75th Annual Meeting of the BMA of Arkansas

By Tony Crocker, President • BMA of Arkansas

In exactly one month, our association will meet in our annual session on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8, at Central Baptist College in Conway. This will be our association’s 75th meeting. I remember hearing the 75^th anniversary is a “diamond anniversary,” which is an appropriate testament to the treasure we share in being a part of this association. Thank you to the arrangements team at CBC and especially Duffy Guyton for all they are doing for us.

As in past years, we will have a program on Nov. 7 featuring performances and worship arranged by our CBC Department of Music students and faculty. In addition, our annual message will be delivered by CBC President Terry Kimbrow. Bro. Terry has announced his retirement at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, making this a particularly cherished moment for us to hear him share the Word of God with us. His final report to this association as our college president will be the following morning.

Vendors will also bring displays of their ministries and services to this meeting. Priority for these spaces is reserved for our state and national departments and ministries endorsed by our association. As you make plans to attend, be sure to allow time to interact with these directors and ministry leaders. Look at your church calendars now and plan to invite one or more of these representatives to come to your church and share the works we are partnered with as an association.

Conway has a wealth of restaurants and businesses if you want to plan a little downtime before or after the meeting. There will also be very good meals offered in the CBC cafeteria at a reasonable price for those desiring to extend their time of fellowship on the campus.

The following hotels have arranged a discounted rate for our meeting. We may have one or more do the same through the course of this month. If so, we will share those in future issues of the Baptist Trumpet. When you make reservations with these hotels, be sure to let them know you are attending the BMA of Arkansas meeting:

• Country Inn & Suites (750 Amity Rd.) — $85 for standard and $99 for suites; mention CBC or the BMA of Arkansas. Offering coffee, water and juice along with continental/hot breakfast. Call (501) 932-0500.

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites (2330 Sanders Rd.) — 15% off room rate. Mention CBC or the BMA of Arkansas. Offering coffee, water and juice along with continental/hot breakfast. Call (501) 205-1316.

• Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham (2475 Sanders Rd.) — $69 for standard and $75 for suites; mention CBC or the BMA of Arkansas. Offering coffee, water and juice with a continental breakfast bar with hot pancakes. Call (501) 327-0898.

As in all other things we do as an association, I ask that you pray for the meeting and our department and ministry leaders who are preparing their reports. On behalf of my fellow officers, we covet your prayers for God to give us wisdom as we desire to do our best in service to all the churches.

Lord willing, we will see you in November. God bless!