Are You and Your Church In? – Part One

Nov 22, 2017

by Rob Appel

Executive Director

 

For over 300 years in North America, Seventh Day Baptists have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to use their gifts and resources to share His gospel. Today, we continue to advance His mission in a unique way. There are benefits of having a Conference of churches!

1. We can reach further and do more when we have a larger pot of spiritual gifts, experiences, perspectives, and resources for Kingdom work and when we are part of a family larger than just our local congregation. Through this there are shared aspects of SDB life that all of our churches experience. Pooling our experience yields a broader array of choices and options when we’re looking to do something new or do something better.
2. Our churches can connect, identify, and participate with the international community in the global mission through our shared channels of communication. There is a strong identity component — we are “part of something bigger” when we work together.
3. Our Churches can learn more if we have the “iron” of the larger body to speak into our lives and sharpen our beliefs through contact with believers that hold the same fundamental tenants, but may have approached others from a different background or perspective.
4. There’s a family/relational component in our churches —our churches, at least at their best, work and relate as a family. Those relationships can be deep and lasting, above and beyond “the work” we cooperate to do together.

Several years ago we had a monthly mailer that went out called the “Leadline.” The name was changed to “Vision 2020” in 2005 and was dropped about ten years ago.

In the Leadline/Vision 2020 there was a listing of the SDB churches and their contributions, year-to-date, to the work of the entire Conference of Churches. This was very enlightening to see where the support came from for the work of the whole. I state this history to inform you that as of this date we have 32 member churches that have not supported the work of the Conference in 2017. This does not mean that the Conference does not provide services to these churches who have not contributed. But it does show that there has been a communication glitch somewhere in the last 10 years.

So please let me communicate some of the benefits that your local church enjoys from the SDB General Conference USA & Canada. (There will be more detail in next month’s issue)

• Permission to use our trademarked logos and names

• Established procedures and practices to use as guidelines

for the operation of your local church

• Your news and events shared through our media channels

• Local church listing on seventhdaybaptist.org and annual

Directory of Churches

• FREE subscription to The Sabbath Recorder

• Help with credentialing of pastors recognized by your

local church

• Help with pastoral search

• Ability to create custodial accounts with Memorial Fund

• Scholarship opportunities for students

• Resources, experience, and programs for your church to

accomplish its mission

• SDBU: Training for lay leaders and pastors

• Seminary Education Program for those who desire further

training

• The Helping Hand in Bible Study

• Mobilization of teams for short-term mission trips

• Partnering with other like-minded churches to plant new

churches

• Regular Pastors Conference

• Annual MULTIPLY Church Development Conference for

church planters and revitalizers

• Doing things together that your local church could not do

independently