By Robert Dilday
Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III has announced plans to retire next year as executive director and chief executive officer of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, completing the longest tenure of any leader of the 182-year-old organization linked with the American Baptist Churches USA.
When he steps down Oct. 30, 2015, Wright-Riggins will have been an ordained American Baptist minister for 40 years and a licensed gospel preacher for 55 years, according to an ABCUSA press release.
“Dr. Wright-Riggins has been a consistent voice for justice in American Baptist life and the life of the larger church,” said ABCUSA general secretary Roy Medley. “His uncompromising commitment to faith with its feet on the ground has caused us to more substantially minister to children in poverty, lead in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, challenge the underlying structures of racism in our country and proclaim hope to the oppressed.
“An outstanding preacher, he has the capacity to move hearts and minds to reflect and act upon our faith in Jesus in new ways that address pressing social issues.”
The suburban Philadelphia-based American Baptist Home Mission Societies has its roots in several mission organizations, including the American Baptist Home Mission Society, established in New York City in 1832 to “preach the gospel, establish churches and support ministry among the unchurched and destitute.” That organization merged with the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1955, and in 1972 changed its name to National Ministries of the ABCUSA.
In 2003, National Ministries added the denomination’s ministries of discipleship, education and publishing — including Judson Press — to its work when it absorbed Educational Ministries, the successor to the Baptist General Tract Society (founded in 1824) and the American Baptist Education Society (founded in 1888). National Ministries reclaimed its historic name in 2010 and operates as American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
Wright-Riggins became ABHMS executive director in 1991 following stints as a pastor and educator in California. He holds degrees from California State University in Fullerton, the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, Calif., and Virginia Union University’s School of Theology in Richmond, Va.
He and his wife, Betty, are members of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Penilyn, Pa.
“When I was commissioned to ministry at the Home Mission Societies, my spiritual director counseled me to wear the role like a loose garment, never becoming too attached to it, nor finding my essential identity in it,” Wright-Riggins said in the press release. “After periods of discernment and prayer, I feel a strong call to make room for new executive leadership in ABHMS and ABCUSA and pass this particular mantle on to the next generation. I hear God calling me to make room for a ‘Joshua’ or a ‘Deborah’ to take the Home Mission Societies to its next level of faithfulness and excellence.”
Clifford Johnson, president of ABHMS’s board of directors, noted the significance of Wright-Riggins’s retirement during his 40th year of ordination. “The number 40 is often used in Christian and Jewish traditions to symbolize new beginnings. We claim Dr. Wright-Riggins’ announcement as a new beginning for Aidsand and his family and his next stage of ministry. We also know that, because of his faithful and fruitful service, ABHMS will continue its journey of discipleship, community and justice with steadfast hope and a bright future.”
The board of directors has declared October 2014 through October 2015 a time for “Celebrating and Charting the Continuing ABHMS Journey” and will celebrate Wright-Riggins’s ministry during the ABHMS “Space for Grace” conference to be held Nov. 3-7, 2015, in Los Angeles.