The Vision (8.21.20): 2020 Keach Conference Coming

 

The Keach Conference is an annual theology and ministry conference sponsored by the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia (RBFVA). The 2020 meeting will be hosted by CRBC, Louisa.

2020 Theme: Of Sanctification (based on chapter 13 of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith [1689]). This conference continues a consecutive exposition of the 1689 confession that began fourteen years ago.

2020 Keach Conference Schedule:

Saturday, September 26, 2020

9:00 am: Morning Coffee and Fellowship

9:30 am: Session One:

Morning Devotion: Pastor Ryan Davidson, Grace Baptist Chapel, Hampton, Virginia

Message One: Pastor John Miller, Grace RBC, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Message Two: Pastor Simon O’Mahony, Grace RBC, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

12:00 noon: Lunch Served on Site

1:00 pm: Session Two:

Message Three: Pastor John Miller, Grace RBC, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Question and Answer Session with Speakers

Meeting will conclude by c. 2:30 pm so that attendees will have adequate time to return home to prepare for the Lord’s Day.

Special Notes on Meeting:

·       Anyone interested in Reformed theology is welcomed to the Keach Conference. You do not have to be a member of a Reformed Baptist Church to attend.

·       There is no cost to attend the conference. Morning coffee and lunch are complimentary. An offering, however, will be collected for those who would like to support the conference meeting.

·       Due to current covid restrictions, conference attendance will be limited and attendees will be asked to practice social distancing, as appropriate.

·       In order to attend the conference you must pre-register by emailing Christ Reformed Church at info.crbc@gmail.com with your name(s), contact info (email and phone), and local church affiliation. Groups from the same church may register by sending one email listing attendees. You will then receive a confirmation email with conference information.

JTR

2013 Keach Conference

 

Image:  Richard Barcellos

Dear friends,
 

Just a reminder that the 2013 Keach Conference is this weekend.  This conference is sponsored by the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia and will be held on Friday evening-Saturday morning, September 27-28, 2013.  It is hosted this year by Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia (directions here).
 

This annual theology and ministry conference is free (though an offering will be collected in the meetings) and is open to anyone.  You can pre-register at Keach Conference 2013 or register onsite at the conference.
 

This year’s theme will be “Of God’s Covenant” from chapter seven of the London Confession.
 

Our speakers:  Pastor Ron Young, Sr. of Fincastle, Virginia will give an exhortation on ministry on Saturday morning.  Dr. Richard Barcellos will give a series of four messages on this year’s theme on Friday and Saturday.
 

The schedule:
 

Friday (September 27):

 

6:30 PM  Arrival, registration, fellowship

7:00 PM  Session I

Dr. Barcellos message one:  Part I:  Historical-Confessional, A Brief Overview of Chapter Seven:  “Of God’s Covenant”

Dr. Barcellos message two:  Part II:  Biblical Theological, Getting the Garden Right:  Hermeneutics and the Covenant of Works

Evening Fellowship, book tables
 

Saturday (September 28):

 

8:15-9:15 am  Complimentary Coffee Fellowship (doughnuts and bagels)

9:30 am  Session II

Exhortation:  Ron Young, Sr.:  Occupy Till I Come (Luke 19:13)

Dr. Barcellos message three:  Getting the Garden Right:  Eschatology and the Covenant of Works

Dr. Barcellos message four:  Getting the Garden Right:  Typology and the Covenant of Works

11:30 am  Session III

Question and Answer with the speakers
 

We hope you will consider joining us for one or both days of the conference.
 

 

JTR

The Vision (9.19.13): God's Covenant

The annual Keach Conference will be held Friday evening (6:30 pm)-Saturday morning (9:30 am), September 27-28 at CRBC.  This conference is free (though an offering will be collected in the meetings) and open to anyone to attend.  This conference is sponsored by the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia.  For the last few years we have had each year’s theme center around a chapter in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689).  This historic Puritan Baptist statement of faith based largely on the Westminster Confession of Faith serves as the doctrinal confession for our church and other Reformed Baptist congregations.  A confession of faith is always a “subordinate standard.”  That means it stands below Scripture and is to be corrected by Scripture.  A good confession, however, serves the useful purpose of describing how one might correctly interpret the Scriptures.

