SR • July/August 2015
19
Seventh Day Baptists have a long tradition in Christian Education.
Among our earliest emphases as a Conference of churches was
institutions and programs which fostered discipleship and spiri-
tual education. Perhaps no other single effort has had a larger
impact on our educational ministries as a Conference than the
Helping Hand
. From its first issue in 1885, the
Helping Hand
has
encouraged and guided SDBs to the Scriptures as individuals and
congregations for 131 volumes, right up to the present. Over
that span of 130+ years, the publication has changed many
things: formats, sizes, editors, contributors and subscribers.
The publication is truly an international discipleship tool, used
outside our Conference around the world to the profit of the
subscribers.
And yet, despite that success, the publication is in a position
where it must change again, or face increasing difficulties
which could threaten its existence.
As part of the transitions of the past months, several challenges
have arisen with the
Helping Hand
which the new Christian
Education Council is addressing. We want to keep the readers
of the
Recorder
(and our subscribers) in the loop.
The first challenge relates to the mailing arrangements for the
publication. We are aware that there have been some bumps in
the delivery process for the past two quarters. Those bumps were
the result of changes in our mailing processes and procedures, as
well as one gigantic failure on the part of the United States
Postal Service.
We have been working with our new mailing
company and the Postal Service to correct these issues, and we
believe we have solved this problem. We are sorry for the diffi-
culties in the past few months. We would very much like to
continue to hear from churches who do not receive their allotted
subscriptions in the coming months to make certain we have
worked out all of the difficulties in the new process.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of our subscribers
as we worked to implement this change and solve the various
issues which arose.
The second challenge relates to billing. Obviously we cannot
charge for a publication which we did not successfully deliver
to our subscribers.
We are working to bill churches and individu-
als for what they have actually received from us.
If you have a
question about your billing, please contact us!
The third challenge is wrapped up in the costs of the publication.
Our costs to produce the
Helping Hand
have increased in two
key areas (printing and postage) in the last few years. There has
been another large spike in the last two months.
As a result,
we are announcing that we will implement increased subscrip-
tion rates to the
Helping Hand
beginning with the December
2015-February 2016 issue.
For domestic subscribers, a yearly
subscription will cost $17. For international subscribers, a
yearly subscription will cost $21.
Because of this increase in printing and shipping costs,
we will
soon offer a digital distribution system for the
Helping Hand
,
both in North America and abroad. For members of the USA &
Canada Conference, we will be rolling out a digital license for
the
Helping Hand
: churches can pay for a license based on the
number of copies they expect to print, thereby saving them-
selves the shipping and mailing costs. For international sub-
scribers, we are encouraging a move to a digitally distributed
PDF file, which we can offer for free, provided that there is
agreement that it is not to be distributed. We have already
made arrangements with one sister Conference to deliver the
digital version to their Conference office for further distribution
to SDB churches, and we hope to replicate that arrangement
with other Conferences.
There is no plan to discontinue the
print version of the
Helping Hand
at this time.
We do warn
subscribers that with the rapidly changing printing and mailing
environments, more price increases for the print version seem
likely, and on an expedited time table.
Steve Osborn, who has done a remarkable job during this
sometimes challenging transitional time, remains the editor of
the publication, and he’s doing a great job producing a high
quality publication for use in your spiritual growth. He remains
committed to that task!
We realize that these necessary actions represent changes
from the established pattern, but we feel they are necessary
to secure our ability to continue to deliver the educational
content that our subscribers expect. We would welcome your
feedback about these changes, and we hope you will contact us
, or 608-752-5055) if you
have questions or concerns! We are glad to continue to fulfill
our mission of aiding Seventh Day Baptists in your walk to
maturity in Christ!
Christian Education Council
Rev. Nicholas J. Kersten
Director of Education and History
Change is the Only Constant:
Updates on the Helping Hand
SR
