Feb 27, 2020
By Carl Greene, Executive Director
I grew up in the Berlin Seventh Day Baptist Church in upstate New York. There are some interesting historical pieces from my fair town of Berlin (total population less than 2,000). According to some, Berlin was the world’s leading exporter of maple sugar during World War I (amazing how sugar rationing and a railroad siding can create unique historical factoids). While both the railroad and abundance of maple sugar have long since subsided, an enduring feature of the town is the Berlin SDB Church.
I find it especially interesting how a church’s heritage can have a way of replaying itself in the present. When my family and I moved away from the Berlin Church to serve as Pastor of the Hebron (PA) SDB Church, we were intentionally sent with a mission. No doubt about it, there were tears and difficulties, but Cindy and I will be forever grateful to our church family who had encouraged and prepared us over the years. The kindness and generosity that the church showed us during the process of moving went above and beyond what we could have expected. The list is long: help packing, cleaning, and moving; generous gifts from the church, the Ladies Aid, and members of the church; the on-going guidance and mentoring offered by Pastor Matt and Ellen—I am sure there are more items that we have forgotten. We were sent out from the church to live out the mission God had called us to, thanks to the preparation we had received from our sending church.
This was a difficult season to say goodbye. The church was sending us out just a year after sending Pastor David and Jennifer Stall along with their family to Ashaway, RI. It is part of the difficult task of being a sending church. This is not my phrase—something I stole from Pastor Matt (just like most of my sermons). The idea that the Berlin Church is seeking to share the gospel and disciple new members to not just grow the local church—but to further God’s kingdom is obvious. As I have reflected on this, I am surprised by what a tradition Berlin has in this role.
I will take you back to the 1800’s—the heyday of Berlin as a town—and a time when the Berlin Church was a hopping place to be—much like today. During this time there were lots of baptisms, a lot of ministry, and lots of activity—but also a time of on-going sending. The pastor for much of this time period was the venerable William Satterlee. He was a tremendous Elder who not only pastored in Berlin, but would also oversee the development of daughter churches as people moved west from the Berlin Church. During this time period the church was also served by a total of six associate pastors, and would send out four pastors to other churches.
In addition to pastors sent, Solomon Carpenter was sent from the Berlin Church to China by the Missionary Society to start an amazing ministry there. In the world of church planting, when the Hebron Church was organized in 1833, an Elder was sent by the Berlin Church to assist in formally organizing a church covenant. That Elder, Stillman Coon, had witnessed his father pastor the Berlin Church, and was himself sent by the church on a lifetime of missional service. Stillman would go on to serve as a “pioneer evangelist,” not only organizing churches along the Allegany frontier, but eventually to the frontier of the Northwest where he would serve as the first pastor of the Milton (WI) Seventh Day Baptist Church. Apparently, it is in Berlin’s DNA to be a sending church.
This idea of a sending church is really pretty neat. The Berlin Church was directly involved in sending people to help start the church in Hebron and beyond. The Berlin Church is continuing to live out its role as a sending church today—continuing to press into the activity of planting youth groups and fellowships in places where God is inviting them to join Him in His work in the Capital District of New York as well as in Southern Vermont. The church continues to train up and prepare emerging leaders to actively advance God’s Kingdom. At the same time, the church remains faithful to continuously reach those who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own community.
I hope that you are also excited to hear about how God is at work in the communities where we as Seventh Day Baptists have sent pastors and missionaries. We, as an SDB family, are certainly grateful for the churches who are faithful in their calling as sending churches. I know that my family has been blessed by the gracious sending of the Berlin and Hebron SDB Churches. I look forward to witnessing the increase of the sending capacity of Seventh Day Baptists as our churches equip, empower, and send healthy leaders. That is a legacy well worth building upon.
