Our 300th Blog Entry!

Just over two and a half years ago, the SDB Exec Blog (or “SDBlog”) came into being. We got off to a slow start, not quite sure what to expect—and readers had even more questions about what we were doing.

But as time went by, we’ve attempted to keep you informed of Seventh Day Baptist happenings, from both the local and Conference levels. Sprinkle in some personal observations and news from the wider Baptist family, and you’ve got the SDBlog.

Please, if you have suggestions, ideas or needs, let us know. We are here to serve you and infuse your ministry with news and inspiration.

If you’d like to be notified by e-mail when a new blog entry is posted, just click here.

SR Gifts coming in-- THANKS!

It’s that time of year again for The Sabbath Recorder. The annual renewal letter has gone out, and the reply cards (and gifts) are coming in.

I feel led to share one letter that arrived at the Center even before my letter was sent. The readers replied to a back cover tear-off reminder. Their special handwritten response made my day:


We read every page in the Sabbath Recorder--front to back--and afterward share them with pride. Thank you for your faithfulness and loving commitment to keep us informed, challenged in spiritual growth and service opportunities in outreach and witness.
May God continue to fill our special needs as He guides and directs you there and all your contributors. Much love in Christ.


May the Lord bless this lovely couple and their longtime faithfulness. And may He bless all of us in our work for the Kingdom.

To donate on-line to the Recorder, click here.

Less than a week for Conf discount

For the 2009 SDB General Conference, delegates and friends will meet at Lancaster (PA) Bible College, July 26 thru August 1.

As of today, 374 participants have been registered on-line. That's nearly 100 more since our last report on June 16. You can still register the "old-fashioned way" by sending in your paper forms from the May Sabbath Recorder. But we just learned that not many are doing it that way-- the 374 registering on-line are out of a TOTAL of 393 registered so far. Looks like this computerized method just might be catching on... :)

Reminder: If you register on-line by June 30, each person will receive a nice discount off their Registration fees! That's less than one week from today. (The discount goes only to those registering on-line.) Click here to go to our main website.

SDB CONFERENCE IRS STATUS UPDATE

The Seventh Day Baptist General Conference USA & Canada, Ltd recently reviewed its non-profit status with the IRS. While the SDB General Conference is still recognized as a non-profit organization the roster of churches and agencies that can claim non-profit status due to membership with the SDB General Conference needs to be updated annually.

In order to respond to the IRS by the prescribed time the SDB General Conference will be submitting a list of all member churches, agencies and societies and branch churches listed in the 2009 Annual Directory to the IRS by September 30, 2009. To be included as a qualifying organization for non-profit status each church is being asked to complete and sign an update form COMPLETELY and return to the SDB Center by 15 August 2009. You can also deliver to Morgan Shepard during the upcoming General Conference session in Lancaster, PA.

Of particular note is the requirement for every church and organization to have its own Employee Identification Number (EIN #) issued by the IRS. Even though you may not have employees you need to have an EIN #. Organizations without an EIN # CANNOT be included on the SDB General Conference’s tax exempt roster.

Even though your church may have been listed previously the SDB General Conference still needs to provide a complete response in order to ensure all the qualifying organizations are listed.

A letter and update form will be sent to the following church officers: Pastors, Moderators, Clerks & Treasurers. This is being done to ensure the widest dissemination to the churches so that responses can be received by the deadline.

For any questions please contact Morgan Shepard, Treasurer, SDB General Conference, USA & Canada Ltd by email mdshepard@seventhdaybaptist.org or call at (608) 752-5055. We appreciate your assistance in this effort. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you should have any questions.

Institute on History Progressing

Summer Institute 2009 has entered its second and final week at the Seventh Day Baptist Center in Janesville, Wis. The students have taken exams and are working on their research papers on various aspects of SDB History.

This year’s participants include (at the railing, left to right): Instructor Janet Thorngate, Historian Nick Kersten, Kevin Palmiter, Norma MacLuskie, Steven Dunn, David Stall, and Haywood Floyd. Back row: David Johnson, Helmer Umana, Dean Gordon Lawton, John Pethtel, Brent Hannah, Gus Tucker, and Dale Thorngate.

Two more weeks for Conf. Discount

Have you registered for this year's SDB General Conference? Delegates and friends will be meeting at Lancaster (PA) Bible College, July 26 thru August 1.

As of today, 277 participants have been registered on-line. That's 70 more since our last report on June 5. You can still register the "old-fashioned way" by sending in your paper forms from the May Sabbath Recorder.

Reminder: If you register on-line by June 30, each person will receive a nice discount off their Registration fees! That's two weeks from today. (The discount goes only to those registering on-line.)

Baptist scholars to be at BWA meetings

from Eron Henry, Baptist World Alliance


The Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA)--to be held in Ede, Netherlands, from July 27 to August 1--will include several leading Baptist scholars in historical theology and church history. These scholars will lead discussions on the history of Baptist witness in different regions of the world as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Baptist movement.

