At the General Conference
sessions in July 2015, the
General Council shared with
all in attendance a document
called the “Vision Map.” This
document laid out for the reader
and viewer four distinct areas that the
General Council believes define and move
forward Seventh Day Baptists as we advance
God’s Kingdom. These four sides are:
Mission — The reason for our existence
Core Values — Commitments that everybody
lives by that are nonnegotiable
Focus — What is the most important thing we do
day in and day out
Culture — Society we must create to realize
our potential
For over 300 years, SDBs have been commissioned
by Jesus Christ to use their gifts and resources to share
His gospel. Today, we continue to advance His mission
in North America in a unique way. We believe that this
Vision Map generally demonstrates the way in which
God has been and will continue to work through us to
make new disciples and transform us into greater Christ-
likeness.
During the next four months I will be attempting to
explain the four sides of the Vision Map. This month
we will start with the Mission. In the Vision Map we
explained our mission in these words:
Our mission is to equip our churches to actively
advance God’s Kingdom.
Mission — The reason for our existence
The mission of the Seventh Day Baptist Conference of
the USA & Canada is to simply provide, furnish, supply,
prepare and train our people, our leaders, and our
churches to vigorously and energetically move forward
God’s Kingdom work. This means we don’t move forward
on anything that does not champion God’s
work in proceeding with the Gospel message!
Our Conference of churches has so many
talented, gifted and intelligent people in it. I
can’t help but feel that we received the lion’s
share when God was handing out blessings.
I believe that is one of the reasons that God has kept
Seventh Day Baptists around for so long…for a day just
like this!
So, what is the Conference doing for you and your local
church in these areas? I am glad you asked!
1.
Provide
— Pastoral Training, Pastoral Search,
Missions Opportunities, Website Development,
Research, Counseling and Advice.
2.
Furnish
— This magazine that you are reading, the
Sabbath Recorder
, is one of the oldest publications
of its kind. And it is free! Yes, free! And available to
all who want it!
3.
Supply
— Christian Education materials (
Helping
Hand
), Tracts, Training through Seminars, Ongoing
Pastors’ Education, Summer Institute
4.
Prepare & Train
— Pastors, Lay People, Children,
Teenagers, Young Adults through Seminary, Missions,
Schooling, Seminars, SCSC, Dedicated Service
Many of our people serve on one of our Councils, or
have served. These opportunities also help us identity
our future leaders. The Women’s Society’s program,
Summer Christian Service Corps (SCSC), also provides
this future leadership training. Many of our pastors
today have come through the SCSC program.
You see our Conference’s mission really is about equip-
ping our churches to actively advance God’s Kingdom!
This equipping ministry is to provide the tools to the
individual and to the churches that will move them for-
ward, always advancing God’s Kingdom! Some of the
advanced equipping will even help those in leadership
to sharpen their ministry tools!
SR
Executive Director
Rob Appel
SR • December 2015
21
Mission:
The reason for our existence
Next Month: Core Values
