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AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES BIENNIAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE

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American Baptist News Service_____________________
Office of Communication / American Baptist Churches USA
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320
E-mail: RICH_SCHRAMM.PARTI@ECUNET.ORG
Richard W. Schramm, Director
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________

December 4, 1996

AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES' BIENNIAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE
COMPLETES PLANNING FOR 1997 GATHERING IN INDIANAPOLIS

     CHERRY HILL, N.J. (ABNS)--At its third and final
meeting, held here this week, the Biennial Program
Committee completed its extensive planning for the 1997
Biennial Meeting of American Baptist Churches USA
to be held next June in Indianapolis, Ind.

     That planning reflects the intention of the
committee, Chair Beverly Dunston Scott and American
Baptist Churches USA President G. Elaine Smith to provide
a gathering focusing on worship and a celebration of
faith and mission.

     The Biennial Meeting will be held June 24-27, 1997.
The theme of "Renewed for Mission: Rooted in
God's Word" will continue to lift up the longterm
denominational emphasis, "ABC 2000: Renewed for Mission,"
that was launched in 1993.   The Committee responded in
its planning to a goal it articulated in January: "To
provide an atmosphere in which we renew our commitment to
know, speak and live God's Word."  Program
elements will include multiple morning Bible studies and
prayer times, evening worship experiences, music,
action on Statements of Concern and on denominational
business, and the election of American Baptist Churches
officers for the biennium 1998-1999.  Also, Wednesday and
Thursday afternoons will feature a wide variety of
interactive and other "Adventures" that in recent
Biennial Meetings were included as workshops, pavilions
and
mission encounters.

     The planning included developing details for an
opening night celebration that will lift up the theme
through music, drama and other art forms.  Plenary
speakers for the following evenings include: Dr. Daniel
E.
Weiss, American Baptist Churches USA general secretary
(Wednesday); Dr. G. Elaine Smith, American Baptist
Churches USA president (Thursday); and the Rev. Bill
Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community
Church in South Barrington, Ill. (Friday).

     The Biennial Program Committee has been chaired by
Dr. Beverly D. Scott of Orange, N.J., an educator
and former vice president of American Baptist Churches
USA.  Other members include the Rev. Lemaire Alerte,
Jersey City, N.J.; M. Ingrid Dvirnak, Bismarck, N.D.;
Brenda Edwards, Tulsa, Okla.; the Rev. Randy Gauger
(American Baptist Churches USA vice president), Savoy,
Ill.; David I. Greenfield, Bloomington, Ill.; Elizabeth
Higgins, Broken Arrow, Okla; Ruth K. Housam, Lady Lake,
Fla.; the Rev. Rheanolte Lebarbour, Hilton, N.Y.;
Vernell E. Neely, Nashville, Tenn.; the Rev. Helen A.
Phillips, Fairbanks, Alaska; Thomas C. Ross Jr.,
Brooklyn, N.Y.; the Rev. Jeffery L. Savage, Springfield,
Oreg.; Dr. G. Elaine Smith, Washington, D.C., and Dr.
Daniel E. Weiss, Valley Forge, Pa.  Also involved in the
planning are the Rev. Larry Sayre, executive minister
of the American Baptist Churches of Greater Indianapolis;
the Rev. Larry Mason, executive minister of the
American Baptist Churches of Indiana; and Joseph Huse,
chair of the Local Arrangements Committee.  Dr. Paul
Little, Redlands, Calif., and Paul Baker, Los Angeles,
are serving the Committee respectively as program and
music consultants.  Other ongoing support and resourcing
for the planning is being provided by a staff advisory
group led by Barbara A.Williams, Esq., American Baptist
Churches USA associate general secretary for
Administrative Services, and Linda Bonn, director of
Special Services for American Baptist Churches USA.
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