[1]COLLEGE PARK, Md. (BP)–Delegates to the District of Columbia Baptist Convention’s 123rd annual meeting affirmed the development of partnerships with selected Moscow Baptist congregations, more than 40 of which are in various stages of formation.
Sergei Zolotarevsky, director of the Moscow Baptist Association, attended this year’s D.C. meeting and spoke to the Nov. 15-16 gathering at University Baptist Church, College Park, Md.
Several DCBC churches have made pledges for ongoing support to some of the Moscow churches, primarily to help the Russian congregations secure more adequate meeting places.
The convention’s 208 delegates adopted a 2000 budget of $1,496,798, a 2 percent increase over the current year, maintaining a 37 percent designation primarily for causes of the Southern Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches, two of the three national bodies with which the 99-church D.C. convention is aligned, along with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Featured speakers were Calvin Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York City, and Leonard Sweet of Drew University. Covenant Baptist Church’s co-pastor, Christine Wiley, delivered the convention sermon.
Lynn Bergfalk, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, was elected president for 2000, while Clarence G. Berrens of Fort Washington Baptist Church, a local realtor, was elected vice president, both without opposition. LaTricia Jones, a member of Georgetown Baptist Church, was re-elected secretary and treasurer.
Next year’s meeting will be Nov. 13-14 at Broadview Baptist Church, Temple Hills, Md. Mark Devers, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, will deliver the annual sermon.