Article March 30, 1998 Issue

"A Heart to Know God"

Report on the thirty-eighth annual congress of Vision New England

Report and photographs By Kim Shippey

A few weeks ago, almost ten thousand Christians from nine hundred churches representing thirty denominations gathered in Boston for the thirty-eighth annual congress of Vision New England, until recently known as the Evangelistic Association of New England. The theme of the conference was "A Heart to Know God."

Vision New England president Steve Macchia opened proceedings with a story about his eight-year-old daughter Rebekah who, during a preconference visit to her dad's office, decided to try writing his welcoming speech for him. When Mr. Macchia peeked over her shoulder he saw that she had written in bold, clear letters: "We want you to have your hart (sic) closer to God this weekend. A hart to know God means to love your friends and naebers (sic) [neighbor] like your family."

This call for greater love of God and His children also came from keynote speaker Reginald Terry of Antioch Baptist Church, Omaha, Nebraska. "If we want to know God," he said, "and be more like Him, we must spend more time with Him." He emphasized the importance of gatherings of this kind. In our individual denominations and churches, he said, we cannot reach everybody. "We need one another. It's not the government's job to love. It's the Church's."

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