ABCUSA Anti-Racism Task Force article for July 2021. We celebrate our time together at the Biennial Mission Summit. We prayed together, brainstormed ideas, and shared our stories. We embraced the sacredness of the human story, and we honored the human experience as a denomination and as a people. We are grateful for your interest, curiosity, and willingness to explore with us in the work of anti-racism, especially in the context of our faith. Together we created brave sacred spaces where we answered the call to prayer, self-understanding and listening, and learning, unlearning, and relearning. We answered the call to reflection and introspection—to look inward and inward and to examine our individual and collective thoughts and feelings. As the ABCUSA, we dared to open ourselves to better understand who we have been, who we are, and who we desire to become. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.” We continue the journey.

Upcoming Puerto Rico Mission Trip 2021

While we had to postpone our mission trip to Puerto Rico due to Covid, we are excited to announce that we can now announce our rescheduled date!

The American Baptist Churches of New Jersey (ABCNJ), in partnership with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS), is providing an opportunity for our churches to get directly involved in “Rebuilding, Restoring, Renewing Puerto Rico,” a multi-year initiative following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Pray for Haiti

The American Baptist Churches of New Jersey join our Haitian brothers and sisters in prayer.

On Wednesday, July 7, 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his private residence located on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.

ABCUSA Anti-Racism Task Force June 2021 Article

News from the ABCUSA Anti-Racism Taskforce, including pre-biennial events. “One aspect of the work of the ABCUSA Anti-racism Task Force has been to identify resources. What we have discovered is that ABCUSA has a variety of resources created within the denomination. The American Baptist Policy Statement on Racial Justice (1985) is one of these resource treasures.”

Remembering a Good and Faithful Servant - Dr. James Arthur Scott

With our deepest condolences, we inform our ABCNJ community of the passing of Rev. Dr. James A. Scott, beloved Pastor Emeritus of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. Rev. Dr. Scott went home to be with the Lord on the morning of Saturday, May 15, 2021. Our prayers go out to his family and the Bethany Baptist Church family.

ABCUSA Anti-Racism Task Force April 2021 Article

This is hard work. It requires being honest with myself and listening—truly listening—to my beloved friends who are speaking a truth that can be hard to hear. It takes letting go of the fear that I hold onto: fear that my ego will be hurt, that I will lose…something, fear that I’m not doing the work I claim to be doing.

Letter from ABCNJ Executive Minister about the Atlanta Shooting

Once again, creation groans and our hearts are full of sorrow because of the violence and hatred that continues to touch our world, neighbors, and lives…

2021 American Baptist Biennial Mission Summit Registration

Plan to experience the vitality of our American Baptist family together with other American Baptists from all corners of the United States and the world through the June 2021 online Biennial Mission Summit event!

Unión Bautista Estatal de Mujeres Hispanas (UBEMH-ABCNJ)

Reunión de Mujeres (vía zoom…)

ABCUSA Anti-Racism Task Force March 2021 Article

The Anti-Racism Task Force met for the first time on November 10, 2020. This meeting yielded an unprecedented commitment and dedication to the work of Anti-Racism. Through prayer, discernment, and honest reflection we have begun to identify and surface the historical and present experiences and stories of peoples affected by racism. We are dawning a new age in which we realize that providing symposiums and multifaceted resources are essential, and yet the great benefit to these initiatives is the revelation that anti-racism work is work that must be on-going.

Annual Clergy Retreat: Lead With Listening

Our annual clergy retreat is a chance for regional clergy to refresh, rejuvenate, and prepare for the upcoming year’s ministry with ABCNJ colleagues. While we cannot meet in person for this year’s retreat, we will still be able to learn some new skills as a group, connect in smaller groups, and find moments for silent reflection…

Letter from Executive Minister

We continue to be grateful for the good and diligent work our ABCNJ pastors and churches are doing to stay connected, build community and share the gospel in your respective communities. We are also grateful for the way in which you are taking seriously the responsibility to think of the safety of all within our communities…

Invitation to participate in a survey about the impact of Covid-19 on faith-based communities

The SRF Suicide Prevention Research and Training Project at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey along with the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County, New Jersey are collaborating on an effort to describe the impact of Covid-19 and the global coronavirus pandemic on institutions of faith, faith-based leaders, and their constituents.

Regional Life, Association NewsAmerican Baptist Churches of New JerseyNovember 13, 2020