This year’s theme will be taken from chapter seven “Of God’s Covenant.”  Our keynote speaker, Dr. Richard Barcellos, is a seasoned and respected Reformed Baptist minister and theologian.  The text of this chapter is listed below along with the “prooftexts” cited to substantiate the doctrine presented.  I encourage you to read through this chapter as you prepare to come to the Keach Conference and spend time learning more about the faith “once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).   

1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience to Him as their creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.1
1 Luke 17:10; Job 35:7,8

2. Moreover, man having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace,2 wherein He freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved;3 and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, His Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.4
2 Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:10; Rom. 3:20,21
3 Rom. 8:3; Mark 16:15,16; John 3:16;
4 Ezek. 36:26,27; John 6:44,45; Ps. 110:3

3. This covenant is revealed in the gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman,5 and afterwards by farther steps, until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament;6 and it is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the redemption of the elect;7 and it is alone by the grace of this covenant that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality, man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency.8
5 Gen. 3:15
6 Heb. 1:1
7 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2
8 Heb. 11:6,13; Rom. 4:1,2, and ff.; Acts 4:12; John 8:56

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Eleventh Annual Keach Conference Coming (9/28-29)

Image:  Fellowship at the 2010 Keach Conference

 

 

We are getting ready for the 2012 Keach Conference (look here for more info and to pre-register online) which will be hosted this year by Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Charlottesville (meeting at the Covenant Lower School).  This year's theme will be "Of the Fall of Man, Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof" (chapter 6 in the Second London Confession) and the speakers will include Dr. Carl Trueman of Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia, PA; Lloyd Sprinkle of Providence BC, Harrisonburg, VA; and Bryan Wheeler of Emmanuel BC, Verona, VA.  This will be our 11th annual meeting.  The last few years we have listed information in the program from past conferences (see below).  The list indicates that we have been blessed with some wonderful past gatherings.  It also shows the development of the conference and the sharper confessional definition that has developed over the last decade, as the conference moved from Biblical conservatives in moderate SBC Virginia, to soteriological Calvinists, to confessional Reformed Baptists.

 

Keach Conference*

Past Keynote Speakers (meeting date and site)

 

2002

Dr. Calvin Frett, Pastor in Residence Ministry

(Thurs., November 8, First Baptist Church, Virginia Beach)

 

2003

Dr. Russell Moore, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

(Wed., November 12, All Saints Presbyterian Church, Richmond)

 

2004

Dr. Greg Wills, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

(Mon., November 8, Plantation Road Baptist Church, Roanoke)

 

2005

Dr. Mark Dever, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

Dr. Tom Nettles, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

(Wed., November 9, Good News Baptist Church, Alexandria)

 

2006

Dr. Andrew Davis, First Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina

Dr. Tom Nettles, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

(Wed., November 8, Green Run Baptist Church, Virginia Beach)

 

2007

Pastor Greg Barkman, Beacon Baptist Church, Burlington, North Caroliina

Dr. Michael Haykin, Toronto Baptist Seminary, Toronto, Canada

Theme: “Of the Holy Scriptures”

(Fri.-Sat., October 5-6, 2007, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

 

2008

Dr. Joseph Pipa, Jr., President, Greenville Presbyterian Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina.

Dr. Bruce Ware, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

Theme: “Of God and Of the Holy Trinity”

(Fri.-Sat., September 26-27, 2008, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

 

2009

Dr. Derek Thomas, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi

Pastor Conrad Mbewe, Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka, Zambia

Theme: “Of God’s Decrees”

(Fri.-Sat., September 24-25, 2009, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

 

2010

Tom Ascol, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida, and Director of the Founders Ministry (founders.org)

Dr. David P. Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Theme: “Of Creation”

(Fri.-Sat., September 24-25, 2009, Christ Reformed Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

2011

Dr. Joel Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Pastor Malcolm Watts, Emmanuel Church, Salisbury, England

Theme:  “Of Divine Providence”

(Fri.-Sat., September 30—October 1, 2011, Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, Warrenton)

*From 2002-2009, the conference was known as “The Evangelical Forum.”  It was renamed “The Keach Conference” in 2010.

