2009 GARBC Conference Begins

June 23, 2009

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ELYRIA, Ohio—Kevin Bauder, president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Minn., was the opening speaker at the 77th annual conference of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. More than 800 people attended the opening night event, representing about 1,450 GARBC churches in 45 states.

Earlier in the day, a group of young Baptist leaders in the GARBC announced the development of The Quest, a new ministry group and website geared toward young leaders.

“It didn’t start with a bang—some flash in the pan, make a lot of noise, get ‘em all riled up event,” says Will Hatfield, pastor of Campus Baptist Church in Ames, Iowa. “It did start with prayer and a meeting in one of those classic back rooms somewhere.”

The group started meeting informally in November 2008, choosing its name from a GARBC history written by Paul Tassell, Quest for Faithfulness. The book describes how young leaders shaped the GARBC and made it into the strong association it is today.

“We’re on a quest to build on the great heritage we’ve been given in God-glorifying, gospel-spreading, and sin-mortifying ways,” Hatfield says. “You can be involved. We want you to be! You can be involved by writing, commenting, helping with technical stuff. The potential is pretty unlimited.”

During the Council of Eighteen meetings on Monday, national representative John Greening also announced a new mentoring program for men currently in vocational ministry or preparing for vocational ministry. An initial group of seven men under the age of 40 will be selected for a six-month mentoring program with Greening and Jim Vogel, associate national representative. See more details of the new program at the Quest website.

Read daily coverage of the 2009 GARBC Conference at www.BaptistBulletin.org and www.garbc.org/conference, including photos, news articles, sermon MP3s, and downloads.

  • See Monday’s conference photo gallery.
  • Listen to “Every People and Every Nation“: Dr. Kevin Bauder preaches from Psalm 67 on Monday evening, June 22. The session is 37 minutes long and 24 MB in size.
  • Listen to “Regular Baptist History, Part 1“: Dr. Kevin Bauder reviews the 100th anniversary of the Regular Baptist movement. The clip is 6 minutes long and 5 MB in size.
  • Download Monday night’s sermon notes from Psalm 67.