The Annual Celebration is quickly approaching, and here is what you need to know! We call it a celebration—instead of a meeting—because we come together to celebrate what God is doing in our city and to be with one another.
Besides, who wants to go to another meeting?!
“Once a year, we bring the association into one place to worship, hear great teaching, see how God is working in our city, and learn how God may be calling us forward for the next year. ”
To make it easier for you, we’ve answered some of your most frequently asked questions about the annual celebration. If you have any more questions, email us at info@ubahouston.org.
1. Where should I park?
Houston’s First Downtown has handicap-accessible parking on-site. The lot in front of the church and one across the street are available for those who arrive early or need special parking. These lots will be marked with a UBA logo sign.
When these lots are full, you can park in any of the downtown parking spots. These spots are free on the weekends.
Park in one of the green lots or on the street downtown.
2. Who can attend?
Everyone is welcome! The audience will be packed with pastors and church leaders, but we love seeing the whole church and families in attendance. Childcare is not provided, but children are welcome to attend with you.
It’s a great setting to bring a ministry team to get them excited about how God is moving and what is possible when believers work together.
3. What will we do?
4 - 5 pm Dessert Fellowship
4- 5pm is a designated time of fellowship with light refreshments. We provide free coffee, desserts, and snacks to enjoy while you talk with other churches, leaders, and other organizations.
Ministry vendors will have tables set up with helpful information relevant for your church.
5 - 7 pm Worship Service and Celebration
The celebration service is time for pastors, leaders, and church members to worship with brothers and sisters from across the city.
The praise team from Crosspoint Bible Fellowship will lead us in worship in both English and Spanish.
We’ll see videos that tell stories about how God is working to build unity and community among our churches and how your church can benefit from the association.
Jarrett Stephens and Ramon Medina from Champion Forest Baptist will encourage us from Scripture in both English and Spanish.
Towards the end, we will have a short time of business to approve budgets, vote on the direction of our association, and welcome new churches. Only church messengers who register at the table will be able to vote. (See questions below for more)
4. Who is considered a messenger?
The pastor of a qualifying cooperating congregation shall be received as a messenger unless written instructions to the contrary are provided by the church.
Each qualifying cooperating church shall be entitled to a minimum of five (5) messengers. Churches with more than 300 members shall be entitled to one (1) additional messenger for each additional 100 in average worship attendance, providing no church shall have more than fifteen (15) messengers.
To seat messengers beyond the minimum of five, the church must have reported worship attendance to the associational office or through either the SBTC or BGCT ACP within the 12 months prior to the meeting. Read about and submit your ACP here.
UBA does not keep a list of messengers for each church.
5. How do messengers vote?
Messengers are elected or appointed by their churches. In order to “seat” registered messengers at the Annual Celebration, churches must (1) have been active participants in the association and (2) have financially supported the association in at least one of the 12 months preceding the Annual Celebration.
These two standards define what it means to be a qualifying and cooperating church according to UBA bylaws.
6. What should I wear?
Our churches are from a variety of church cultures, so other attendees might be wearing dress clothes, cultural attire, jeans and sneakers, and anything in between.
To enjoy the night most, wear what you’re most comfortable wearing to an evening service at your own church. Come curious about other people’s churches and cultural settings if they’re dressed very differently than you.
7. What are we celebrating?
We’re celebrating that God is doing amazing work in our city! He draws us from churches across the region, across racial and ethnic lines, and from every possible church context to worship him side by side with our brothers and sisters. You’ll hear the Bible read in multiple languages while worship and preaching will happen in both Spanish and English!
This year's video stories will focus on collaboration through church partnerships, innovative use of church buildings, and churches working across language barriers to engage their communities. As always, every video we produce will be located on our YouTube channel after the meeting.
We’re also celebrating the addition of new churches to our association and churches that were planted this year!
Gathering is important
As you’ve heard or preached many times, gathering matters. We’re better together. Once a year, we endeavor to bring the association into one place to worship, hear great teaching, see how God is working in various corners of our city, and learn how God may be calling us forward for the next year. I hope you will consider bringing someone with you.
I’ll see you on Sunday night, November 3!
Josh Ellis is Executive Director of Union Baptist Association. He has a PhD in Leadership Studies and has served on the UBA staff since 2005. With both practical and scholarly knowledge, he leads the association into innovative collaboration for the sake of strategic gospel advancement.
In anticipation of this year's celebration, we asked the staff and churches who attended what their favorite parts of last year's event were. Here's what they had to say.