BY STEVE DEDUAL

Patriot Intern

This weekend, the focus is on family strength at the Crossroads Neighborhood Church, located at 7555 Old Military Road, as it is hosting what is being called a community-wide family conference named “Connecting the Dots – Rebuilding the Healthy Family” which started yesterday and will continue beyond 5 p.m. today.

The event is being sponsored by the Bremerton African American Ministerial Association (BAAMA), the theme is a celebration of family and the focus is on every aspect of what it takes to build healthy families and to rebuild families in crisis.

The event kicked off last night with keynote speaker Dr. Gary Tangeman, pastor of the Crossroads Neighborhood Church speaking about “The State of Today’s Family.”

Today’s events start at 7 a.m. with registration and a continental breakfast. An opening plenary session is scheduled to take place at 8 a.m. followed by morning workshops at 9:30 a.m. Lunch is scheduled for noon and the afternoon workshops will begin at 1 p.m. There will be a “wrap-up session” at 3:30 p.m. and then food and networking at 4 p.m. The weekend conference will end with a grand finale at 5 p.m. which will include a “Gospel Extravaganza” and a keynote address, “The Way Ahead For Families” by Bishop Lawrence Robertson, BAAMA President and pastor of Emmanuel Apostolic Church in Bremerton.

Many other speakers will be attending the event and making presentations like Trise Moore on education, Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jay Roof on the justice system, Angela Sell on wealth building, Tom Mulhern on health and nutrition, Dave Finley on housing, Dawn Humpfrey on youth education, Davis Cortez on the juvenile court system and Verisedale Robinson on youth education.

Bishop Robertson said it is difficult to know what to expect since this is the first such project of its kind, but the vision of the conference is to help strengthen families.

“There is no better time than the present to work on building stronger families,” Bishop Robertson said. “Stronger families lead to a stronger nation.”

The cost for the event is $15 per individual and $25 per family and childcare for 1 to 4 year-old children will be available for $10 per child from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For more information on the conference, contact the Emmanuel Apostolic Church office at (360) 479-3674.