AZSBC Annual Meeting to be held in Tucson

“Multiply” is the theme of the 89th annual session of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, to be held Friday afternoon, Nov. 17, at First Southern Baptist Church, Tucson.

Friday morning will feature a mission fair and “Multiply” Pastors’ Conference at First Southern. A mission project and prayer tours/prayerwalking on Thursday and Saturday will bookend Friday’s activities.

The single business and worship session Friday afternoon will feature a Centennial Vision report by David Johnson, AZSBC executive director. Ashley Clayton, vice president of Cooperative Program and stewardship with the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be a special guest.

Noe Garcia, senior pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, Phoenix, will close the afternoon session with a message.

Friday morning will begin with a Cooperative Program breakfast with Clayton and Nate Millican, lead pastor of Foothills Baptist Church, Ahwatukee, at 8 a.m. The breakfast will be in an upstairs room at First Southern that is not wheelchair accessible. Seating will be limited.

The mission fair will begin at 9 a.m. and will be open through lunch.

Jackie Allen, AZSBC president and pastor of Cross Church (formerly Palm Vista), Surprise, will lead off the Pastors’ Conference, which begins at 9:30 a.m. Brian Bowman, lead pastor of Valley Life Church Tramonto, will host a panel discussion on church planting and multiplication. Mark Martin, senior pastor of Calvary Community Church, Phoenix, will conclude the Pastors’ Conference with a message on evangelism and multiplication.

Mission activities are planned the day before and after the annual meeting.

“Our goal is to make our annual meeting time more than just a meeting but an expression of our mission of working together to make disciples of all peoples in Arizona and around the world,” Johnson said.

On Thursday, Nov. 16, Arizona Southern Baptists can help pack Thanksgiving food boxes at Caring Ministries, 820 W. Calle Sur, in Tucson. Participants are asked to meet there at noon. The project is scheduled to conclude at 4 p.m.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, there will be a Prayer Tour of several significant locations to plant churches in Tucson. Limited transportation will be provided for this event, which will begin at First Southern, Tucson, at 9 am.

People planning to participate in either of these activities are asked to email Lacey Bastman at lacey@azsbc.org to let her know you are attending and how many others you are bringing.

A dinner “to encourage and show appreciation for our chaplains” has been scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 17, at Green Valley Baptist Church, Green Valley, Johnson said. All Arizona chaplains endorsed by the North American Mission Board have been invited to attend.

For the third year in a row, Johnson has assembled a team to ride bikes to the site of the annual meeting. This year, a team of 11 will leave from Foothills, Ahwatukee, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, spend the night in Casa Grande and arrive in Tucson the following day, covering about 65 miles each day.

The ride will emphasize helping hurricane victims in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Dominica. The back of the riders’ shirts will encourage people to “text ‘Care’ to 73256” to give. Donations will go to Arizona Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Send Relief and Baptist Global Response.