We are travelers in a world full of artificiality. “If you can’t be sincere, at least fake it,” the saying goes. Sadly, this problem can spill over into our life at church. What does it mean to be an authentic church? What is the real thing?

With all the types of churches and models of ministry existing today, it is essential that each of us strives to do church the way God intended. In his first letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul advised this young pastor on how to conduct himself in the house of God. Join us for the GARBC Conference, focusing on the book of 1 Timothy, and learn more about being the authentic church God desires. You’ll be challenged and refreshed by the powerful preaching of the conference keynote speaker, Bill Park, a veteran pastor and adjunct professor at Calvary Baptist Seminary in Lansdale, Pa., and of others, including Jim Lytle, Greg Randle, Will Hatfield, Patrick Odle, Jim Jeffery, Steve Olsen, and John Greening.

Ministry meals

Join in the fellowship and reunite with friends at the GARBC family picnic on Wednesday, June 27. Baptist Builders Club and the GARBC International Ministries invite you to join them for a meal and information time. Support the ministries by registering to attend and learning about the exciting work taking place.

Receptions

Reconnect with friends and learn about the exciting work of agencies, schools, and GARBC ministries.

Interactive discussion

You will have a unique opportunity to join discussion groups. Topics will focus on reformed theology and the art of preaching.

Free registration

The GARBC offers free registration to GARBC pastors and wives who are first-time attendees, to U.S.A. church planters listed in the GARBC directory, and to pastors and wives of churches that are applying for fellowship in the GARBC.

Lodging

Just a three-minute drive from Baptist Bible College, Nichols Village, Clarks Summit, Pa., will serve as this year’s headquarters hotel. Support the GARBC Conference by staying at Nichols Village. Rooms are just $99 per night, breakfast included. In addition, Baptist Bible College is providing some lodging in dorm rooms as well.

Featured Speaker

Bill Park is a professor of missions at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary, Lansdale, Pa., where he helps coordinate Calvary Baptist Seminary’s overseas teaching ministry and church-planting initiatives. He is a featured speaker at the GARBC Conference, preaching three times on the Authentic Church, the conference theme.

He is formerly the pastor of High Point Baptist Chapel in Geigertown, Pa., a ministry founded by his father in 1959. Under Bill’s leadership, the church helped plant nine churches and developed an extensive program of world missions. Bill married his wife, Betty Jean, in 1965, a year after he began studying at Dallas Theological Seminary. Both finished graduate school with masters’ degrees, with Bill later earning a DMin from Faith Theological Seminary.

Bill and Betty Jean represent the Gospel Mission of South America, a church-planting ministry in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. Since retiring as High Point’s pastor in 2003, Bill has ministered as interim pastor of four other churches. He also continues to serve on the board of trustees for Baptist Bible College.