NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A diverse lineup of speakers and a focus
on God’s Kingdom will amplify the theme of the 2011 SBC
Pastors’ Conference: “Aspire: Yearning to join God’s kingdom activity.”
The June 12-13 gathering, held in Phoenix prior to the
Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in the Phoenix Convention Center, is
intended to help pastors see “the big picture of what God is doing in the
world” and rise above preoccupations with temporary issues, said Pastors’
Conference President Vance Pitman, church planter and lead pastor of Hope
Baptist Church in Las Vegas.
Pitman said he is praying 1,000 churches will commit
themselves during the conference to plant churches in “pioneer areas” of North
America. Also, part of the annual offering taken during the gathering will be
used to finish translating the “JESUS” film into the language of an unreached
people group in the Arabian Peninsula.
BP photo This year’s 2011 Southern Baptist Convention will be at the Phoenix Convention Center. Most of the meetings will be at this facility or nearby. |
The remainder of the offering will be used to conduct
pastors’ conferences on two continents that will use national leadership to
assist church leaders in about 20 countries, Pitman said.
The conference website, www.sbcpc.net, lists the event’s
speakers as including Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.;
Ken Whitten of Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla.; Afshin Ziafat of
Providence Church in Frisco, Texas; Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta;
Bob Roberts of Northwood Church in Keller, Texas; Peter Ndhlovu of Bible Gospel
Church in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia; Paul Gotthardt of Life Baptist Church in
Las Vegas; Darrin Patrick of The Journey Church in St. Louis; Gregg Matte of First
Baptist Church in Houston; evangelist Bob
Pitman of Muscle Shoals, Ala.; and Johnny Hunt of First
Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga.
“If you look at every one of these guys, their theology and methodology has not
become an obstacle for them in engaging the nations with the gospel,” Pitman
said. “Every one of them is engaged in multiplying the church and working among
the nations, recognizing that is the big picture of what God is doing.”
Pastor’s wives conference
The annual Pastors’ Wives Conference will follow the same
theme of “Aspire” of the Pastors’ Conference, with Kay Warren as the keynote
speaker, wife of Pastor Rick Warren.
The conference will be held from 8:30-11:45 a.m. Monday, June 13, the North
Ballroom A/B of the Phoenix Convention Center. There is no cost for the event
and registration is not required. Women who serve in any area of local church
leadership, missions and denominational work are invited to join ministers’
wives in attendance.
Ministers’ wives lunch
Anne Wright, president of the 2011 SBC
Ministers’ Wives’ Luncheon, is using the theme “Influential Joy” for the
ministers’ wives’ luncheon.
The luncheon will begin at noon
Tuesday, June 14, in the North Ballroom A/B/C of the Phoenix
Convention Center. Lisa Harper from
the Women of Faith tour will speak, and Kim Hill, a Grammy-nominated and Dove
Award-winning artist, will sing. The luncheon is open to all wives of
ministers.
Tickets may be purchased in advance for $15 through LifeWay
Women’s Events at www.lifeway.com or (800) 254-2022. At the door, the ticket
cost will be $20. Women who wish to serve as table hostesses may contact Sandy
Beetler of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church at [email protected] or (770)
794-2982.
NAMB — pastor’s conference lunch
Kevin Ezell, the mission board’s president, will explain his
“Send North America” vision during a Pastors’ Conference luncheon at noon June 13 in Room 120 C/D of the Phoenix
Convention Center. The luncheon for
pastors, church staff and other leaders also will feature Ed Stetzer of LifeWay
Christian Resources and worship leader Chris Mills. Seating is limited, and
tickets are available at www.namb.net/SNAluncheon for $7 each.
Chaplains
Ezell also will speak at the annual SBC
Chaplains’ Luncheon slated for June 13 from 11:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room
124 of the convention center. Reservations are required.
This year’s chaplains’ luncheon will recognize Maj. Gen.
Douglas Carver, who is retiring this year as U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains.
Directors of mission
Directors of mission are invited to worship at 11 a.m. June 12 at North
Phoenix Baptist Church
followed by a lunch with O.S. Hawkins of GuideStone Financial Resources. There
will be morning breakout sessions June 13 followed by times with Ezell and
Elliff.
Coffee and fellowship time starts the day at 9 and there
will be a luncheon for new DOMs at 11:45.
To register, visit www.sbcadom.net and complete the registration form.
Woman’s Missionary Union
“Proclaim!” will be theme drawn from Luke 4:18—19 for speakers, breakout conferences and
music during the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting, June 12—13 in Phoenix.
Ginger Smith, executive director of the Mission Centers of Houston
(Texas), will be the keynote
speaker.
There will be three general sessions: Sunday, June 12, at 7 p.m.; and Monday, June 13, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
A special missions feature facilitated by Gordon Fort, vice president for
overseas operations with the International Mission Board, is slated on Monday
at 11 a.m. Breakout sessions will be offered on Sunday from 2:30—5 p.m. and on
Monday from 2-4:30 p.m. Debby Akerman, president of national WMU, will give her
presidential address during the Monday morning session. Tangena Mishler will
lead in worship along with pianist Nancy Grainger.
