BREMERTON, Wash.—The Baptist Network Northwest and the California Association of Regular Baptist Churches met for the Western States Spring Conference and individual Annual Meetings, April 17–19, 2008, at the Kitsap Conference Center. More than 130 pastors, missionaries, administrators, and representatives came from around the world and across the United States to participate in the ministry of the Word and fellowship with other Christian workers.
Using I Corinthians 13 as his base text, the keynote speaker, Dr. Dolphus Weary, challenged the group to cross racial barriers and fully embrace Biblical Christian love. One of eight children abandoned by their father when Dolphus was four, he grew up in Mississippi when racial tensions were at their height. God called him into the ministry shortly after he was saved at the age of 17, but even though he graduated at the top of his high school class, Dolphus was unable to enter a Christian college because he was an African-American. Then he met Dr. Dave Nicholas from Los Angeles Baptist College. Dolphus and another young man were the first two black students to live on campus and attend LABC, where he graduated from college and seminary. He married his beautiful wife, Rose, in 1970, and God blessed them with two boys and one girl. Dolphus and Rosie have weathered many heartaches, the greatest being the loss of their oldest son in 2004.
Dr. Weary was involved in the Mendenhall Ministry before he became director of Mission Mississippi, a ministry designed to effect reconciliation between the races. He has a passion for the poor and a passion for unity. While recognizing the eternal is much more important than the temporal, he still asks the question: “Is our Christian faith strong enough to eliminate racism?”
ABWE Executive Administrator of Missionary Care Ron Berrus taught a motivating session on discipleship from 2 Timothy 2, charging Christian leaders to invest in the lives of people, enduring whatever hardships may come for the joy of seeing believers walk in Christ. He reminded everyone that the only reason we are not in Hell is because of God’s great grace, and we are not in Heaven because of God’s Great Commission.
Eight different workshops were offered on Friday and Saturday mornings with topics covering the full spectrum of church life, from how to deal with parents of teens to developing a vibrant senior saints ministry.
