This year, I want to focus my Executive Minister’s report on our current state and our future direction.
This year’s annual meeting’s central focus as a ministry is based upon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the “Beloved Community,” which is one of the seven ABCUSA Mission Table topics being explored nationally by the ABC regions and mission boards. This vision calls for a Christ-centered society marked by love, justice, and reconciliation. Something I have been calling ABCCONN to – by the embracing of our diversity and a call to unity in Christ that will enable us to work together.
I believe it is time for ABCCONN to move forward, prioritizing the following four areas in our work together: Radical Inclusion, Justice and Reconciliation, Leadership Development, having intentional engagement with the Next Generation, and the establishment of a New Church Plant movement.
Radical Inclusion: We will continue fostering an environment where all are welcomed and valued, regardless of race, socio-economic background, or life experience.
- Since my arrival almost eight years ago, I have emphasized and sought ways for the American Baptist Churches of Connecticut (ABCCONN) to find common space to know one another and work together. I believe that as Baptists, we have a unique opportunity to model that differences do not need to divide but can be a model of the unifying power of the love of Christ.
- Justice and Reconciliation: We will develop events and programs that address our communities’ systemic inequalities and explore ways that the Church can unite to bridge divides and offer spaces for honest dialogue and healing. I have started to be more vocal about our need to have tough conversations in light of God’s love, the message of the Gospel, and the Church’s ability to respond in an alternative way. Focusing on Leadership Development by partnering with individuals and organizations like Andover Newton at Yale and Yale Divinity School, which are so close here in our region, we should develop ongoing partnerships that produce programs to train and equip pastors in adaptive leadership, focusing on leading in times of change and uncertainty.
- Engaging the Next Generation: Our goal is to cultivate leadership among younger generations, empowering them to live out the call to be agents of Christ and model lives of justice and peace. My late father-in-law would say the church is only one generation away from closing the church. This statement is coming true for some churches sooner than later. Therefore, the “inherited Church” (Inherited Church is a term taken from the “Fresh Expressions” movement representing established churches with long-lasting histories dating back before the mid-twentieth century and beyond.) needs to find ways to relate, love, and embrace this new generation of people in sincere and authentic ways. Therefore, we will continue to provide a variety of renewal workshops for pastors, creating spaces for pastoral leaders to retreat, reflect, and renew their spirits. As we move forward, I will focus on offering resources like spiritual direction and peer support groups and encouraging pastoral sabbaticals to ensure sustained well-being.
- The Establishment of a New Church Plant Movement: Can we plant New Churches that Transform Lives and meet the needs of the 21st-century Christ Disciple. I believe that new church plants can be a vital aspect of the local Church and regional Church, vitalization, growth, and spiritual transformation. To achieve this, ABCCONN will need to come together as many congregations around the State and be the Church in Connecticut. This will allow us to support the organizing of new Churches that unapologetically speak the language of the culture. Therefore, I hope that in the next five years, we will begin a new movement of church planting to take hold in the established/inherited Church(es) and find new hope that supports planting New Churches.
Working with Church planting does not preclude supporting existing Churches and their Renewal and Spiritual Vitality but would enhance it. The renewal and revitalization of existing churches is crucial. I recognize, as do you, that for any of this to happen, it will depend on the health of our existing congregations having spiritually and emotionally healthy leadership.
So, as we move forward, the vision remains firmly rooted in the mission of becoming a Beloved Community through Radical Inclusion, Justice, and Reconciliation, Engaging the Next Generation, and establishing New Church Plants that form 21st-century disciples of Christ.
These are lofty and challenging goals, but I believe what Paul said to the Church at Philippi in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.” Let’s come together and find common ground in these areas so that people will see our good work and give glory to God.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Harry L. Riggs, II
Executive Minister ABCCONN