Spitzer Retirement Letters Invited

 

As previously announced, Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), will be retiring on December 31, 2019. Spitzer originally took office on June 1, 2017. Submissions of letters or words of appreciation for a “Book of Letters” are invited. The Board of General Ministries of ABCUSA invites submissions of letters or words of appreciation, which will become part of a “Book of Letters” that will be presented prior to Spitzer’s retirement. American Baptists and friends are invited to submit a letter (unfolded, no larger than 8 1⁄2 x 11 letter size paper), sent by October 21, 2019, to the attention of:

Rebecca Driscoll, ABCUSA,
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851.

Letters can also be emailed to: Rebecca.Driscoll@abc-usa.org.

As General Secretary, Spitzer has cast a vision calling for the American Baptist family to unify around the historic Baptist movement’s core convictions and mission, and to enter into a new era of church growth, evangelism, prophetic witness and creative service in cooperation with our national and regional partners.

Prior to his call as General Secretary, Dr. Spitzer served as Executive Minister and Senior Regional Pastor of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey for 14 years. He encouraged the region to journey as a Christ-centered, mission focused and pastoral (loving) community of churches. From this vision, many new ministries were developed. Dr. Spitzer brings to his new position decades of pastoral experience; he was pastor of First Baptist Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, the Seaview Baptist Church in Linwood, New Jersey, and the First Baptist Church in East Providence, Rhode Island. He was ordained as an American Baptist minister in 1981. His Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees are from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and in 2016, he was awarded a PhD degree in Theology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the International Baptist Theological Study Centre.

Judson Press has published two books by Dr. Spitzer. Making Friends, Making Disciples (2010) explores how relationships impact our lives and the discipleship and evangelism ministries of churches. His newest book, Baptists, Jews and the Holocaust: the Hand of Sincere Friendship (2017), reveals how Baptists in the United States responded to Nazism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.