Today’s encouraging blog is written by Joyvis Henderson, an Emerging Leader from the SE Atlanta SDB Church.
In September, I had the wonderful opportunity of attending The Vital Preaching Retreat at our very own SDB Conference Center in Janesville Wisconsin. It gave me great joy and pride driving onto the premises and seeing our logo so proudly displayed out front. To many people, we are a small network of churches that they do not know much about. In contrast, it was great spending our weekend in our very own conference building. I now see it as the home of SDB.
During the Vital Preaching weekend, we were taken on a journey of our SDB history, and it was thrilling to see how every area of the conference center emitted a profound historical moment; from the scale model of the original conference center to the vault.
The vault was actually my favorite part of the tour. It was truly amazing to know we have a place housing our most precious gems such as hand written journals or 1st editions; even an original communion set used in one of our churches.
Just as every home gets a facelift every now and then, our beautiful conference center deserves one. At my visit, the inside was freshly painted and our logo looked brighter, but there is so much more work to be done. I am looking forward to our beautifully renovated building which would be open to more people to learn who we are and potentially become a part of us.
Renovation Has a Cost
The renovation that Joyvis shared about comes with a price tag. We are looking to raise $80,000 for this phase of work—and we have some key partners to help us reach that goal. Your participation matters! Here are some exciting opportunities:
Matching Funds: The SDB Memorial Fund will match, dollar for dollar, any contribution made for this work up to a total $25,000. Simply put, your gift will be doubled. You can participate on-line by clicking on this matching fund challenge link.
20 x $20 for $20,000: A generous donor has offered a lead gift of $20,000 towards this work when at least 20 people who contribute at least $20 each have participated in the campaign. Once again, your gift matters.
There is More to Come: Once we have met our matching goal and the 20 x $20 goal, we have more partners who are prepared to participate in this campaign. By working together to meet these initial goals, we will have further opportunities with generous partners. More details will follow!
Please consider participating in this initiative to encourage SDB excellence through restoring the SDB Center for leadership training. If you prefer to send a check, please send your check payable to “Seventh Day Baptist General Conference” with “Fall 2024/Center Restoration” in the memo line. The mailing address is PO Box 1678; Janesville, WI 53547.
