The 2026 Triennial Convention is a little more than three months away. August 17-21, Advent Christians will gather at Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain, N.C. to worship, learn and fellowship together. We will also be conducting some critical, perhaps historic, business as well.
An event like this requires a great deal of planning and work. It also requires a great deal of prayer. For this event to be edifying to the participants and fruitful for the kingdom, we need God’s grace working in and through everyone, from the organizers to the participants. So, I’d like to ask you to please pray with us for our convention. There are some very specific things I hope you’ll join us in praying for:
The Ballot
In addition to electing a new ACGC president, recording secretary and member at large, the delegate body will be asked to take action on some significant items of business. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the consideration of adopting a completely rewritten Declaration of Principles. Other major issues will be proposed bylaw changes and adoption of the ACGC operating budget.
The Staff
Pray for wisdom and discernment for our staff as we plan. There are myriad details to account for in a gathering like this and it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Please pray that we will have the wisdom and understanding to attend to all the necessary details in the best way possible and that all the logistics will come together.
The Preachers and Teachers
Please be in prayer for those who are preaching, teaching and leading in worship. This includes Rev. Mike Alix, Rev. John Gallagher, Rev. Daniel Karl and Rev. Matt Rice who will be preaching at our nightly services. Also be in prayer for Mrs. Angela Hutcheson, Pastor Josh Lyman, Rev. Josh Rice and Rev. Heath Simpson who will be leading us in worship. Along with the workshop leaders and childcare workers let’s ask the Lord to sanctify them, to prepare them for his service. May he bless them with insight, wisdom and understanding.
The Missionary Guests
One hope we have is that Johnson Odoyo and Amos Komanya, pioneering church planters from Tanzanian, will be able to join us for the convention. It would be a tremendous blessing for us to hear firsthand from these men all the wondrous ways the Lord has worked in their ministry. In January of this year, Tanzania received a designation for the U.S. State Department that makes it very difficult for Tanzanians to obtain a visa to visit America. But the Lord can overcome any challenge, even one as great as government bureaucracy and red tape. Please pray for God’s favor on these two men and all of us so they will be able to join us in Black Mountain.
The Heart
Finally, please pray diligently that this will be a time of unity, charity and grace among our people. Some of the issues we will be wrestling through are extremely weighty matters that are at the heart of who we are as Advent Christians. Issues of this gravity often evoke strong responses borne of deep convictions. And we won’t always agree on the best course of action. Ask the Lord to work in our hearts and minds so that even when we passionately disagree, we may do so with gentleness, respect and love, being slow to speak and quick to hear, always thinking the best of one another. May we all “put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14). Pray that by the Lord’s grace we will have conducted ourselves with Christian love in a manner worthy of Christ. And that regardless of the outcome of any vote, we will leave Ridgecrest more unified than when we arrived with a greater love for one another and a deeper love for Jesus.
To learn more or register, please visit acgc.us/triennial