The first Baptist church was established in 1609 by English exiles in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said that several forums will be held to “provide critical reflections on the history of the Baptist movement” by “some of our leading Baptist scholars.”

The scholars include Timothy George, a specialist in historical theology and Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University (Alabama, U.S.), who will speak on the history of the Baptist movement in North America; Horace Russell, former President of the United Theological College of the West Indies in Jamaica and retired professor of historical theology at Palmer Theological Seminary (Pennsylvania, U.S.), who will reflect on Baptist history in the Caribbean; and Dinorah Mendez, Mexican church historian, who will assess the progress of Baptist work in Latin America.

Also leading discussions will be Peter Morden of Spurgeon’s College (London, England), who will assess the development of Baptist witness in Europe; Solomon Ishola, General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, who will examine the growth and development of Baptist work in Africa; and Ken Manley, former principal at Whitley College of the University of Melbourne in Australia, who will appraise the history of Baptist life in Asia and the Pacific.

An analysis of the Baptist contribution to social transformation will be presented by William Brackney, Director of the Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies.

A final forum will focus on efforts at peacemaking in which Baptists have played a significant part. This forum will be led by Karen Bullock, Director of the PhD program at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute (Texas, U.S.) and chair of the BWA Commission on Baptist Heritage and Identity.

Planning their Africa mission

Mark and Linda Bentz and family from Milton, Wisconsin, are preparing to serve as missionaries in Lesotho, Africa. They were mentioned in the April 2009 Sabbath Recorder, and will again be featured in the upcoming July-August issue.

These are precious Seventh Day Baptists who are leaving the comfort of home and extended family to serve the Lord with African Inland Missions. They plan to spend the next two-and-a-half years teaching, assisting in childbirth, leading Bible Studies, witnessing and caring for the people of Lesotho which lies wholly within the larger Republic of South Africa. They still need support.

You may send your checks to Africa Inland Mission, PO Box 178, Pearl River NY 10965. If you’d like to contact and encourage the Bentz family, write to mbentz@aimint.net.

Also, you can check out the following blurb about the Bentzes at the Africa Inland Mission website.

SDB Presents History Paper

G. Douglas Clarke presented a paper at the Baptist History and Heritage Society annual conference in Huntsville, Alabama, last weekend. He is the second member of the First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Alfred, N.Y., to do so in the past four years. Pastor Patricia Bancroft presented her paper in 2005, "Chosen by God: Women Pastors on the Frontiers of the Seventh Day Baptist Denomination."

Doug presented his paper "A Familial Story: Contributions of the First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Alfred, New York, to Social Justice." One of the events he described is from 1885, when a woman by the name of Lucy Barber voted in a local election. Two years later, 10 women voted, and all were indicted for voting illegally.

One of the stories that came out of that incident included "as the proceedings began, the judge ruled that before they could proceed with the trial, they must first prove that they were women. This so horrified the good men of Alfred that the charges were immediately dropped." Doug wanted to find out more.

You’ll have to wait until the September edition of the Sabbath Recorder to hear more, and we’re anxious to see if the article will be published in the Baptist History and Heritage Journal.

He Did It HIS Way

Thomas Nelson Press just sent me a notice of a new book release: “I Did It HIS Way,” a collection of religious comics from Johnny Hart’s popular “B.C.” series.

Hart (also co-creator of the “Wizard of Id” strip) delighted readers for over 50 years with his wit and humor. More than 1,600 newspapers carried his work. When he passed away the day before Easter in 2007, he was working on compiling his religious-themed strips into a book. With the hard work of his wife, Bobby, and daughter Perri, they have made this collection a reality.

Click here for a “flip book” preview.

2009 Institute is underway

This year's Summer Institute (which will end two days before summer begins) has officially commenced. All 11 students have arrived at the SDB Center in Janesville, Wisconsin, and are ready to learn about Seventh Day Baptist History.

Janet Thorngate, president of the SDB Historical Society and veteran instructor for this course, is the main teacher. Historian Nick Kersten, and Dean of the School of Ministry Gordon Lawton, are also participating.

A week's-worth of coffee has already been consumed (with lines forming outside the men's room) and it's not even noon in the Midwest!

On a serious note, please pray for our students, many of whom have left young families at home for this two-week course. Photos and updates will be forthcoming!

Registered for Conference?

Excitement is building for this year's SDB General Conference to be held at Lancaster (PA) Bible College, July 26 thru August 1.

As of this morning, 207 participants have been registered on-line. Others have done it the "old-fashioned way" by sending in their paper forms from the May Sabbath Recorder.

Reminder: If you register on-line by June 30, each person will receive a nice discount off their Registration fees!


P.S.-- Jim Skaggs was once again the FIRST ONE to register on-line this year. Woo-hoo! :)