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Visitor News Bulletin--November 22, 2011
November 22, 2011
Maryland Governor,
Comptroller Recognize Sligo
Member Contributions
A veritable list of who’s who gathered on
November 15 to celebrate and recognize
Erwin Mack (left), a member of Potomac
Conference’s Sligo church in Takoma Park,
Md. The 120 guests attended 80-year-old
Mack’s retirement party held at
Washington Adventist University also in
Takoma Park. This marked the second time
that Mack retired from the Takoma
Langley Crossroads Development
Authority, a business association, which he founded and chaired for more than 20 years. Through that
organization Mack has lobbied for increased police surveillance, combined advertising, utility
improvements, street and pedestrian safety enhancements.
That evening Mack received several citations, certificates and recognition, including Martin O’Malley’s
Governor’s Citation for Service, comptroller Peter Franchot’s Certificate of Recognition of Service,
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s Certificate of Appreciation and Takoma Park Mayor Bruce
Williams’ Proclamation of Appreciation.
1
These sorts of recognitions don’t happen every day, asserts Kim Frum, spokesperson for the Comptroller
Office for the State of Maryland. “Erwin got a proclamation from our office simply because of his decades
of hard work to make the Takoma Langley area safer for people who work there, live there and shop
there,” she said.—Story by Taashi Rowe, photo by Gary Lunsford
READ MORE
Potomac Hispanic Youth
“Shower” Langley Park
Residents With Blessings
If you walked or drove by the parking lot
of the Takoma Park Spanish church in
Takoma Park, Md., on Sunday you would
have heard a live Christian praise team;
seen kids and kids-at-heart getting their
faces painted, taking photos with the Guide
magazine dog and singing interactive songs
while their parents selected free clothing
and food and got free immigration and
health counseling. The church is just blocks
away from Langley Park, one of the largest Spanish-speaking communities in the Washington, D.C.-area.
This was the primary reason that Moviemento Joven Adventista (MJA), Potomac Conference’s Hispanic
youth ministry, moved this annual outreach event to this location. Calling it Lluvias de Bendiciones or
Showers of Blessings, MJA started working with Spanish-speaking churches around the conference in
2004 to shower this largely poor, immigrant community with key supplies and services around the
holidays.—Story and photo by Taashi Rowe
READ MORE
Highland Adventist Students
Organize Yearlong Evangelism
Outreach
As the Parsons church, a very small
congregation located 20 miles from Elkins,
W.Va., puzzled over how best to witness to the
local community, Mountain View Conference
officers encouraged schools across the
conference to develop evangelism projects in
2
their local areas. Students and staff at the Highland Adventist School (HAS) in Elkins responded to the
challenge and worked with Parsons members to plan a 10-month evangelism cycle with health ministry as
the emphasis.
What Parson lacked in manpower, HAS had in abundance and throughout the 2010-11 school year, the
students conducted a number of outreach activities, such as a health expo, where they offered free exercise
evaluations with a physical therapist, a lecture on cancer prevention and mini health screenings. They also
offered a free, healthy lunch program to the community, contacted missing members and distributed
literature. In the spring, the students planned a weeklong revival series with a guest speaker.—Story by
Cheryl Jacko
READ MORE
Pine Forge Academy Foundation
Donates Nearly $30K
The Pine Forge Academy (PFA) Foundation
recently presented scholarships and awards to
several PFA students during Parents Weekend. In
total, the foundation awarded $12,750 to eight
students for this school year and presented a check
for $15,500 to facilitate wireless access for the
students in both dormitories. Delmas F. Campbell,
PFA principal (center) holds up the check from
Melodie Mayberry-Stewart (left), president of the
PFA Foundation, and John Grier, a benefactor and
member of the foundation’s Scholarship
Committee.—Noreena Ogidan
Mountain View Says Goodbye to
Lewisburg Member
Mountain View Conference members are
3
mourning the death of Charlie Wilson, husband of Suzan Wilson (who teaches at Greenbrier Valley
Academy in Lewisburg, W.Va.). Members of the Lewisburg church, the Wilsons have lived and worked in
that conference for over 15 years. “His love for Jesus, along with his devotion and commitment to
Christian education, was evident in the many hours of service he gave volunteering his time and energy
with Mountain View schools and on mission trips,” said Larry Boggess, conference president. “We look
forward to the glorious day when Christ will wipe away every tear.”—Story by Monica Zill
Metropolitan Church
Mobile App
Launches
Allegheny East Conference’s
church in Hyattsville Md., just
Metro Mobile App for the iPhone,
iPad. This makes it easy for anyone
listen or watch sermons anywhere
Metropolitan
launched the
Android and
with the app to
anytime.
“We expect this
said Joel Sam,
already seeing
family and
non-Christians
advent message
app to be a huge tool for evangelism,”
one of the app’s developers. “We are
members share it with their friends,
coworkers, ultimately introducing
and non-Adventists to the beautiful
that they might never hear otherwise.”
Click here to download the app for
iPad, and click here to download the
Android platform.
your iPhone or
app for the
4
Andrews Study Bible Goes Digital
The Andrews Study Bible, a product of Seventh-day Adventist
scholars working with Andrews University (Mich.), is now
available in a popular digital format, readily accessible for
computers and mobile electronic devices.