2011 Keach Conference Audio Online

Image:  Dr. Joel Beeke (l) and Malcolm Watts (r), 2011 Keach Conference Speakers

The audio recordings of the messages from the 2011 Keach Conference has been posted online at Covenant RBC's sermonaudio site.  The messages:

Friday, September 30:

Dr. Joel Beeke, How to Respond Christianly to Providential Afflictions

Pastor Malcolm Watts, The Providential Preservation of the Ancient Scriptures

Saturday, October 1:

Pastor Malcolm Watts, Providence in the Translation of the English Bible

Dr. Joel Beeke, Job's Submission to Providence

Speakers, Question and Answer Session

Images from the 2011 Keach Conference

Image:  2011 Conference plenary speakers, Dr. Joel Beeke (l) and Pastor Malcolm Watts (r).

We had a wonderful Keach Conference over the weekend, Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1, 2011.  This was our tenth annual meeting.  The theme was "Of Divine Providence."  Dr. Joel Beeke gave two stirring messages on Afflictions and Providence (taken from Hebrews 12:3 and Job 1:20-22, respectively) and Pastor Watts two weighty addresses on the providential preservation of Scripture.  Audio from both messages will be posted online soon.  We had 151 persons registered through EventBrite (the first time we've done online registration).  Covenant RBC in Warrenton did a tremendous job of hosting the conference.

Below are a few images to give you a flavor of the meeting: 

Image:  Conference poster.

Image:  Pam Hileman of Covenant RBC and Bonnie Beach of Christ RBC were the smiling faces welcoming conference attendees at the registration table.

Image:  The beatiful "five solas" banner at the church entrance.

Image:  Entering the sanctuary for one of the Friday evening sessions.

Image:  Raise-the-roof congregational singing of psalms and hymns with a full congregation.

Image:  Elder Bret Vincent leads congregational singing.

Image:  Dr.  Beeke shares about some Reformation Heritage Books before his Friday evening address.

Image:  Fellowship between sessions in the sanctuary.

Image:  Fellowship Hall conversation.

Image:  Joel Beeke and Lloyd Sprinkle swapping stories.

Image:  Refreshments!

Image:  Books!

Image:  Dr. Beeke with some young fans of the "Building on the Rock" series.

Images:  Conversations.

Image:  Daniel Houseworth and Malcolm Watts.

Image:  Ron Young, Sr. and Malcolm Watts in animated conversation Saturday morning.

Image:  Conference leaders and speakers (l to r):  Steve Clevenger, Joel Beeke, Malcolm Watts, Jeff Riddle, Bret Vincent.

Registration Open for 2011 Keach Conference

Registration is now open for the 2011 Keach Conference which will meet Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1, 2011 at Covenant Reformed Baptist Church in Warrenton.

You can register online at the RBF-VA website.  By God's grace and the generosity of supporting churches and individuals there is no cost for the conference.  That's right:  It costs nothing to attend!  This year's preregistration (the first year we've tried it) is to give us a better idea of the attendance.  So, if you plan to attend, please register today!

The 2011 speakers are Dr. Joel Beeke of Puritan Reformed Seminary and Pastor Malcolm Watts of the Trinitarian Bible Society.  The theme will be the doctrine of Providence.

JTR

2011 Keach Conference Coming!

We invite you to mark your calendars now for the 2011 Keach Conference, the annual theology and ministry conference hosted by the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia. This will be our 10th annual meeting.

When will the conference meet? Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1, 2011. Session I will be held on Friday evening at 6:30 pm. Session II will be held on Saturday morning at 9:30 am. Following the morning session there will be a dialogue (question and answer time) with the speakers and then lunch.

