THE UNION REVIEW The National Baptist Union Review
Vol. 128, No. 6
Published Monthly by R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation • 6717 Centennial Blvd., Nashville, TN 37209-1017
JUNE 2022
Dr. LaDonna Boyd greets guests at the inaugural Legacy Ball, held on Friday, June 17, during the 2022 Vision Conference™ and the 116th National Baptist Congress at the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown Hotel. This year’s conference is the first in-person event since 2019.
2022 Vision Conference Convenes in Nashville ™
Attendees from Across the Country Share Learning and Fellowship Opportunities By Monique Gooch-Brown, RHB Staff Editor, and Emmanuel LeGrair RHB Community Engagement Coordinator
After two years of virtual conferencing, the 2022 Vision Conference and host church Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist and Pastor Breonus M. Mitchell, Sr. welcomed attendees from across the country to a three-day experience filled with learning, worship, engagement, and fellowship opportunities. The Nashville conference officially launched on Thursday evening, June 18, immediately following the National Missionary Baptist Convention Summer Board meeting, which began on Wednesday, June 17, at the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown Hotel. The theme for this year’s session was, “Building Legacies Through Leadership,” key verse Psalm 145:4. Under the leadership of Dr. LaDonna Boyd, fifth-generation president/CEO of the R.H. Boyd family of companies, the Vision Conference™ remains committed to educating, training, teaching,
and amplifying God’s Word through excellence in Christian education resources and leadership training. This year’s offerings and events highlighted the importance of technology, innovative teaching methodologies, entrepreneurship, theology, and so much more. The conference opened on Thursday evening with inspiring congregational singing led by Rev. Kenneth Jackson, national music department chair, after which Dr. Quaford Coleman escorted program participants to the stage. Invocation and greetings were offered by RHB board members Dr. T. L. Brown and Dr. Matthew Alix, respectively. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America leaders were a part of the opening assembly, and many served as conference instructors and participants, including Dr. L. David Punch, pastor of Houston’s Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church and NMBCA director of communications and public relations. The opening event was an opportunity for constituents to come together in corporate worship
and in celebration of the start of the new conference session. Initiated by Dr. Henry Allen Boyd, the National Baptist Congress was traditionally opened by a March for Jesus parade, during which Dr. Boyd and the leadership team donned all white. The parade served as a high-profile means to draw attention to the Congress and get attendees excited about the week’s activities. The March for Jesus parade also created the Congress’ presence in the hosting city and generated community buzz around the gathering. Upholding that tradition, attendees at the General Assembly wore all white in celebration of the company, the conference’s foundations, and in tribute to its leaders of the past. During the opening session president/CEO and Vision Conference chairman Dr. LaDonna Boyd, Vision Conference dean Dr. Gerald Dew and associate dean Dr. Marlon Coleman, and Women’s Continued on page 4... Follow us on
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