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.