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?!
This gathering is one of the best living experiences of what UBA is: it’s full of diverse expressions of the gospel, it’s collaborative, all parts of Houston are represented, and we’re telling stories of how the gospel of Jesus is being advanced across our region.
You will walk away feeling the reality of “Better Together” in your bones.
5 things you need to know
1. Parking
Since we’re meeting at Houston’s First Baptist Downtown campus on a Sunday night, all streetside parking in downtown Houston is free. There won’t be any baseball or basketball that night, so the streets should have plenty of free parking.
You can also park in the two parking lots indicated on the diagram below. The one nearest the building will have handicap parking and accessible entrances.
Come from 4-5 pm for fellowship and to visit all our wonderful vendors. Our program will officially start at 5 pm.
Park in one of the green lots or on the street downtown.
2. Messengers
Messengers are vitally important to the UBA. Without their voice, we cannot operate, pass a budget, make changes to the bylaws, care for our churches, or execute our mission. Therefore, we’re asking all messengers to check in with the registration desk inside the main auditorium as soon as they arrive to receive their messenger packet.
Messengers from UBA churches make up the membership of the association when it is meeting. Messengers are elected/appointed by their churches and are allowed to be “seated” (meaning allowed to vote) when their church is qualified and cooperating.
For a church to meet this standard, it must have given a financial contribution in the past 12 months and met the “meaningful communication” standard in the UBA bylaws over the past three years.
Each qualified and cooperating church is allowed 5 messengers, counting the senior pastor. If UBA has received an Annual Church Profile in the last 12 months, more messengers are allowed.
3. Desserts
We’re those kind of people. It’s a party, and some light desserts will be available. But if you’re looking for dinner, plan to hit the town as soon as we’re done.
Houston is a great food town, and you’ll be a 10-minute drive from hundreds of fantastic choices. So, eat a snack before you come, eat dessert with us, and find someone to join you for a great dinner afterward!
4. What we're celebrating
This year's video stories will feature stories from each of our pathways, so you’ll hear about English and Spanish-speaking churches collaborating for church revitalization. You’ll hear about the future of missionary training in our city. You’ll see the importance of pastoral retreats.
As always, every video we produce (even the one with me and Lance Berkman from last year) will be located on our YouTube channel after the 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. ”
We’re celebrating the addition of new churches to our association and the fact that UBA is no longer in debt, as we have paid off the mortgage to the UBA building!
What we had hoped to celebrate was the merger with the Galveston Baptist Association (GBA). The GBA messengers met on October 17 and approved the merger by 52%—which is less than the super majority required. What that means for the future is anyone’s guess, but God is sovereign. We remain ready to be a good neighbor to our friends toward the southeast and will serve them however we can.
5. 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 5!
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.