This year’s celebration will be in the Grand Ballroom of the Wyndham Phoenix
Downtown Hotel, two blocks from the Phoenix
Convention Center.
Participants are encouraged to bring school supplies to help
with an ongoing ministry at Seyenna Vistas, a 67-acre mobile home and RV park
in Phoenix with more than 100 children in grades 1—6.
There is no charge to attend and no preregistration is
required. Onsite registration opens on Sunday at 2 p.m. Visit www.wmu.com for
more information.
COSBE
Messengers to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist
Convention are invited to a Sunday morning worship service sponsored by the
Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE) June 12 at 9 a.m. in the Valley of the Sun Ballroom at the
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.
Speakers include Harold Hunter, president of Trinity
College of the Bible and
Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Ind.;
Brian Fossett, a former COSBE president; and Eric Fuller, a young evangelist.
The theme is “Ageless Urgency.”
After the worship service, COSBE members will enjoy a
fellowship meal and mini-retreat at 12:30 p.m.
followed by a COSBE business meeting from 3-5
p.m.
Seminary lunches
The six Southern Baptist seminaries will hold their annual
alumni luncheons on Wednesday June 15 during the SBC
annual meeting.
Golden Gate Seminary — 12:15
p.m.; $10 per person; Phoenix
Convention Center
North Building,
Rooms 227 A/B/C on Level 200. Call (888) 442-8709 or email [email protected].
Midwestern Seminary — Noon;
$15 per person; Phoenix Convention
Center’s North
Building, Rooms 124 A & B,
Street Level. Call (816) 414-3720 or email [email protected],
and include complete names of all attendees and your cell phone and email
address. Reservations are due before June 9.
New Orleans Seminary — $20 per person if purchased by May 31
($25 afterward); Phoenix
Convention Center’s North Ballroom (Room 120A, North
Building). Send a check payable to
NOBTS to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Attention Alumni Relations,
3939 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans, LA
70126 or purchase online at www.nobts.edu.
Southeastern Seminary — Noon;
$25 per person; rooms 129A and 129B in the North
Building of the Phoenix
Convention Center; visit http://sebts.edu/alumni/events/default.aspx.
Southern Seminary — 12:30 p.m.; $20 per person; Phoenix
Convention Center’s North Building, Room 120D, Level 100; call (502) 897-4142
or by e-mail Retta Draper at [email protected].
Southwestern Seminary — Noon; $20 per person; Phoenix
Convention Center’s North Ballroom, Room 120 on Level 100; visit www.swbts.edu/sbclunch
or call (877) GO SWBTS (467-9287).
NAAF
The National African American Fellowship’s annual banquet is
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, in Room
129 A/B, Level 100, at the Phoenix Convention
Center.
The Sunday worship service is slated 6:30 p.m. June 12 at Canaan
Missionary Baptist
Church, 931
S. Stapley Drive in Mesa.
The annual NAAF business meeting, including the election of officers,
will be at 4 p.m. Monday in Room 230,
Level 200, of the convention center.
Dixon, NAAF’s
president, said the business session will include a discussion of the four new
strategies NAAF is embracing.
Black network
The Black Southern Baptist Denominational Servants Network’s
annual meeting will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at Canaan Missionary Baptist
Church in Mesa, Ariz., 931 S. Stapley Drive in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb about 20
miles east of the Phoenix Convention Center, site of the 2011 SBC
annual meeting.
On Saturday, June 11, the network will host 80 or more
church leaders for an 8 a.m.
“Recharging Your Sunday School” seminar at Canaan to be
led by Elgia “Jay” Wells, Charles Grant and Curtis, all from LifeWay.
Filipino
The Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America
will meet Tuesday, June 14 for a luncheon and meeting from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
at North Phoenix
Baptist Church,
located at 5757 North Central Avenue,
in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix.
Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, will be the
featured speaker.
To register for the meeting, email Manao at [email protected]
or call (610) 580-8635.
Native Americans
The Fellowship of Native American Christians (FoNAC),
scheduled to meet June 13 in Phoenix, will discuss the need for an executive
director and a regional liaison network with Indian churches in state
conventions, according to Emerson Falls, president of the Southern Baptist
ethnic fellowship. The FoNAC meeting, from 10 a.m. to noon Monday, June 13, will be in Room 226A of
the North Building
at the Phoenix Convention
Center.
Anyone with an interest in ministry with Native Americans is invited to attend.
Messianic
The Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship will meet June
10-11 in Phoenix for the task of
reaching Jews with the gospel. The fellowship’s annual meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, June 10, with praise and worship
and a welcome message from vice president Ric Worshill at CrossPoinTempe
Church at 1001 East Southern Ave.
in Tempe, Ariz.,
followed by an Oneg Shabbat meal. The church is 12 miles southeast of the Phoenix
Convention Center.
On Saturday, praise and worship will begin at 8:30 a.m., and Bruce Stokes, dean of the school
of behavioral sciences at California Baptist
University in Riverside,
will speak.
People who plan to attend the event should send an email to
[email protected] to assist the organizers in preparations.
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