Registration numbers increasing (twenty-nines are wild)

Here are the latest numbers for this August's General Conference. On-line registration is now available. Paper registration forms are in the May Sabbath Recorder (in the mail soon).

As of April 29: 29 registrations representing 82 participants

And 29 rooms are still available where one child (age 11 and under) may sleep on the floor for free.

The 2008 SDB General Conference will be August 3-9 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

What About those Computer Forms for Conference?

For the past several years, we have posted a form on the website that mirrors the Conference registration form found in the Sabbath Recorder. This serves as both a worksheet (tabulating your costs as you enter them) and a form you can print out so as not to tear up your May SR. Then you can either mail the form to our registrar, or bring it with you to Conference.

Our faithful Board of Christian Education executive, Andrew Camenga, has been creating these computer forms for us. He reports that this year's version will be on the website next week.

General Conference is August 3-9 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. See the front page of our website, or the May Sabbath Recorder (on-line), for more details.

Running Tally for Registration

We thought it would be fun to post a periodic tabulation of registration numbers for the 2008 Conference. The on-line forms got up-and-running on Tuesday, and some folks have already signed in.

As of this morning, we have received:
17 Registrations, representing 46 People.
There are 34 rooms still available for kids (one child, 11-and-under) to sleep on the floor.

General Conference is August 3-9 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.


(p.s. These postings will not warrant a "New News" e-mail to those on our new-postings list.)

You may Register at will!

Ah... Spring has sprung: flowers are blooming, grass is green, baseball is back, and Conference Registration is ON-LINE!!

For the first time, you'll be able to register (and pay) for General Conference while sitting at your computer. Just click on the link from our website's front page and follow the instructions.

While it may look different from the printed form (in the May Sabbath Recorder, also newly-posted on the site), all of the elements are there. Please read all of the instructions carefully, and you'll have an easy time. For payments using PayPal, there will be an extra step of notifying us of your payment amount.

If you have any questions, e-mail registrar@seventhdaybaptist.org.

This year's Conference is August 3-9 at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Prayer for those losing their homes

The latest from the American Bible Society's Circle of Prayer. May we join in prayer for those in this very personal need:

Heavenly Father, today we call upon Your mercy during this time of economic crisis. Thousands of families, throughout this land, are in danger of losing their homes. Many have already.

Lord, we ask that You take these families into Your protection. We pray that You provide for their needs and alleviate their fears.

Send down angels, O Lord, to watch over their children and to guide them back to prosperity. Make their hearts gracious so that they might receive Your blessings more abundantly.

We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer for the Sick and Shut-In

This has certainly been one whale-of-a winter and early spring season for many here in the United States! We even had snow (again) in Wisconsin this past weekend.

Along with the long winter came many illnesses. Some people are still 'down' and trying to recover. Please join with the American Bible Society's Circle of Prayer in this petition for these friends:


Heavenly Father, we pray today for the sick and shut-in. We ask that You send Your healing power down upon them and make them whole. Comfort them, O Lord, and be with them in their isolation. Strengthen them in Your Word and the promise of eternal salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

We ask that You fill our hearts with compassion for those who need our help. Help us to see past our selfishness and be good servants so that we will be worthy when we are weak and crying out for succor.

These things we pray in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

2008 PreCon

The 2008 Pre-Conference Youth Camp and Young-Adult Retreat will be wonderful opportunities to meet Seventh Day Baptists from across the United States and Canada, to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, to worship God, and to enjoy times of fun and games.

The dates this year are 4:00 p.m., July 30 – 1:00 p.m., August 3.

Young Adult PreCon Retreat

Mission Possible:
Intentionally Becoming Who God Created Me To Be

Come prepared to think about God's work in your life and be prepared to learn something new.

If you are 18-29, you will want to attend this PreCon. Althea Rood is directing the Young Adult Pre-Conference Retreat. Helen Goodrich, Nick Kersten, and Dave Stall will provide additional staffing support as the four work together to create this year's retreat experience. Even the site will help you enjoy the time you spend at PreCon: Carthage College is a wonderfully laid out campus on Lake Michigan — enjoy the architecture, enjoy the natural beauty.

Youth PreCon Camp

Reaching for the Light
Hebrews 1:3

Jesus Christ is amazing. Come prepared to change your priorities for His.

Pastor Chris Mattison is directing the Youth Pre-Conference Camp. He brings years of PreCon experience to this camp and has fine-tuned his plans for you — that is, if you are 15*-18. While we announce the members of his staff later, he is pulling together a team that should help you get the most out of 5 days and 4 nights you spend at Camp Wakonda.

Wakonda: Campfire and Vesper Locations

* If you have completed grade 9 or are at least 15 (and you are not older than 18), you are eligible to attend.

Don't Forget To Register On Time

Youth PreCon will cost $125 and Young Adult PreCon will cost $195 for those who register on or before June 15. After that date, the price will go up $20 for Youth and $25 for Young Adult.

Registration forms will be available in the May Sabbath Recorder. Additional information is also available online.

Third Annual Shurden Lectures

Press release from the BJC:

The Rev. Dr. Charles G. Adams, longtime Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) board member, pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit and a professor of the Practice of Ethics and Ministry at the Harvard Divinity School, will deliver the third annual Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State.

The lectures are scheduled for April 14-15 on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Previous lecturers have included Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and former BJC Executive Director James M. Dunn.