Niels-Erik Andreasen, Andrews University president, said the
Andrews Study Bible is available as a digital product through a
partnership between the church-owned school and Logos Bible
Software, the largest developer of software for the Christian
market and a worldwide leader in multilingual electronic
publishing.
The digital edition, officially released on October 10, is available
for all major computer operating systems, making it accessible on
standard desk-based and mobile computers and devices, including
Apple, Inc.’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as Androidbased smartphones and tablets.—Story by Keri Suarez, Andrews University/Adventist Review
READ MORE in the Adventist Review
Columbia Union Members in the News
The Burlington (N.J.) church: Thanksgiving comes early in Burlington City
The Ephesus church in Richmond: South Side church feeds the hungry
UPCOMING EVENTS
December 2: Metro Area Adventist Young Adults (MAAYA) invites all to attend
First Fridays on December 2 at 7:30 p.m. for a multicultural praise and worship and testimony agape feast.
This month’s First Friday will be held at the Community of Hope church located at 580 University
Boulevard in Silver Spring, Md. For more information, contact Randy Preston at (240) 461-0109 or Trevor
Fraser at (301) 384-4201.
December 3: The Frederick church presents “Amahl and the Night
5
Visitors.” This benefit concert for wounded warriors will feature the church’s Christmas choir and
orchestra and members of La Camerata Nouve. Francisco de Araujo is producing and directing this
performance. U.S. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett will serve as the honorary host. There will be two
showings, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. at 6437 Jefferson Pike in Frederick, Md. For more information, call the church
office at (301) 662-5254.
December 3: Spencerville Adventist Academy’s Fourth Annual Messiah
Sing-along will be held 4 p.m. at the Spencerville church located at 16325 New Hampshire Avenue in
Silver Spring, Md. Participants must have their own music. For more details, contact Jane Lanning by
email at [email protected] or call (301) 421-9101.
December 3: All are invited to enjoy Highland View Academy’s Annual
Christmas Concert. The select choir, orchestra and bell choir will praise the Lord in song at the
Highland View church in Hagerstown, Md., at 4:30 p.m. This year the freewill offering will go toward a
trip to Russia for the young musicians to perform in Moscow and Kiev and to visit an orphanage in the
Ukraine.
December 4: Sligo Adventist School presents their first Business and Craft Showcase at their Takoma
Park, Md., campus. The hours are 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. For more information, call (301) 434-1417 or visit
www.sligoadventistschool.org/parentresources.html.
December 6: Frederick Adventist School’s Handbell Choir will be performing a
Christmas concert for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Holiday Survivors Tree Lighting at the
National Emergency Training Center located in Emmittsburg, Md. Following the performance, survivors
can remember firefighters with an ornament on the National Fallen Firefighters Holiday Tree. For more
information email Teresa Kelchner at [email protected].
December 16: Frederick Adventist School invites you to their “Luke's
Story” Christmas pageant at 7 p.m. at the Frederick church. Come be part of when God sent
His precious Son to become a tiny baby in a stable in Bethlehem, in poverty and simplicity. For more
information, email [email protected] or visit www.frederickadventistschool.org.
December 16, 17: Shenandoah Valley Academy’s Annual Christmas
Concert Weekend will feature the Shenandoans, handbell choir, orchestra and concert choir. The
first performance will be the Christmas Candlelight Concert at New Market church on Friday, December
16, 7:30 p.m. The following evening, December 17, these same groups will perform a secular Christmas
Concert at SVA’s gymnasium, 6:30 p.m. A freewill offering will be taken for the “Support the Arts” fund
6
at SVA. All are invited to come and be blessed! For more information, visit
shenandoahvalleyacademy.org.
December 17: Miracle Temple’s 17th Annual Christmas Cantata will be held
during the divine worship service and will feature the sanctuary choir and symphony orchestra. For more
information, visit miracletemple.net.
For more news and up-to-date information from the Columbia Union Conference, visit columbiaunion.org
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http://www.columbiaunion.org/article.php?id=898
Maryland Governor, Comptroller Recognize Sligo
Member Contributions
Story by Taashi Rowe; Photos by Gary Lunsford
Published 11/22/11
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A veritable list of
who’s who gathered
on November 15 to
celebrate and
recognize Erwin
Mack, a member of
Potomac
Conference’s Sligo
church in Takoma
Park, Md. Some
guests attended
80-year-old Mack’s
retirement party
held at Washington
Adventist University
also in Takoma
Park. This marked
the second time that
Peter Franchot (right), Maryland comptroller, presents the Certificate of
Mack retired from
Recognition of Service to Erwin Mack.
the Takoma Langley
Crossroads Development Authority, a business association, which he founded and chaired for
more than 20 years. Through that organization Mack lobbied for increased police surveillance,
combined advertising, utility improvements, and street and pedestrian safety enhancements.
