wfn.org | ABCUSA: Mission Center Marks 40th Anniversary

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

American Baptist News Service (5/28/02)--The American Baptist Churches
Mission Center in Valley Forge, Pa., this week celebrates 40 years of
service in coordinating denominational mission and outreach.

When the unique building was dedicated May 26, 1962, it brought under one
roof for the first time the national offices of incorporated boards that
previously had been located in New York City and Philadelphia.

With denomination president Warner Cole presiding, the 1962 dedication
service began with "chimes and trumpets fill(ing) the air" and continued
with worship and hymn singing.  Following messages from past American
Baptist presidents Lulu Colwell, John Dawson and C. Stanton Gallup,
representatives of the architect and construction company presented the keys
to Project Coordinator Roy I. Madsen, who in turn presented them to
Associate General Secretary Frank Johnston.
	
General Secretary Edwin Tuller noted at the time: "The purpose is not to
build a monument, but to send the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the furthermost
parts of the world through missionary representatives and the printed word."
He also addressed the role of the church: "Freedom, liberty and justice are
not always fully granted, even in our great nation.  The church must
continue to teach, and to live, in such a way as to give support to these
ideals."

Architect Vincent G. Kling of Philadelphia had chosen the distinctive round
shape to embody the classic religious system of unity: each agency was
connected, with no one having the unintended prominence that might be seen
in more traditional vertical or horizontal buildings.  The finished
building, according to Kling, represented "unity and strength."

The Mission Center at its opening housed 252 rooms (13 in the graphic arts
building) in 276,870 square feet of floor space.  Nearly 13,000 cubic yards
of concrete were used in construction.

The Board of Education and Publication (now Educational Ministries) had
purchased the Valley Forge property in 1957 to unify its publication and
administrative activities, then located in three Philadelphia buildings.
After much discussion of possible sites, delegates at the American Baptist
Convention's 1958 annual meeting in Cincinnati voted to consolidate all
dispersed American Baptist agencies under one roof in Valley Forge.

The dedication ceremonies took place during the annual meeting of the
American Baptist Convention in Philadelphia.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
addressed delegates that week, declaring that the United States was "on the
threshold of one of the most constructive periods in our nation's history in
the area of race relations" and calling on all "to enter the new age with
understanding and creative good will."  Other prominent participants
included Baptist politicians Harold Stassen and Nelson Rockefeller, then
governor of New York.

02ABN80

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (610)768-2077; fax:
(610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org; richard.schramm@abc-usa.org