“TEXAS STATE ASSOCIATION OF FREE WILL BAPTISTS
Greetings from the State Office and the Executive Board!
This year’s State Meeting, the 106th Annual Session, will be June 2-3 at Lakehills FWB Church in Cedar Park. Note that this is a Tuesday-Wednesday schedule (beginning with the Tuesday evening worship service), which is a departure from previous years. A block of rooms has been arranged at a nearby hotel for this meeting, so we’ll be sharing information on how to make reservations, along with the specific schedule, as we confirm the details, but we are looking forward to a great event and a time of fellowship, worship, and business at Lakehills on June 2-3.
Also, a reminder that we have also accepted the gracious invitation of the First FWB Church in Duncanville to host the 2021 meeting, so we will look forward to returning to the Metroplex the following year, tentatively scheduled to begin on Wednesday, June 7, 2021.
We have just wrapped up our annual All Boards Meeting, and in addition to the details of the State Meeting, we have several other dates and events that you need to be aware of:
• The Christian Education Board has scheduled a Men’s Retreat for February 28-29. The theme is “God’s Man”, and the cost is $25 per person. More details will be forthcoming from the CE Board
• The Ministry Expo (aka CTS Youth Competition) will be held May 2 at Fellowship FWB Church in Bryan, beginning at 9:00 AM. Entry forms for all entries need to be received by April 18. Again, more info will be announced soon by the CE Board.
• The State Youth Retreat is scheduled for June 10-13 at Collin Creek Church in Plano. Registration fee will be $129 per person. A flyer will be sent out in the near future with all the details on speakers, activities, and other arrangements.
• TWAC has planned a Ladies’ Retreat for October 2-3 at Woodforest Church. The theme for the retreat (as well as their conference at the State Meeting) is “Spiritual DNA”. More details will be released as they are finalized.
• TWAC’s State Project for 2020 is the National Provision Closet. Next year’s project is the Provows, missionaries to Bulgaria.
While not a specific event, the Mission Board is exploring new ways to provide outreach to potential church planters and possible revisiting of promotional events such as “Pray for Texas Day”. As those plans are developed, they will announce how our churches can become involved. In addition, the Mission Board continues its efforts (in conjunction with the Executive Board) to consider the formation of a district composed primarily of churches with Spanish as their first language; this is an exciting opportunity to expand ministry opportunities with Spanish-speaking churches (including new churches as well as Spanish-speaking ministries within existing churches) and facilitate fellowship and mutual support. Please continue to be in prayer for these efforts, that the plans that are made will provide the best opportunity for our existing churches and future churches to share the Gospel and encourage one another.
Marcus A. Brewer – Moderator/State Office Coordinator P.O. Box 2716 – Bryan, TX 77805-2716 Phone: (979) 774-3125 – E-mail: stateoffice@texasfwb.org
We continue to see a variety of news items, announcements, and thoughtful articles coming through the Texas Challenge blog site (https://texaschallenge.net/), and we are appreciative of Kyle and Beth Howell embracing this new role and keeping us informed. New posts appear on the blog site, in your e-mail inbox (if you subscribe to the updates), and on the TSAFWB Facebook feed. If you have news items to share, please contact Kyle at fwbtexaschallenge@gmail.com. You can also visit the blog site at any time to see stories that have been posted previously and to sign up for e-mail updates.
We are providing one more reminder that state and national dues increased as of January 1. Delegates at the 2018 National Convention approved a recommendation to raise representation fees to $175 in 2020 and $200 in 2025. These are the per-church fees that are sent through the State Office to the National Office. In addition, our state representation fees are set to be equal to the national fees, so the per-church fees for state dues will also rise accordingly. Thus, beginning January 1, 2020, the national dues are $175 per church and the state dues are $175 per church (a total of $350 per church per year). Those dues do not have to be paid in a single transaction (they can be spread out over multiple months if a church’s budget or financial condition requires smaller payments), and you can contact State Treasurer John Davis or me if you need more information on this.
Finally, we remind you to please visit the State Association website at http://www.texasfwb.org/churches.shtml and review your district’s and church’s information in the directory. If you see any information that needs to be changed, please send updates and corrections to me at the State Office. Also, we send these quarterly updates to everyone on the State Office e-mail list, but there are surely some who would be interested in receiving the information that we do not have on our list. Pastors, please share these dates, events, and details with your congregation so that everyone can be informed and involved. If someone has forwarded this information to you and you would like to be on the mailing list in the future, please contact us at the e-mail address below.
We appreciate all that you do for Texas Free Will Baptists and for the work of God. As always, you can contact us with any questions at stateoffice@texasfwb.org.”
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