College to host mission event

The conference is July 18-24 at Westminter College.

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Some 2,000 people will attend the 104th New Wilmington Mission Conference (NWMC) planned July 18-24 at Westminster College.

About 1,000 delegates and staff from across the nation and around the world will come together for a week of Bible study, spiritual enrichment, mission challenge and Christian fellowship. Another 1,000 regional residents will attend some portion of the conference.

The purpose of the conference, which is open to all, is to deepen the missionary spirit in the church. Though NWMC is an intergenerational and family conference, it also is youth-focused.

For more information, contact the conference office at (724) 946-9770.

The theme verse for the conference is Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, to him be glory….”

The conference will open at 7:45 p.m. July 18 in Anderson Amphitheater with Presbyterian Church (USA) with the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, pastor of the Mission Bay Community Church, San Francisco.

Two worship services will be at 11 a.m. July 19: The Rev. Paul Neshangwe, a peacemaker from Zimbabwe, will preach at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church; and the Rev. Hunter Farrell, director of PCUSA World Mission, will speak at Anderson Amphitheater.

Missionaries and mission organizations will exhibit their displays in McKelvey Campus Center from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The Rev. Dr. Kang-Yup Na, Westminster College associate professor of religion and coordinator of Westminster’s Honors Program, is the featured speaker for the week. Dr. Na will speak at the 11 a.m. meetings July 20-24.

All evening programs and speakers will be at 7:45 p.m. in Anderson Amphitheater. Sessions will be:

UJuly 19: The Rev. Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, a former Shi’ite Muslim, is an Iranian Presbyterian pastor who teaches and produces Christian programs for Iranian satellite television.

UJuly 20: Ben Lowe, author of “Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation” and coordinator of Renewal, a student-led creation care movement.

UJuly 21: Shane Bennett, a writer for Frontiers, an organization focused on extending God’s blessing in the Muslim world, who has worked in mission mobilization since 1987.

UJuly 22: Stephen Christian and Sarah Freeman, founders of Faceless International, a nonprofit organization that organizes humanitarian trips. The program also will recognize all missionaries for their service and honor them at a reception following the meeting. David Bailey, a cancer survivor and folksinger/songwriter, will present a free concert at 9:15.

UJuly 23: Local Christian musicians Greg and Rebecca Sparks will present a concert. They earned a Dove Award nomination for their album “Through Flood and Fire.”

Each year NWMC sends out a summer service team of young adults to some place in the world for six weeks.

This year’s team of eight college students and their leader served in Berlin, where they shared in ministry opportunities with various partners.

They will share their experiences Friday evening at a consecration service.

The Rev. James Edwards, professor of religion at Whitworth University in Spokane, and the Rev. BJ Woodworth, lead pastor of the Open Door and a leader in the emergent church movement, will teach the adult Bible studies at 9 a.m. daily.

The Rev. Dr. Joan Gray, recent moderator of the PCUSA and parish associate at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and the Rev. John McCall, a long-time missionary who served as professor at the Taiwan Theological Seminary, will be the adult mission leaders at 10 a.m. each day.

For the complete schedule of speakers and locations or to register, call the NWMC office at (724) 946-9770.