2009 SDB Directory Updates

The SDB Center mailed out forms the end of December 2008 for the corrections needed to place in the new 2009 Directory that will be available in April. We have receieved many back from you, and we thank you for your response.

However, there are still a few that have not responded, thirty six to be exact. You were contacted two weeks ago as a reminder to get this info back soon. If you want your churches listing to be accurate, up-to-date, and included in the stats for the upcoming Conference session this summer, I would suggest double checking to ensure that your info has been received at the Center in Janesville.

Remember, if you don't get your info in to the Directory you will only be allowed three delegates to vote with at Conference sessions. Moreover, legally you will only be allowed to have 3 people claim their expenses to Conference as an official delegate of your church. All others will not be official and recognized by the Conference. This is an action we all took together three years ago to clean up our reporting processes.

The deadline for the info is Sabbath, February 28, 2009. You may mail it, email it, fax it, or drop it off.

IF YOU WANT TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED YOUR INFO...email me at robappel@seventhdaybaptist.org


In many cases I have contacted multiple people within each church. If you are not the clerk or pastor, or the person responsible for this info, please let the proper people know we are looking for this info.

I appreciate your efforts.

Rob Appel
Executive Director
SDB General Conference
USA & Canada

Host Committee Updates

Important information about Conference transportation and campus linens (or lack thereof) can be found at our website. If you're already viewing this blog from our site, go to the "Calendar" tab above, and choose the "Conference Registration" option.

You will also find there a list of the Host Committee members, with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Registration forms should appear on the website in late April, and will be printed in the May issue of The Sabbath Recorder.

Baptists respond to Australia fires

Baptists in Australia offer bushfire assistance
by Eron Henry, Baptist World Alliance

Washington, D.C. (BWA)--Baptists in Australia have established an emergency relief fund to aid persons affected by the worst natural disaster in the history of the southeastern state of Victoria.

Bushfires that started on February 7 have claimed more than 180 lives, with at least 80 persons missing, and have destroyed more than 900 homes. There are fears that the death toll will rise to more than 300.

Three closely related Baptist bodies, Baptcare, the Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV), and the Baptist Union of Australia (BUA), established an Emergency Bushfire Relief Fund with an initial grant of AUS$50,000.

The fund will be used primarily for food, clothing, accommodation, and personal needs, as well as for bereavement counseling.

In addition to the fund, Baptist churches in Victoria are being used as emergency shelters, and local congregations are offering pastoral care to victims of the fires, which have badly affected farms, forests, and wildlife. More than 1,200 square miles have been destroyed by the inferno.

“We’ve watched in horror this past weekend as news of the tragic bushfires in rural Victoria have taken their toll on lives and property,” said a release from the BUA. “As a network of nearly 1,000 churches, the Baptist Union of Australia is calling Baptist churches across our nation to prayerfully consider their response to this disaster.”

Pastors' Conference UPDATE

Confirmation came today that Pastor Kenneth D. Chroniger, who is in the Doctor of Ministry program at Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, will be sharing with us about his research into Covenant.

With this news we are set to hear from the two SDB Pastors currently in the Doctor of Ministry program. Previously I blogged (Feb 9) about Pastor George D. Calhoun who has completed requirements for his D Min at Denver Seminary.

A registration form for this conference is located at www.sdbministry.org. You can register on line or print the form and fax or mail it in.

I look forward to seeing you there in South Jersey in balmy April.

Pastor English with the Lord

According to an e-mail from Dr. Ron Davis, Pastor Rickford English of Guyana, South America, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, February 5. The funeral is being held today in the Pomeroon, Guyana.

Dr. Ron asks that we "pray that the service would honor God, and be used of Him to draw others to faith in Christ. Also pray for family members, including his wife Ivy."

Pastor English was a long-time pastor of Bona Ventura SDB Church in the Pomeroon River area, and helped to plant other SDB churches among the Amerindians in the river region.

