South Dakota mission planned

This comes from Patty Petersen of the Boulder, Colo., church:

Plans are in place for a one-week mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, March 22-30 (the 22nd and 30th are travel days).

Please announce the trip at your church this week and remind people during the month of February. Contact me for a flyer at ppetersen57@hotmail.com that you can post or distribute. You’ll also need a Short Term Missionary Application from the Missionary Society. I can e-mail that to you, too.

The trip cost is $300 per person for the week, plus I’m asking $50 toward food. We could certainly use a volunteer to be head cook, giving them lots of help of course. Perhaps the churches could help their members who want to go by holding some fund-raisers.

If anyone is not sure about sleeping on bunk beds at the church, there are motels in Martin, about a 20-minute drive from Batesland. We can also arrange to meet people who fly in to Rapid City, SD.

The Missionary Society would be glad to help interested people plan a summer trip if that timeframe works better. A stay of at least 2 weeks is preferred, but in our case we only had the one week of Spring Break available. I found that once I’d been there I definitely wanted to return to help some more. Please let me know of anyone interested in this trip. Thank you!

Council On Ministry to meet

The SDB Council on Ministry will gather for their annual meeting this coming weekend in Daytona Beach, FL. Please pray as the Council meets to consider applications, review the various programs of the Center on Ministry and the work of the Director of Pastoral Services. The COM budget for 2009 will also be under consideration.

These meetings may seem dry or boring, but these are decisions about education for current and future pastors (currently 7 in the Seminary Education Program and 5 in T.I.M.E., and two in Doctor of Ministry programs), developing staff and programs in the local church (1 church currently in the Ministry Staff Development Program), and other church and pastoral issues. We thank the Daytona Beach congregation for gracious hosting.

Thank you for your prayers as the Council on Ministry meets concurrently with the Memorial Fund Trustees.

SDB Memorial Fund 2008 1st Quarter Business Meeting

The Trustees of the Seventh Day Baptist Memorial Fund will hold their 2008 1st Quarter Business meeting at the Daytona Beach SDB Church, Daytona Beach, Florida Feb 2-3, 2008. Requests for loans and New Ministry Outreach Matching Grants need to be received by Morgan Shepard no later than Thursday, 31 January, for consideration. Morgan can be reached at (608) 752-5055 or by email at mdshepard@seventhdaybaptist.org.

Prayer for the Economy

With many of the world markets facing struggles, our friends at the American Bible Society offer up this prayer e-mail called "Restoration of our Economy":

During these economically turbulent times, let us turn to the Lord for guidance and support to move as a Nation towards stability and prosperity.

Lord, our Father, may Your everlasting strength and resolve help solidify and bring together Your Nation of devoted followers to work towards uplifting the economy. We pray for You to forgive foreclosures, for the Nation’s dollar to be strong in value once again, and for the government to make wise and Godly decisions with the country’s national resources. Let us pray to You, oh Lord, to provide relief to those impoverished and in dire need; and for those of us with wealth and abundance to increase our charity and support as we were taught through Your divine teachings.

Amen

New CD available

Winifred Hoffman and Friends have released their second CD of Country/Gospel music, "Violets and Dandelions." Songs include old favorites such as "Where the Roses Never Fade" and "How Great Thou Art," along with other meaningful selections.

Many of the songs are not expressly "Gospel" but have a common thread of nature's humble wonders and the importance of the people in our lives—all pointing to our Heavenly Father.

Seven artists are featured on the album, with a variety of instruments: pedal steel guitar, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, Baroque recorder, mandolin, and banjo. Winifred Hoffman (Milton, Wis., SDB Church member since 1987) and her daughters, Martha and Miriam, do most of the vocals.

Proceeds will support the SDB Missionary Society.

The CD is $15 postpaid, available from: Winifred Hoffman, 4279 E 12th Rd, Earlville, IL 60518. Phone (815) 246-9523. E-mail: bestyetaisires@juno.com.
Her first CD, "It's Different Now," is still available for $12, and all the proceeds go to Tim and Jayme Osborn's teaching work in Morocco.

