‘Every Church Matters’ for Northwest Baptists
By BP Staff
CENTRALIA, Wash. – Under the theme “Every Person, Every Church Matters,” 465 people gathered for the Northwest Baptist Convention’s annual meeting Nov. 11-12 in Centralia, Wash.
Attendees heard from new NWBC Executive Director Lance Caddel, as well as from authors Mark Mittleberg and Nick Stumbo and Gateway Seminary President Adam Groza.
During the business session, messengers adopted a budget of $3,498,700, approximately 13.6 percent less than last year’s budget. The portion forwarded to national and international SBC mission causes remained the same at 20 percent.
New officers elected include: President Chad Harms, pastor of Pathway Church in Gresham, Ore.; First Vice President Michael Crisp, pastor of Chehalem Valley Baptist Church in Newberg, Ore.; and Second Vice President Ben Trigsted, pastor of First Baptist Church Castle Rock, Wash.
Messengers also adopted a resolution vowing to emphasize student ministry in their churches.
Next year’s meeting will be Nov. 10-11 at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Wash., preceded by the Great Commission Celebration Nov. 9.
New England Baptists celebrate growth in baptisms
By Dan Nicholas/BCNE
MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Nearly 250 pastors and church leaders from six states and beyond gathered for fellowship, information, worship, inspiration, and a little bit of business at the Baptist Churches of New England’s (BCNE’s) inaugural NEXUS Conference, Nov. 7-8, at First Baptist Church, Marlborough, Mass.
BCNE Executive Director Terry Dorsett set the tone for the annual training and motivational event, which until this year was simply known as the annual meeting, when he delivered a thought-provoking and personal sermon that introduced the NEXUS 2025 “Above and Beyond: The God Who Exceeds Our Expectations” theme.
Dorsett preached from Ephesians 3:20-21 (HCSB), which states: “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Addressing personal changes and challenges he has faced, especially with the death of his wife, Kay, on July 31, 2023, he noted that the well-known Bible passage, Romans 8:28, “becomes more real when we are challenged.”
Over time, God began to show the BCNE leader that God’s “good purposes were not done yet. What felt like a loss has actually become an open door for ministry” now that he is single and, as needed, can devote extra time to ministry.
God’s strength is “operating through our weaknesses. God can use our lowest moments as launch pads for His greatest miracles – and that’s something I’ve experienced the last two years.”
“Could it be that the things we perceive as our disabilities, our drawbacks, our handicaps, our challenges, the very things that we think are keeping us from fully serving the Lord,” he asked rhetorically, “could it be that those things that, instead of holding us back, are actually the things God wants to use to allow us to go above and beyond what we could ever ask or imagine in our service to God?”
New England Baptists set new records in the past year in the number of baptisms, in church membership, and in worship attendance.
“We shattered the record from the year before,” Dorsett said. He added that Lifeway Research reported “New England is the only region in the United States that had net growth for the last five years in our entire denomination. God can do above and beyond what we ask or imagine when we partner together. That’s why partnership is so important.”
Special worship
For the first time, an orchestra made up of students and alumni of Berklee College of Music in Boston, opened an annual meeting session on Friday evening before Ty Childers preached the Annual Sermon. Two Brazilian churches in Greater Boston – Celebration Church in Stoughton and Igreja Batista da Cicade in Lowell – also provided lively and inspiring music at the conference.
Business
Lierte Soares Jr., a Brazilian who is pastor of New Life Community Church, Georgetown, Mass., was re-elected BCNE president; and David Um, a Korean who is senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge, Mass., was re-elected vice president. By unanimous votes and by acclamation, both leaders were re-elected to an unprecedented third one-year term of service.
The church representatives accepted the $2,938,400 (2025) financial report as presented by Dorsett, who is both the BCNE executive director and treasurer. They approved by a unanimous vote, and without debate, the $3,277,000 (2026) proposed balanced budget.
Twenty percent will be forwarded to the SBC Executive Committee for national Cooperative Program efforts. That percentage is unchanged from last year.
Next year’s annual meeting will be Nov. 6-7 at Hope Chapel in Sterling, Mass., with a theme of “Flourish” drawn from Psalm 92:13.
Read the full report from the BCNE Annual Meeting here.
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