An organization led by a well-known minister will convene in Indianapolis next week.
Members and supporters of Trusted Partners for Christ, an urban evangelical group, will meet for its national convention from Aug. 15-18 at the Hilton hotel downtown. Ministers from around the country will participate in seminars and workshops, but the general public is invited to attend at no charge.
National Trusted Partners for Christ, also known simply as Trusted Partners, is led by Dr. Henry J. Lyons, best known as the former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA Inc., the largest predominantly African-American Christian denomination in the world.
Lyons led the 7 million-member organization from 1994 to 1999.
His latest effort, Trusted Partners, is designed to help congregations become more active in their communities. The idea, he says, is to move churches beyond merely talking about urban problems to taking real action in addressing them.
“That’s what we’ll be teaching in our seminars,” Lyons said. “We will show how to activate the church in a way that it is not just a gathering place on Sunday morning, but a venue for positive growth in the community.”
Lyons launched Trusted Partners at the height of his ministry 15 years ago. It was originally designed as a fellowship to strengthen Christian men, similar to the massive Promise Keepers movement of the late 1990s.
Since then, Trusted Partners has evolved into a broader group that includes women and children with goals to uplift the entire family.
“We are really excited about it,” Lyons said. “Our goals are simple: To see people changed to be like Christ, for churches to serve as the body of Christ and for communities to be changed to reflect the kingdom of God.”
Trusted Partners hopes to achieve those goals by establishing local chapters in cities nationwide, including Indianapolis. Each chapter will include churches of different denominations and races. It will host activities to engage area ministers, neighborhood leaders, elected officials and residents.
“National groups are great, but the church has power through the Holy Spirit to serve locally, and that is our emphasis,” Lyons added.
Some of the objectives Trusted Partners will present in Indianapolis include programs to build strong men who will serve as responsible husbands and fathers, initiatives to strengthen families and efforts to equip parents with insight on raising happy and successful children.
“The home, not the church, was designed to raise children. But since the home seems to have failed us in some ways, it is now on the shoulders of the church, especially in African-American communities, to come to the aid of families,” said Lyons. “We will continue to call attention to our legislators to give parents back the authority they once had in the home.”
He noted that many parents feel uneasy about chastising their children for disruptive behavior out of fear of authorities being contacted, while lack of non-abusive discipline in some homes has contributed to a rise in drug abuse and deviant social behavior.
“Parents should be able to use God-ordained and Bible-centered discipline,” Lyons said.
Organizers say Indianapolis was chosen as the site for Trusted Partners’ convention partially because the city already has 10 affiliated churches, and sits in a convenient location for attendees coming from nearby cities such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit.
“It’s also a great family town,” Lyons said. “We are on an uphill journey, but the top of that hill can be reached by taking one step at a time.”
For more information on the Trusted Partners National Convention, call toll free 1-888-407-8608 or visit www.ntpfc.org.