2008 Sabbath School Survey

The 2008 Sabbath School Report Form was mailed to your church in the middle of last month. Your clerk, pastor, and Sabbath School Superintendent (or Christian Education Committee Chair) should have already received the report. You can see if your church has already reported. We have set a deadline of February 27, 2009 for submitting this data.

This year, in response to suggestions made at our Annual Corporation meeting that was held at last year's General Conference site, we have provided a way for churches to submit this data by typing it directly into a form on our website. The linked page in the previous paragraph will tell you how to get to that page.

You may wonder why the Board of Christian Education collects this information when the Conference Office is already collecting information for the Yearbook. The reason is that we are focusing specifically on the Sabbath School program and collecting detailed information that goes beyond what is needed or helpful for the Yearbook.

The information you provide on this form is important because it provides a picture of attendance in Sabbath School across the Conference, the average size of classes, and how the attendance is distributed across age groups. This kind of information helps the Board of Christian Education make good decisions about how to allocate the resources you have entrusted to us for developing, providing, and promoting programs and publications that support your work in building the Body of Christ.

Thank you all for your help with this.

We pray that all of your efforts at provoking Christian maturity are blessed with obvious and enduring fruit this year.

2009 SDB Pastors' Conference

Two years ago Seventh Day Baptist pastors and spouses gathered in Dodge Center, MN for a time of learning and fellowship. Here are some of the bright faces that were present. We were waiting to give thanks for a meal.

This year the Shiloh NJ SDB Church will host this every-two-year event. Pastor Don Chroniger (third from the right in the picture) is the host pastor.

WORKING IN GOD’S VINEYARD is the theme. The dates are April 21-25. Sessions will begin at 8:30 AM on Tuesday the 21^st.

We will be looking at the four parables of Jesus set in vineyards through Bible Study. We will be worshiping together. There will be time to confer with each other about our Ministries.

Pastor George Calhoun, who has just successfully completed his Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary will be sharing with us about his research in encouraging evangelism among those who don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism.

Registration can be completed by going to the Council on Ministry's website http://www.sdbministry.org/ and clicking on "Pastors' Conference 2009" or either of the two bunches of grapes on the right of the front page. One bunch takes you to the on-line registration form. The other to a form you may print and mail or fax. If you click on the words there is some information about travel.

If you have questions let me know at com@sdbministry.org.

Habitat founder dies

By Bob Allen
Associated Baptist Press

AMERICUS, Ga. (ABP) -- Millard Fuller, a millionaire entrepreneur who gave away his fortune to create Habitat for Humanity International in 1976, died Feb. 3 after a brief illness.
Fuller, 74, led the worldwide house-building ministry with his wife, Linda, for 29 years before both were fired in January 2005 following several months of conflict with their board of directors. Afterward Fuller formed a new organization, the Fuller Center for Housing.

"Millard Fuller was a force of nature who turned a simple idea into an international organization that has helped more than 300,000 families move from deplorable housing into simple, decent homes they helped build and can afford to buy and live in," Jonathan Reckford, Habitat's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "The entire Habitat family mourns the loss of our founder, a true giant in the affordable-housing movement."

Members of Fuller's family said they were "truly overwhelmed" with expressions of love and support for his work and urged people to honor his legacy by donating to the Fuller Center or volunteering with a local partner of either organization.
Visitation was scheduled Feb. 3 at First Presbyterian Church in Americus, Ga. Burial will be at Koinonia Farm, an interracial Christian farming community the Fullers joined in 1965.

Wealthy at age 29 as an entrepreneur and lawyer but with his marriage in a shambles, Fuller and his wife decided to begin anew, selling all they owned and giving it to the poor.
Under the tutelage of Koinonia founder Clarence Jordan, Fuller developed the idea of "partnership housing," building homes with rural neighbors too poor to afford conventional loans. Since then thousands of people have volunteered with Habitat, the most famous being former President Jimmy Carter.
"Millard Fuller was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known," Carter said in a statement. "He used his remarkable gifts as an entrepreneur for the benefit of millions of needy people around the world by providing them with decent housing."

Fuller's Feb. 4 funeral is open to the public. The family plans a memorial service for later in the month.