A Friendly Gathering

Tomorrow after I officiate what will be my fourth funeral in the last 4 weeks, I'll be joining with my colleagues of the BGCM to host a meeting of some key leaders from the BGCT, BGAV, and Washington, D.C. conventions here in Kansas City. We met for the first time last year in Dallas at the BGCT offices with the leaders of the other "moderate" state conventions to do some networking with our counterparts in the other conventions who are engaged in similar ministries. It was a good time of fellowship and information sharing as well as mutual encouragement as we talked about things that are proving effective and the challenges to our work. We'll follow a similar format this year as well, beginning our meeting on Wednesday evening with introductions and a meal and some preliminary reflections before continuing on Thursday with some smaller group meetings. We'll wrap up with a lunch on Friday before bidding farewell to our friends and colaborers. While the other folks are visiting with us, we hope to expose them to a bit of Kansas City culture, and that translates into some good steaks and barbecue along the way. My mouth is watering already.