Conference workshops

Conference President Ruth Burdick has lined up some interesting and challenging workshops for this year's General Conference (held at George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, July 29-August 4). The workshops will be on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

The Art of Effective Ambassadorship (repeated)
Pastor Shirley Morgan

History of the Sabbath (2 parts)
Janet Thorngate

Sabbath School: Not an Option?
Pastor Paul Andries

Davidic Dance (2 parts)
Vivian McNeme

Church Finances (2 different-- one for Pastors and church leaders; the other for church Treasurers and leaders)
B.J. Worth of Worth Financial

He do, We do, They do (2 parts)
POIEO staff

Town Hall Meeting with the Execs
Rob Appel

Making the Helping Hand Useful
Pastor Andrew Camenga

SR is not "Law"-ton

As I was preparing to enter another blog--reviewing the lineups for morning and evening speakers at Conference--I noticed a rather disturbing typo in the latest (and soon-to-be mailed) issue of the Sabbath Recorder.

On Ruth Burdick's President's Page, she names the Conference speakers and has a list of seminars and workshops. Monday evening's speaker has listed: George Lawton.

Now, as far as I know, George is not related to Leon or Dorothy, or Gordon or Linda. In fact, he's not even a "Lawton." He's a "Lawson."

SORRY, George! Good thing he's not a Law-yer, or we'd be in trouble.

SDB Chaplain returns home

We received word this past weekend from a very happy U.S. Army Chaplain. Pastor Jerry Johnson made it back to his family in Lowville, N.Y., near his home base of Fort Drum in northern New York state. Johnson spent over a year in Afghanistan, the last several weeks near the front lines.

Jerry plans to catch up with his wife, Carrie, and their four growing boys. He will have six weeks before reporting to train for his next assignment. The Johnsons thank all of their friends and SDB family for their fervent prayers.

Photo from Carrie: Chaplain Johnson was in this group of soldiers returning to Fort Drum.

Youth PreCon 2007

The largest Youth PreCon in the last 30 years was held at Molalla Retreat in 2003. That year, as the staff was delayed due to train difficulties, 61 well-behaved campers arrived on site and began the process of impressing the camp owners.

Levi Bond, this year's Host Committee chariman, was serving as PreCon Business Manager and had the "opportunity" to function as the PreCon director for a little while. Eventually, the trains restarted, the staff arrived, Levi was able to depart, and Pastor David Thorngate took the reigns.

The size of that PreCon was a shock. We had not had a youth Pre-Con exceed 60 participants since the 1970s. Almost every Youth PreCon on the West Coast had been noticeably smaller than those on the East Coast or Mid-West. We planned for a PreCon of approximately 50 participants and assumed that that number was overly optimistic. And we were wrong.

Instead, there were lots of campers, lots of fun, and a group of youth was able to demonstrate that they knew God's Love and were willing to show it to each other and to the gracious owners of the camp, who expressed their appreciation for the attitudes and behaviors of the campers and invited to come back "if we are ever in the area again."

Well, we are in the area again, and we are going back to Molalla Retreat. Pastor Chris Mattison is gathering an excellent staff and planning a great program. If you are of the right age for PreCon, you'll want to be there. If you know somebody who is the right age for PreCon, encourage them to go. If God has given you the resources and the desire, do what you can to get them to this year's PreCon. Information is available in the May Sabbath Recorder and on the Board of Christian Education website.

(The two pictures in this article were taken at the 2001 PreCons. The top one was taken at Youth PreCon and shows crosses that were used to teach part of the lessons that year. The other was taken at Young Adult PreCon and shows them visiting Coronado Heights, a WPA project that is wonderful to visit. The pictures also appear on the PreCon page of the BCE website; the pictures on that page serve as links to larger versions with more detail.)

E-Gifting Hits New High For SDB Giving

The E-Gifting program recently hit a new high with new people enrolling in May. There are now 12 people / families signed up to give regular gifts totaling $625 per month ($7500 per year) to the Boards and Agencies of the SDB General Conference!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS GIFTS!

For those not familiar with E-Gifting it is a way to give a regular (monthly) gift for the work of a Board or Agency of your choice. Through monthly automated debits from your checking account you can support the work of Seventh Day Baptists. This provides a secure, consistent means for sending a gift.

Click here to learn more.

Lost Creek, WV, installs Pastor Perry Cain

Sabbath afternoon, June 2, Rev Perry Cain was installed as the Pastor of the Lost Creek SDB Church, Lost Creek, WV.

Pastor Dale D. Thorngate of the Salem WV SDB Church presented the charge to the new pastor and led in the prayer of consecration. Pictured to the right are (l-r) Mrs Linda Cain, Pastor Dale Thorngate and Pastor Perry Cain.

Pastor Perry Cain has served as Assistant Pastor in the Salem, WV, Shiloh, NJ and Columbus, OH SDB Churches and as Pastor in Columbus (now located in Pataskala, OH) from 1981 - 1987. He was ordained by the Columbus Church in 1981. Since that time he has worked at Salem International University and more recently is the principle in Crimson Counseling in Clarksburg, WV. (www.crimsoncounseling.com)

Pastor Perry brings pastoral and counseling experience as well as musical abilities with him to Lost Creek.

Welcome Pastor Perry.

Editing Continues on Historical Society Publications

The Historical Society continues to do editing work on two of its volumes, A Choosing People: The History of Seventh Day Baptists, and Greater Than Its Parts. These two books cover the history and polity and organization of Seventh Day Baptists. Greater Than Its Parts should be available around Conference time, with the new edition of A Choosing People available sometime in the next year or two. The Society covets the prayers of those who have a heart for this project, as we continue to make publishing contacts and continue work on the manuscripts that will be used for publication. If you have additional questions about these or other Historical Society projects, you can call us at the Center in Janesville.