In 2004, Dr. Walter B. Shurden and Dr. Kay W. Shurden of Macon, Ga., made a gift to the BJC to establish an annual lectureship on the issues of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. The inaugural lecture was held in 2006 on the campus of Mercer University.

Help World Fed Wives get to Wisconsin

An important message from our national SDB Women's Society:


Dear SDB families,

This summer, the Seventh Day Baptist World Federation will hold their meetings in the United States, at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is the same site for the 2008 General Conference. The World Federation (held every five years) will meet July 28 – August 2, the week before our General Conference.

This year we would like to give the World Fed Executive officers the opportunity to bring their wives. Most of the wives are leaders in their Conference’s women’s organization. Coming together would enable them to gather ideas to develop new groups, and get some practical ideas to nurture and maintain their existing organization. This would also give the women of our Conference the opportunity to meet and dialogue with women from around the world.

With your help we can bring an additional six or seven people to the USA. The cost will be approximately $8,000. If each women’s group raised and donated $200, we would have enough to purchase airfare, and pay the room and board for their stay. Of course, we would welcome gifts from individuals.

The World Federation needs your donations to help with these meetings. Although the gtherings are fraternal in structure, they are valuable in forming relationships between General Secretaries. It encourages cooperation among Conferences and stimulates interaction between Conference leaders. If the Spirit leads you to donate, please send your gift to: SDB Women’s Society, Enid Nobles, 9 Little Pond Trail, Ormond Beach, FL 32174 (please memo: “SDB World Fed – Wives”) and mail by April 30, 2008.

Thank you for caring and for your support.

In His Service,
Marjorie Jacob, President
SDB Women’s Society

Circle of Prayer en Español

This exciting news from the American Bible Society (ABS):

We would like to share some exciting news about our latest addition to the ABS-Circle of Prayer community. In an ongoing effort to share our web resources in a way that is both relevant and comprehensible to a multicultural audience, the American Bible Society has launched a Spanish version of the Circle of Prayer web site called Círculo de Oración.

Through the new Círculo de Oración web site we hope to build a non-denominational, faith-based online social network that Spanish-speaking Christians from around the world can join so they may connect with like-minded people of faith in their own language.

The web site is absolutely free to join and provides members with opportunities to create their own prayer circles, post prayers, join existing prayer circles and invite others from around the globe to join the online Hispanic Christian community.

Come explore the new web site and help us spread the word about the positive impact the new Círculo de Oración web site can have in our Christian communities within the U.S. and the throughout the world.

Regards,
American Bible Society


Querido Usario,
La American Bible Society le gustaría compartir una noticia excitante con usted. En un esfuerzo por ampliar continuamente nuestros recursos a través de el Internet, la American Bible Society ha lanzado un nuevo sitio llamado Círculo de Oración.

La subscribcion al sitio es absolutamente gratis y brinda oportunidades a la comunidad latina a crear círculos de oraciónes, publicar oraciones, unirse a círculos existentes de oraciónes o invitar a otras personas de todo el mundo a unirse a su círculo y orar con usted.

Por favor visítenos o ayudenos a correr la voz de el Círculo de Oración para aumentar el alcance del Círculo de Oración a nuestras comunidades cristianas alrededor del mundo.
Sinceramente,
American Bible Society

Daily Bible Meditations Online

Daily Bible Meditations are available on the Board of Christian Education website. The meditation for the day appears on this webpage. In the near future, navigation features will be added to help you look at past and future meditations.

A short Scripture passage forms the base for each meditation. Our Seventh Day Baptist writers penned each meditation hoping to help you ponder the text of God's word — they help you ask the question, "How can I become a 'hearer' and 'doer' of God's word?"

For those who use the Helping Hand in Bible Study, these meditations will help you prepare for your gathered time around the word. Taken together, the seven readings cover the study and background scriptures for the week; they often also provide additional material related to the central teaching of each week's lesson. The meditations on the website are the same as the meditations that appear in the Helping Hand. We provide them in this form as a convenience for you.

SDBs on Billboard; No fooling!

In a pilot project proposed by the General Council and funded by the Memorial Fund, the Milton, Wis., SDB Church is now featured in a billboard ad campaign.

A subcommittee named by the Council (Rob Appel, Kevin Butler and Pat Cruzan) had proposed an ad concept and hoped to get it running later this spring. We were planning to use a regular (“static”) billboard on a busy highway between Milton and Janesville.

Then, the local Lamar advertising company offered a special deal to the Milton Chamber of Commerce (the Milton Church is a member). If ten businesses or groups signed on, they would be featured on a new digital billboard in Janesville to entice people to come to nearby Milton. The campaign would start on April 1 and run for three months, at about one-third the cost of a usual digital board ad.

We got busy snapping photos of children to promote Milton’s Wednesday night AWANA and youth group programs. The original concept had nine kids holding up poster boards to spell out the word “WEDNESDAY.” This might have worked on the static board, but once the Lamar artist started working with the pictures, he soon realized they would be too small and too “busy” to use on a digital board.

SO… “Plan B” (featured above) used two of the kids and bigger words to feature “Kid’s Nite.” With the 10 Milton groups, plus some Janesville businesses and public service ads, the church sign can be seen every four minutes. Each ad is displayed for six seconds. (You can see why focusing on 9 cute faces—small faces—plus the words, would have been difficult.)

When the youth program ends in early May, we will be able to change the ad and promote other ministries through June. Let’s pray that some good seeds are planted—even digitally—for the glory of God.