May 28, 2019
By Leanne Lippincott-Wuerthele
Assistant Editor, 1982-2014
I’m pleased to write this article for the SR and offer my congratulations on the denomination’s 175th birthday. First, I’d like to mention some background information regarding myself:
I wasn’t born an SDB but became one through my marriage to Dennis Lippincott. After marrying Denny, I moved from Milton, WI, to his hometown of Dodge Center, MN. While there, I was baptized by immersion, thus becoming a “Christian donut.”‘ (I was sprinkled as an infant and dunked as an adult.) I joined the Dodge Center SDB Church after moving to Iowa in 1976.
We moved to Wisconsin in 1979, and I ended up joining the Milton SDB Church shortly after Denny’s death in a 1983 plane crash.
As the new Art Director at the SDB Center in Janesville in 1982, I was blessed beyond measure. I worked with a staff of wonderful, caring Christians in an atmosphere free of backbiting and profanity. A weekly chapel session on the Center’s second floor gave me additional support and encouragement when I suddenly became a young widow with two children to raise.
That little “mad money” job initiated in July of 1982 slowly developed into a full-time job, allowing flexible family time during the transition. I eventually became the SR’s Assistant Editor and, in 1990, I began receiving vacation, healthcare, and retirement benefits. I literally shed tears of joy and relief at the news.
The SDB denomination has been blessed with awesome pastors and employees since its earliest days, and that blessing has never waned.
During my 26 years at the SDB Center, I worked with two awesome SR editors: D. Scott Smith (for about eight years) and Rev. Kevin Butler (for about 18 years). Both have my lifelong admiration for putting up with me, and I offer my sincerest apologies for any gray hairs that resulted from working with me.
Some of my cherished coworkers are now holding chapel meetings in heaven. They include Ivan FitzRandolph, Rev. Paul and Miriam Osborn, Rev. Michael Burns, John Vergeer, Rev. Don Sanford, Rev. Rodney Henry, and my good friend, Rosie Geske.
Over the years, SR printing technologies grew by leaps and bounds. In preparing each Sabbath Recorder for publication, I initially used hot wax, a one-line VariTyper, another machine for “developing” type, a darkroom for photo work, sheets of Amberlith (to add shades of color), and X-acto blades. Both Scott and Kevin bought me Band-Aids® by the bulk, but I miraculously needed stitches only once.
The rapid transition of SDB printing technology from the dinosaur age to the space age is mind-boggling: from setting lead type in New Jersey to clicking a computer ‘mouse’ in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
The world of Seventh Day Baptists is about historical roots in England and the Eastern United States. It’s also about buildings and people, courage in the face of adversity, and faith in basic SDB beliefs that often run contrary to those held by others. However, I believe love is the overwhelming tenet and characteristic of SDBs—love for their fellowman, and love for God and His Redeeming Son.
As I stated earlier, I accepted the Art Director job on a whim. I didn’t have any idea it would literally change my life. As a widow, I didn’t have to go job hunting; I already had one. And “Workers’ Comp” helped support me during those early years of part-time work.
Several years after Denny died, I came across a letter from Scott officially offering me the Art Director job. Denny’s plane crashed on June 30, 1983, and that letter was dated June 30, 1982. One year, to the exact date, of my husband’s death.
A weird coincidence? I think not. In many ways, God has blessed me through Seventh Day Baptists throughout my entire life.
