A regional celebration of the New Baptist Covenant is scheduled for April 24-25 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The event, focused on the theme, “This is God's Year to Act: Responding to a Society in Crisis,” will be held at Wake Forest University.
Speakers include:
• Former President Jimmy Carter.
• Poet Maya Angelou.
• Clifford Jones, pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.
• Amy Deane, co-pastor of Park Road Baptist Church in Charlotte.
A special feature of the event will be the presentation of the Judson-Rice Award to James Dunn, long-time executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
The Judson-Rice Award was created in 2001 by the national news journal Baptists Today to commemorate the contributions of early Baptist mission leaders Adoniram Judson, Ann Hasseltine Judson and Luther Rice, and to recognize a current Baptist leader who has demonstrated important leadership while maintaining the highest integrity.
Co-chairs of the April celebration are Bill Leonard, dean of the divinity school at Wake Forest, and Serenus Chunn, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
Additional information is available at www.newbaptistcovenant.org or at (336) 758-5121.
Other regional NBC events in 2009 will be held in Kansas City, Mo., April 2-4, at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in suburban Liberty, Mo., and in Norman, Okla., August 6-7 at the Norman Convention Center.
Former president Carter is scheduled to speak at both events, as are other national and international Baptist leaders.
An additional regional celebration is being planned in Chicago in June 2010 and other events are expected to occur.
A second national NBC event is being considered for 2011.