The month of January has been a valuable time for pastors and leaders from the Southern Wisconsin Baptist Association.  On January 21 there were 25 leaders from our churches gathered at Gospel Baptist Church in Sparta.   During this time Pastor Paul Berthiaume talked about reaching the religious lost.   Pastors and leaders found the time to be very helpful as more than 70 percent of the people living in our area already claim to go to church and have church backgrounds.

From January 24 to 26 we had 17 leaders from our the SWBA attend the North Central States Conference in Indianapolis.   Pictures to the right here is Pastor Mark Hong of Campus Community Church with Dr. Phil Roberts, President of Midwestern Theological Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

The North Central States Conference takes place every three years and strives to serve the north central states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.   Plenary sessions and scores of breakout sessions were available for the leaders who participated.     Our leaders came back sharing the value of our time together riding back and forth to Indianapolis in vans.  They also shared how helpful the content of the conference was for them.    We are thankful for the training that takes place through the leadership of Lifeway, North American Mission Board, the Woman’s Missionary Union, and the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.

On Saturday, January 21, 2012 we have our first association meeting of the year.   We welcome Pastor Paul Berthiaume of Jacob’s Well Church in Eau Claire to teach in this meeting.   Paul is the founding pastor of Jacob’s Well Church which started in 1999.

Paul has seen God’s many blessings at Jacob’s Well as their church has grown to more than 1,500 people in attendance for weekend services.    Paul will be teaching on leadership principles that he has learned over the years through prayer and experience.

All pastors and leaders from churches are encouraged to participate in this meaningful time.     Gospel Baptist Church will be the host for this quarterly meeting.     Gospel Baptist Church is located at 1700 W. Wisconsin Street in Sparta, Wisconsin next to the Wal-Mart.

 

 

Schedule for the Day:

8:00 a.m.  – Registration and Refreshments
9:00 a.m. – Leadership Development with Paul Berthiaume
10:30 a.m. – Break
11:00 a.m. – Winter SWBA Quarterly Meeting
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Dismiss

 

Every year in the life of Southern Baptist churches we have the opportunity to give to the international missions offering.    The offering is named after Lottie Moon who was a missionary in China.     Here are some facts that help provide motivation in giving to this cause for world missions:

* Over 3 billion people still have limited access to the gospel.
*4,880 of our missionaries are funded through this offering each year.
*Our missionaries helped to start 29,237 churches this past year.

Your offerings and prayers mean a great deal to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with all nations around the world.   For more information you can go to www.imb.org on how to give and promote the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in your church.