and Quinton Roman Nose, an advocate of American Indian education policy. Additional new board members to attend the meeting prior to the Virginia Beach Mission Summit are the Rev. Yamina Apolinaris, executive director of Corporación Milagros del Amor, Caguas, Puerto Rico, and the Rev. Dr. Corey S. Fields, senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, Newark, Del.

Considerable time was devoted to discussing emerging mission opportunities in the United States and Puerto Rico, including ministrElife, a vibrant online community developed by ABHMS for American Baptist ministry professionals and lay leaders; Converge, a collaborative April event of Co-Creators Incubator participants, 2018 Palmer Grant recipients and American Baptist Association of Colleges and Universities’ deans and presidents; and the ongoing “Rebuilding, Restoring, Renewing Puerto Rico” initiative, through which 48 American Baptist churches, schools and other entities on the island have been restored or are undergoing restoration since Hurricane Maria wrought havoc on the island in September 2017.

The board also decided on the official name of the new ABHMS mission center: “Leadership and Mission Building.” In addition to ABHMS, the building houses American Baptist Extension Corporation and American Baptist Women’s Ministries. A board committee was formed to plan a formal dedication ceremony on May 17, 2019.

American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.

 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.