Janesville, WI. The SDB General Conference of USA and Canada has been awarded grant funding by the Campbell University Center for Church and Community in conjunction with the Lilly Endowment, Inc. This grant comes in recognition of the existing work of local SDB churches who “are being the presence of Christ in the community.”
Announcement of this news initiates an exciting opportunity for rural Seventh Day Baptist Churches. The grant establishes a “sprint retreat” where participants will be equipped to use design thinking and asset-based community development in six different rural communities of New York and Pennsylvania. More details will be forthcoming about the dynamic team leading the sprint retreat and the specific SDB churches participating in this first-of-its-kind grant for Seventh Day Baptists.
The Campbell University Center for Church and Community collaborates with churches and clergy in small and rural towns to reach the vision God has given them for their community. The Center is driven by the understanding that thriving congregations are needed to create thriving communities. The SDB General Conference of USA and Canada consists of evangelical Baptists who hold to keeping the seventh day Sabbath of the Bible as sacred time. From their first church in America, founded in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1671, until today, Seventh Day Baptists have been a Christ-centered, Bible believing people with traditional family values.
The Campbell University Center for Church and Community also convenes and connects clergy from rural and underserved communities to develop greater internal capacities for personal growth, skill development for leadership, and strategies and tactics for connecting with community leadership. Rural SDB pastors are eligible to apply to the Rural Clergy Fellows Program.
