Most of our new, young members know almost nothing about the Baptist General Conference. Yet it is our primary arm of outreach beyond Minneapolis. It is a fellowship of 800 churches in the United States. Together we are aiming to plant one new church every week in 1991. We support hundreds of missionaries on eleven different fields touching dozens of unreached peoples. Eight hundred of our young people attended Urbana ’90. We own and operate Bethel College and Seminary, and publish a monthly magazine of news and comment, The Standard.

Since 1980 Bethlehem has given $828,387 to the Baptist General Conference to support its stateside church-planting vision and world missions program. This is a big investment. I think it means that many of you should get to know the BGC first hand.

The last week of June will give you a great way to do that.

The annual meeting of the BGC will be held at Bethel College in Arden Hills from Wednesday, June 26 to Saturday, June 29. If you have young children or teenagers, there are special programs for them that would free you up to relax with other adults in the sessions at Bethel. Maybe you could take some vacation days for this.

Two special notes. First, for the senior citizens Tuesday, June 25 will be a special day called “Come, Celebrate Life V”. Second, Wednesday, June 26 will be a day of prayer beginning at 9:00 a.m. and lasting till about 4:00 p.m. This is an utterly crucial time to seek the Lord together for everything else that will happen—and might happen!

The keynote address by our president Bob Ricker is Wednesday evening, June 26. Even if you can’t be a part of the daytime sessions, the evening sessions will give you a good introduction to the Baptist General Conference.

You can get registration materials from the church. Besides regular attenders, we are allowed 13 voting delegates from Bethlehem. If you will be able to attend the business sessions and would like to be considered for the role of delegate, please call the church office and add your name to the list.

I hope to see many of you at the annual meeting—especially those who are newer to the Conference and do not know much about it.

Topping it off there will be a Bethlehem homecoming on Sunday morning and evening, June 30. We hope that many former Bethlehem friends and members and staff people will be with us in a combined Sunday School and worship services in the new worship center that day.

Part of the larger work of God with you,

Pastor John