The newly elected head of one of the nation’s largest Christian denominations is coming to Central Arkansas to help a congregation celebrate its 125th anniversary.
Boise Kimber, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., will appear during the morning worship service Sunday at First Baptist Church Main Street in North Little Rock.
The theme is “Standing On His Word.”
D.L. Richardson, First Baptist’s pastor for nearly three decades, invited Kimber.
“He’s a powerful speaker, very encouraging, and speaks a message of transformation,” Richardson said.
Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m., people are invited to return to the church for an hour-long “meet and greet fellowship” with Kimber.
At 6:30 p.m., he will attend the opening musical session at the 155th annual Consolidated Missionary Baptist State Convention of Arkansas, Inc.
Kimber, senior pastor at First Calvary Baptist Church New Haven and Hartford, Conn., is a native of Phenix City, Ala., and has been preaching since he was 15 years old.
He holds a master’s degree from Hartford Seminary and a doctor of ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. In 2018, he earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Yale Divinity School.
He was elected in September to serve as his denomination’s president, winning 69% of the vote at its annual session in Baltimore.
This is his first trip to Arkansas since assuming the office.
The National Baptist Convention of the United States of America was formed in 1895 and is the nation’s “largest predominantly Black traditional Christian organization,” Richardson said.
Current membership is estimated at between 5.2 million and 7.5 million nationwide, he added.
The congregation Richardson leaves was founded in 1899 and moved to its current site in 1999, buying the facility that had previously housed North Little Rock First Church of the Nazarene.
“We started in a house (in 1899) and now we have a 10,000-square-foot sanctuary, a two-story educational facility, 21,000 square feet … and a 12,000-square-feet family life center.”
First Baptist on Main Street has average weekly attendance of about 400 with total membership of roughly 800, he said.
If you go: President Boise Kimber will appear at First Baptist Church, 2015 Main St., in North Little Rock at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, remaining at the same location at 6:30 p.m. for the state convention’s opening musical session.
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Publish date : 2024-11-08 18:58:00
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