ABHMS lifts up home mission at ABCUSA 2015 Mission Summit
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 5/27/15)—During American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) 2015 Mission Summit June 26-28 in Overland Park, Kan., American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) will offer attendees opportunities to learn about various home mission efforts, share dialogue with home missionaries and engage onsite in hands-on mission.
Mission opportunities will include assembling hygiene and school kits at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 26, at ABHMS’ exhibit. “Hygiene Kits”—washcloth, soap, hair brush, comb, shampoo/conditioner, hand sanitizer, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss and deodorant—will be donated to HELP Prisoner Ministry of First Baptist Church of Iowa City, Iowa; Bethel Neighborhood Center, Kansas City; and Friendship House, Peoria, Ill. “Back-to-School Kits”—markers, pack crayons, notebook, ruler, glue stick, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener and zippered pencil case—will be donated to Bethel Neighborhood Center, Friendship House and American Baptist Indian Caucus churches.
In addition, ABHMS is sponsoring a series of home mission-related presentations in its exhibit area on Friday and Sunday. Topics include “HELP Prisoner Re-entry Ministry of First Baptist Church of Iowa City” with the Rev. Dorothy Whiston, pastor of First Baptist Church of Iowa City, at 11 a.m. on Friday; “Church on Purpose: Reinventing Discipleship, Community, & Justice” with Dr. Adam Bond, co-editor of a Judson Press-published book of the same name and assistant professor of Historical Studies and American Baptist liaison at Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, at 4 p.m. on Friday; and “Religious Liberty Today” with J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, at 2 p.m. on Sunday. A full list of presenters is available on ABHMS’ website.
At ABHMS’ luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in the Cottonwood Ballroom, guest speaker the Rev. Yamina Apolinaris, executive director, Corporacion Milagros del Amor (“Miracles of Love Corporation”), will preach and share her ministry, an ABHMS Neighborhood Action Program Christian center in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The luncheon will also include tributes to Dr. A. Roy Medley, ABCUSA general secretary, and Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, ABHMS executive director. Wright-Riggins, along with Dr. J. Alfred Smith Jr., pastor of the historic Allen Temple Baptist Church, Oakland, Calif., will present the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace and Justice Award to Rep. Barbara Lee of California’s 13th Congressional District. Special music will be provided by the Rev. Julio and Annie González-Paniagua of First Spanish Baptist Church of Central Islip, N.Y.
Following the luncheon, a “Judson Press All-Author Book Signing” will take place outside the Cottonwood Ballroom 1:30-2:30 p.m.
On Sunday, Wright-Riggins will preach at Mission Summit-wide worship at 9:45 a.m. Following worship, attendees can meet and greet Wright-Riggins at ABHMS’ exhibit, where cake and coffee will be served to celebrate his 24-year ministry at ABHMS.
At 3 p.m. on Sunday, a drawing for an Apple Watch will be held at ABHMS’ exhibit to announce the Kingdom-building national gathering Space for Grace, to be sponsored by ABHMS in November. To qualify for the drawing, attendees must wear a “Space for Grace” T-shirt, available at no cost throughout the weekend at ABHMS’ exhibit. Attendees can also register for Space for Grace while at ABHMS’ exhibit.
Visit the Judson Press bookstore for a “Daily Deal” on book categories discounted an additional 5 percent-20 percent of Mission Summit marked-down prices: Friday, Baptist Resources; Saturday, Church Resources; and Sunday, Pastoral Resources.
For more information about ABHMS Mission Summit programming and activities, visit http://www.abhms.org/.
Register for the Mission Summit online at http://www.americanbaptists2015.com/.
ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.
