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Intersections is distributed each Wednesday with news from around the Region. Do you have an event or news you would like to share? Submissions are due every Tuesday by 5 pm. Email Mae in the office.
Pursuing Christ's Ministry in Unity through Our Rich Diversity
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| American Baptist United Mission is the vehicle that makes this newsletter and all ABCGI ministries possible. To learn more CLICK HERE. | |
Short Notes from the Executive Minister
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Yesterday, January 20, marked the 13th anniversary of Rev. Justin Thornburgh’s arrival as pastor of Emerson Avenue Baptist Church. I worshiped with the Emerson congregation on Sunday, and was invited to lead the pastoral prayer. In it, I included hearty thanks to God for God’s faithful servant, Pastor Thornburgh. His sermon, delivered this past Sunday, is included in today’s edition (link below). Let us celebrate with Pastor Justin and with Emerson Avenue!
We celebrate also, Hanary Pee and Doris Morer, pastor and associate pastor of Karen Baptist Fellowship, where I preached this past Sunday’s sermon. The visit was coordinated by Eh May Bludoh, one of KBF’s key lay leaders. Pastors Pee and Morer have nurtured the congregation into a vibrant and energetic one, with the wide generational spread as is customary in our Burmese congregations. This Sunday’s experience, as always, was filled with many songs of worship.
Let us continue to pray for and work toward peace in our cities, nation, and world, and for reconciliation and justice that reflect the wisdom, fairness, understanding, compassion and harmony of Jesus Christ. The current order is too far from God’s will for abundant life for all.
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Announcements
Congregations, and individuals are reminded encouraged and invited to submit items for publication in Intersections. We especially invite briefings about happenings in your congregation, and other items of interest, as well as photographs with captions. Send submissions to Mae: office@abcgi.org
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Prophetic Church, Public Faith 101
Thursday, January 29th at 6:00PM EST
A four-session cohort for clergy and leaders exploring how faith meets justice. Grounded in Baptist tradition, this course offers tools, stories, and support to begin bold, faithful public witness rooted in scripture, conscience, and community.
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Prophetic Church, Public Faith 201
An advanced cohort for clergy and leaders ready to move from reflection to action. Focused on practical skills for public engagement, this course equips churches to build relationships, craft messages, and advocate faithfully with courage and hope.
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SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS FOR JOANNE HETRICK
The Memorial Service will be held on Saturday February 21, 2026 at 1:30pm at Parkway Heights United Methodist Church, 2420 Hardy St., Hattiesburg, MS 39401. There will be a Visitation prior to the service from 12:30pm to 1:30pm.
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Showing of “Beyond the Bridge” Video
Saturday, February 21, 2026
11:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.
BEYOND THE BRIDGE is an ambitious documentary film about solutions to homelessness. A Bigger Vision Films team traveled over 40,000 miles around the US to answer this question: How can this country solve homelessness in a comprehensive way? The answer surprised the group with its simplicity, as two large cities proved that solving homelessness is within reach of any community. There is a group in the middle of an ambitious impact campaign around the key issues in this film, including a 40-city screening tour with post-screening panels and Q&A as well as actionable calls-to-action and follow-up activities for audience and community members. The campaign is focused on changing the national discourse on solutions to homelessness, addressing the upstream causes of homelessness, and addressing the downstream via housing and robust supportive services in combination.
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An Invitation to Join Ongoing Studies
on Religious Nationalism
Dr. Steven Ivy invites interested persons in joining him in one of two ongoing studies and discussions on religious nationalism – one, via Zoom, on 4th Thursdays; the other, in person at First Baptist Church of Indianapolis on 2nd Tuesdays. Both are at 7 PM. Interested persons should contact Dr. Ivy directly at steven.ivy@rfindiana.org or (317) 966-4855
The next book that will guide the journey is The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power (Chalice Press, 2025) by Brian Kaylor.
Dr. ivy has served as adjunct teaching faculty with six graduate schools of theology, including Christian Theological Seminary, and Perkins School of Theology, and Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. He has published over 30 articles and essays in various professional journals and books. Dr. Ivy is a retired ABC Baptist minister and a member of First Baptist Church of Indianapolis.
| | If you have not yet watched our first 4 Region Resplendence interviews, click the link below to check them out! | | |
Bicentennial Celebrations! The ABCGI celebrates its bicentennial this year.
On the second Friday of October, 1826, the Indianapolis Baptist Association – antecedent to ABCGI – was founded. We will observe the anniversary at our Annual Gathering on Sunday May 03, 2026, at the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, and celebrate again, with a Gala on Friday October 9, 2026. Save the dates! And please keep those $200 for 200 gifts (or multiples thereof) coming! Thank you to all who have already pitched in!
| | Opportunities to Serve, Grow, and Give | | United Mission & Region Offering | The life-blood for missional action is our United Mission giving and Region Offerings. We want to thank the twenty-eight (of the 39) churches who, during 2024, contributed to either United Missions (22) or Region Offering (6) or both (7). You enabled us to reduce our deficit over the previous year. We also thank the twenty-two churches who have supported us thus far in 2025. | |
A Workshop of Church Leaders
| Dr. Friday is ready to facilitate a weekend workshop with your congregation’s leaders. Contact Dr. Friday for more information and to schedule your dates. This is crucial for our times. | | |
We are slowly building this fund, thanks to 12 donors so far! Thank you! Would the rest of you join us??!
As we anticipate celebrating ABCGI’s 200th anniversary next year, 2026, we have launched a special fund that we call Two hundred for Two Hundred. We are inviting (at least) 200 persons to give to this fund by sending in your donations to the region office (8600 N College Ave, 46240) or by using our online Gyve portal on our website. We invite three categories of givers to offer gifts, designated for this fund, as follows:
- The Teamsters: those who each give $200
- The Overachievers: those who each give $2026
- The Multipliers: a third category of giver may add to their initial $200, $200 increments toward $2026, or multiply their $200 by any number they choose!
A portion of this fund will be used to defray the cost of our bicentennial celebrations; however, we expect that a sizeable portion shall be committed to our ABCGI endowment. Will you join this team of joyful givers?
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“O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in Him.” Psalms 34:8
Faith Full Feeds is a website containing exploratory playlists covering various spiritual topics. Each consists of interactive activities to help the reader take a deeper dive in discovering how the faith journey and life intersect. Check out the "Staying Spiritually Grounded in Confusing Times" playlist.
| | Ministerial Excellence Fund | |
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
Countless times throughout the year, you minister to people in difficult circumstances who need a touch of God’s grace. What joy there is when you see folks draw near to God and receive that mercy.
When your time of need comes, due to health or financial crises, MEF stands ready to minister to you through grants to alleviate the financial burdens you and your family carry. What joy there is when these weights are thrown off, freeing you to be an even more effective minister of God’s grace and mercy. With confidence, take that step today to apply.
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"We are all connected; to each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically."
Neil deGrasse Tyson
For Prayer This Week
Zion Hope Baptist Church
Rev. Tony McGee
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