It was a great privilege to travel with the other two elders from Cumberland Bay Baptist Church to the Weekender at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. 9 Marks hosts a conference at CHBC periodically for the benefit of elders and pastors who are interested in the polity of the church. At Cumberland Bay Baptist Church we have recently moved into an congregation led eldership model of ecclesiology and felt it would be beneficial to go and attend the Weekender together for the edification of our own church.
The conference included opportunity to sit in on an elders meeting, a members meeting, Sunday services and numerous seminars. We were given many printed resources and given the opportunity to share a meal in the home of an elder of their church.
I cannot begin to express to you how useful this conference is, if you are considering attending, do.
We met some friends for lunch at China Town.
We had an hour long metro ride into the city from Dulles.
Matthew was in his glory at the Smithsonian aviation museum.
Awesome no parking sign over at the Anglican Church.
Andrew successfully transported a bag of Covered Bridge "Weekender" chips to Mark Dever at the 9 Marks Weekender; cause that's how we roll.
We enjoyed several panel discussions and seminars over the course of the weekend.
It was very helpful to learn the history of the Church through it's journey to an eldership model of leadership.
Though a church that seats 1,000, I felt very much like I was in a small local church.
The elders engage in a debrief after Sunday's services for the sake of edification and accountability.
Of course we got to be tourists for a few hours as well.