Where will the conference be held? This year’s meeting will be hosted by the Covenant Reformed Baptist Church in Warrenton, Virginia. The church is located at 7336 Riley Road, Warrenton, VA 20187. Host Pastor will be Steve Clevenger.

What will be this year’s theme? We are continuing our series through the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689). This year’s theme is chapter five, “Of Divine Providence.” We are also celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Authorized (King Jame’s) Version of the Bible (1611-2011).

Who will be speaking? We have been blessed over the years to have excellent speakers for our conferences. This year is no exception. Our speakers will be Dr. Joel Beeke, President of Puritan Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Pastor Malcolm Watts of Emmanuel Reformed Church in Salisbury, England.

Dr. Beeke is one of the most prolific evangelical authors of our day. He is a walking library of knowledge about the Puritans and is in high demand as a speaker in Reformed churches and conferences.

Pastor Watts serves as Chairman of the General Committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society, a ministry that has promoted the circulation of “Protestant or uncorrupted versions of the Word of God” since 1831.

What are the topics? Here is our preliminary schedule:

Friday (September 30, 6:30 pm):

Dr. Beeke: How to Respond Christianly to Providential Afflictions

Pastor Watts: The Providential Preservation of the Scriptures: Part 1

Saturday (October 1, 9:30 am):

Pastor Watts: The Providential Preservation of the Scriptures: Part 2

Dr. Beeke: Job’s Submission to Providence

How can I help? There are several things you can do to help: (1) Join us in prayer for the conference, the speakers, and the fellowship. (2) Make plans now to attend and spread the word to others. Think about bringing a group from your church. (3) Send a financial gift to help defray the conference costs. Gifts can be sent to Covenant RBC (see address above) and marked for “Keach Conference.” Send a personal gift and ask your church to send a gift also. Help us continue to be able to invite speakers of international caliber and host a world-class, God glorifying and man edifying conference.

JTR

The Reformed Baptist Trumpet.January-March.2011

I just sent out the January-March 2011 issue of The Reformed Baptist Trumpet, the quarterly e-newsletter and journal of the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia.  You can read the entire issue here on Googledocs or here at the RBF-VA site.

The issue includes an announcement for the 2011 Keach Conference with Dr. Joel Beeke and Pastor Malcolm Watts scheduled for Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1, 2011 (pp. 1-2).

An article by Dr. David Murray, "The Quest for the Historical Adam" (pp. 3-12).

Book reviews of Gary Crampton's From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism and Alan J. Macgregor's Three Modern Versions (pp. 13-19).

A Paradosis sermon by Andrew Fuller, "Pastors Required to Feed the Flock of God" (pp. 20-21).

JTR

Keach Conference 2010 Audio and Other Resources

Image:  Saturday Q and A session.

Audio from the Keach Conference has been posted to sermonaudio.com:

Session I (Friday, September 24):

David Murray:  Christ in Creation

Tom Ascol:  'In the space of six days':  Does the 1689 teach creationism?

Session II (Saturday, September 25):

Tom Ascol:  Man in the State of Innocency

David Murray:  The Quest for the Historical Adam

Session III (Saturday, September 25):

Questions and Answers with Speakers

Other Resources:

In addition, you can also read David Murray's post on his experience of the Keach Conference on his blog.  You can also read the manuscript of his two addresses:  Christ in Creation and The Quest for the Historical Adam.

You can also enjoy a preview of Dr. Murray's DVD God's Technology.

And check out his new book Christians Get Depressed Too from Reformation Heritage which sold briskly at the conference.

To learn more about Tom Ascol, you can visit the website of Grace Baptist Church in Capel Coral, Florida and of the Founders Ministry.

JTR

Scenes from Keach Conference 2010: Part Two

Image:  Steve Clevenger of Covenant RBC in Warrenton and Lloyd Sprinkle of Providence BC in Harrisonburg in conversation.

Images:  Gathering on Saturday morning.

Image:  Riddle children

Image:  Youth fellowship.