SR Cover Deadline approacheth

The deadline for the latest Sabbath Recorder Art Contest for kids is coming quickly!

Entries need to be postmarked by January 15 (that's Tuesday). Complete rules for the contest are found on the back covers of the October and November Sabbath Recorders. If you can't find your paper issues, click on the link at our website: www.seventhdaybaptist.org.

Pictured above is the winning entry for the 2006 Thanksgiving cover Art Contest. Emily Olson from Berlin, New York, took the honors, with close runner-up Sara Monroe from Little Rock, Arkansas, featured on the back cover. We plan to run a full-color cover of this year's winning entry in the March SR.

Send in your entries by Tuesday, and we'll have a colorful celebration of the Resurrection in March!

New Edition of Greater Than Its Parts Available

The Historical Society is happy to announce that a newly revised and updated version of Greater Than Its Parts, a short book on Seventh Day Baptist organization and polity by Don Sanford, is now available at the E-Store on the General Conference website.

This new edition of Greater Than Its Parts updates changes in General Conference polity since the last edition in 1998, and was edited after the Boards and Agencies of the Conference were asked to suggest possible clarifications about their work and ministries. The book is an excellent reference for those who are new to the Conference or who want a short guide to the organization of the Conference. The book explains the relationship between local churches and the Conference as well as providing a brief history of the founding of the Conference and its various ministries.

For more information on this volume, contact the Historical Society.

Nurture Series Price Reduction

We reduced the price for all current Nurture Series materials. Every item is now available for $1.00. Use the materials in your Sabbath School classes, Children church programs, or Bible clubs.

The Nurture Series will help you teach your children and youth about Sabbath and Seventh Day Baptist Mission and Ministry.

If you only think of younger children when you hear, "Nurture Series," think again. We produced a very good study on the Sabbath for those in Senior High. Buy and use this material to help your teenagers explore what the Bible says about Sabbath-keeping and how we can be faithful to God's call in this area of life.

You can purchase the material online at the Conference website and discover more about the series at the Board of Christian Education website.

WARNING: Bogus mailing

A book by Larry W. Wilson called "Warning: Revelation Is About to Be Fulfilled" is being mailed out to some of our SDB churches in an apparent fraudulent manner.

While the return address on the envelope lists "SDB Church, 219 Pine St., Middletown CT," it is NOT being sent from the Pine Street Gospel Chapel (SDB). The postmark actually shows the origin as Jacksonville, Florida.

This is NOT a Seventh Day Baptist book, nor is it being sent by our church in Connecticut. Investigation is underway to find out who is doing this.

2008 Week of Prayer

This Sunday, January 6, marks the beginning of the 2008 Week of Prayer, sponsored by the SDB World Federation.

The meditations for this year were written by Pastor Luciano de Moura of the Brazil Conference. His theme is "To Be a Church Is To Be United."

If you did not receive a prayer booklet at your local church, go to the home page of our website and you can download a Word version or a pdf of the complete booklet. Then, you can either read it on your computer or print it out for your daily prayer time.

Let's all "Be United" in this year's Week of Prayer.

Computer Crash

My computer decided to take the Holiday's off. It died on the 15th of December and I am still trying to clean up the mess with the help of Josh Harris.

I have lost all the Grapevine email contacts. If you would still like to get the Grapevine, please email me and let me know.

Happy New Year to you all!

New Year's Day prayer

As we begin 2008, may we all be guided by God's Word and Spirit, and mostly, His Love.

Preparations are well underway for Conference to take place close to the Center in August. As we prepare and pray for a great annual celebration, please be in prayer for all of the many details that must be completed. Our Conference President, Andy Samuels, would welcome your prayers as well. Many blessings to you and yours in this new year!!

And from our friends at the American Bible Society:
The New Year is upon us. Let us celebrate this new beginning by recommitting ourselves to the Lord’s will and by reaffirming our faith.

Lord,
We pray that You give us the strength to do all that You command from this day forth. And if we should fail, we pray that You will lift us up to bask in Your Goodness and point us to Your Cross, so that we may never despair or descend into hopelessness.
Amen.