Mar 21, 2014
Some Things I Will Miss
by Kevin Butler
The reminiscing continues as my June 30 end date looms.
While I probably won’t regret giving up the constant deadlines and myriad of Conference responsibilities, I will certainly miss the people.
I’ve enjoyed some good relationships with Center employees, with fellow members of the Coordinating Leadership Team (other execs), the General Council, and so many members of our local SDB churches.
My biggest assistance came from members of the American Sabbath Tract and Communication Council, the agency of the Conference that hired me. During my first few years, Neil Aiken chaired the TCC. The next 20 years we were under the steady and loyal leadership of Joel Osborn. Thanks, guys!
The Tract Council consists of at-large members elected by the Conference, plus appointed committees to work on media, publications, Sabbath promotion and the Sabbath Recorder. We have been blessed with top-notch people.
I am so grateful for the outstanding work of the Sabbath Recorder Committees. Myrna Cox chaired the group comprised of members from our Colorado churches in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs. The committee then moved to the Pacific Northwest with Dave and Doreen Davis taking the reins. Members came from Seattle, Portland and Centralia. Jean Jorgensen then said ‘yes’ to chairing the committee of folks from Nortonville, Kan., and North Loup, Neb. And the most recent committee was from the southeast (Atlanta area and Paint Rock, Ala.) with another set of married co-chairs, Jeff and Debbie Hargett.
Each of these committees reviewed and critiqued the past year’s issues, then would forge ahead to propose new themes and suggest SDB writers. In the latter years, committee members did much of the soliciting and dealt with the deadlines.
Did we always follow the planned calendar? “Life” would creep in on the writers and I’d have to scramble to come up with different features. Sometimes, “life” (and death) would descend on the world at large and we would need to respond. The first and second Gulf Wars preempted our original schedule. We ran a whole tribute—and surprise—issue for Historian Don Sanford at his retirement, thankfully not waiting until after his passing.
One more unplanned issue bears mentioning. With the nation still numb from the collapse of the Twin Towers, I knew we needed to address the terrorist attacks of September 2001.
Pastor Jeanne Yurke had been in touch with a church attendee who worked at the World Trade Center in New York City. Thanks to “something” (or Someone) putting a pain in her stomach, Cleo LaTouche decided not to go the office on the morning of September 11. She agreed to be interviewed for an article.
That emotional phone interview was my most memorable. We talked, we cried, we prayed together. I’ve never pretended to be a hard-nosed journalist. (BIG-nosed, yes!) But at that moment, I was one SDB connecting with another, attempting to convey the comfort of God while allowing an important story to be told.
That, I will miss.