Image:  Steve Hills of Harmony BC in Suffolk, VA takes a look at the book table.  We had a generous supply of Puritan, Reformed, and Baptist books for sale furnished by Sprinkle Publications of Harrisonburg and the Splintered Light Bookshop of Charlottesville.

Image:  Saturday gathering.

Image:  After meeting conversation on Friday evening.

Scenes from Keach Conference 2010: Part One

Image:  Our guest speakers:  David Murray (left) and Tom Ascol (right)

It seems each year I am tempted to declare that the Keach Conference (formerly known as the Evangelical Forum) just completed was the best ever.  If not the very best, this year's was at least one of the best we have ever had the satisfaction of planning and participating in.  The theme this year was "Of Creation," following our practice since 2007 of taking an article each year from the 1689 Confession.  David Murray from Puritan Reformed Seminary and Tom Ascol of the Founders Ministry proved to be an interesting and engaging pairing of speakers.  We packed out our meeting space with around 90 participants from congregations across Virginia, not to mention pastors from Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Here are some photos:

Image:  Friday gathering

Image:  Singing on Friday evening

Image: Fellowship

   

Image:  One of the best aspects of the Keach Conference is the ability to interact personally with the speakers.  Here Dr. Murray follows up on his message with conference participants.

2010 Keach Conference Coming!

Image:  Dr. David Murray, a native of Scotland and minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) who currently serves as Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2010 Keach Conference. 

The 2010 Keach Conference is coming up this weekend (Friday evening-Saturday morning, September 24-25) at Christ Reformed Baptist Church.  Two high caliber speakers (Tom Ascol and David Murray) will address a challenging and fruitful topic (the doctrine of creation).  You can find the schedule details on the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia website and read an announcement on the Reformed Baptist Fellowship blog.  Below is also some info on this year's and past conferences: 

What is the Keach Conference?

This is an annual theology and ministry conference sponsored by the Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia (a loose network of pastor and churches in Virginia). There is no cost for anyone to attend this event. This is the ninth year we have had such a gathering.  For the past several years we have been taking chapters from the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) in order. This year it is “Of Creation.” Lloyd Sprinkle of Sprinkle Publications also provides a book table at our meeting.

Where are we meeting?

We have met at various churches throughout Virginia. This year we are meeting at Christ Reformed Baptist Church, a church plant in Charlottesville.

What is the program like?

We meet on Friday evening at 6:30 pm and Saturday morning at 9:30 am. We will have prayer, Scripture reading, and singing psalms and hymns in each session along with teaching from our guest speakers. On Saturday we will also have a question and answer session.

Past Keynote Speakers (meeting date and site)

2002 Dr. Calvin Frett, Pastor in Residence Ministry

(Thursday, November 8, First Baptist Church, Virginia Beach)

2003 Dr. Russell Moore, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

(Wednesday, November 12, All Saints Presbyterian Church, Richmond)

2004 Dr. Greg Wills, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

(Monday, November 8, Plantation Road Baptist Church, Roanoke)

2005 Dr. Mark Dever, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

Dr. Tom Nettles, Southern Baptist Seminary

(Wednesday, November 9, Good News Baptist Church, Alexandria)

2006 Dr. Andrew Davis, First Baptist Church, Durham, NC

Dr. Tom Nettles, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

(Wednesday, November 8, Green Run Baptist Church, Virginia Beach)

2007 Pastor Greg Barkman, Beacon Baptist Church, Burlington, NC

Dr. Michael Haykin, Toronto Baptist Seminary, Toronto, Canada

Theme: “Of the Holy Scriptures”

(Friday-Saturday, October 5-6, 2007, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

2008 Dr. Joseph Pipa, Jr., President, Greenville Presbyterian Seminary, Greenville, South Carolina.

Dr. Bruce Ware, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Theme: “Of God and Of the Holy Trinity”

(Friday-Saturday, September 26-27, 2008, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

2009 Dr. Derek Thomas, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi

Pastor Conrad Mbewe, Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka, Zambia

Theme: “Of God’s Decrees”

(Friday-Saturday, September 24-25, 2009, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, Charlottesville)

JTR