Mack was probably best known for his efforts to make the University Boulevard/New Hampshire
intersection safer for pedestrians. When State Farm insurance company named those streets the
third most dangerous intersection in the state and several people died there, he founded a multijurisdictional pedestrian committee that pushed for and succeeded in securing millions of dollars
in pedestrian safety improvements in that area.
During the retirement party, Mack received several citations, certificates and recognition, including
Martin O’Malley’s Governor’s Citation for Service, comptroller Peter Franchot’s Certificate of
Recognition of Service, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s Certificate of Appreciation
and Takoma Park Mayor Bruce Williams’ Proclamation of Appreciation.
These sorts of recognitions don’t happen everyday, asserts Kim Frum, spokesperson for the
Comptroller Office for the State of Maryland. “Erwin got a proclamation from our office simply
because of his decades of hard work to make the Takoma Langley area safer for people who work
there, live there and shop there,” she said.
Mack said he was humbled by these recognitions. “I'm just grateful that it appears that my work
not only has been appreciated, but has made a positive difference in the areas of my influence,”
he said.
Although officially retired, Mack will continue to serve as the chair of Montgomery County’s
Pedestrian, Bicycle and Traffic Safety Committee for a two terms.
11/22/2011 2:03 PM
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Family members surround Erwin Mack and his wife, Sylvia.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland state senator, presents Mack with a Resolution for
Service.
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Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
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http://www.columbiaunion.org/article.php?id=897
Potomac Hispanic Youth “Shower” Langley Park
Residents With Blessings
Story by Taashi Rowe
Published 11/21/11
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If you walked or
drove by the
parking lot of the
Takoma Park
Spanish church in
Takoma Park, Md.,
yesterday you
would have heard a
live Christian praise
team; seen kids and
kids-at-heart getting
their faces painted,
taking photos with
the Guide magazine
dog and singing
interactive songs;
while their parents
selected free
clothing and food and got free immigration and health counseling. As people chatted happily with
the young people who staffed the giveaway stations and with each other the atmosphere was
certainly festive. Located at the corner of University Boulevard and Caroll Avenue, the church is
just blocks away from Langley Park, one of the largest Spanish-speaking communities in the
Washington, D.C.-area.
This was the primary reason that Moviemento Joven Adventista (MJA), Potomac Conference’s
Hispanic youth ministry, moved this outreach event to this location. Calling it Lluvias de
Bendiciones or Showers of Blessings, MJA started working with Spanish-speaking churches
around the conference in 2004 to shower this largely poor, immigrant community with key supplies
and services around the holidays. Other partners included Catholic Charities and a local
supermarket.
“This is a key corner for us. We know that people need these services. Some live four families in
one apartment and many don’t have work especially during this time of the year,” said Eliasib
Fajardo, the conference’s assistant youth director for Hispanic Ministries. He also pastors
Potomac’s Arlington Spanish, the Metro NOVA Spanish and Sterling Spanish churches in Virginia.
“We want to show people that Jesus Christ is real,” he said.
Download
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Calendar
2011
11/22/2011 2:04 PM
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Columbia, MD 21045
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Tel: (301) 596-0800
Fajardo noted that 99 percent of the staff showing Christ’s love on Sunday were young people like
Tatiana Escobar, 15, a member of Langley Park Spanish church. “This is my way of giving back to
the community,” she said as she folded clothing. “I notice that people take a lot so there is
definitely a need.”
For Maria, who contemplated a pair of shoes for her son, she had multiple needs met that day but
the most important was getting her blood pressure checked. “I’m taking some medication for it so
it’s good to know the medication is working,” she said happily.
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Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
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http://www.columbiaunion.org/article.php?id=896
Highland Adventist School Leads Yearlong
Evangelism Outreach
Story by Cheryl Jacko
Published 11/21/2011
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2011
As the Parsons
church, a very small
congregation
located 20 miles
from Elkins, W.Va.,
puzzled over how
best to witness to
the local
community,
Mountain View
Conference’s
officers encouraged
schools across the
conference to
develop evangelism
projects in their
local areas.
Students and staff
at the Highland
Adventist School
(HAS) in Elkins responded to the challenge. During the 2010-11 school year, they worked with
Don Jacko, pastor of the Parsons and Elkins churches, and Parsons members to plan a 10-month
evangelism cycle with health ministry as the emphasis.
Mountain View Conference and the Parsons church provided financial and other support for the
program. The students and staff planned and staffed the various events. What Parson lacked in
manpower, HAS had in abundance and throughout the year, the students conducted a number of
outreach activities, such as a health expo, where they offered free exercise evaluations with a
physical therapist, a lecture on cancer prevention and mini health screenings. They also offered a
free, healthy lunch program to the community, contacted missing members and distributed
literature. In the spring, the students planned a weeklong revival series with a guest speaker.
Several guests joined the students and church members for the series.
Students expressed satisfaction with the program and several mentioned the positive experiences
they had during the year. “I really enjoyed visiting with a man in the community who believes in
the Sabbath,” Alex Engelkemier said. “We found him when we were distributing literature door to
door throughout town.”
Parsons church members were also pleased and appreciated the results of the initiative. “I see
the yearlong evangelism program as a success,” Jacko said. “The members are energized and
church attendance has increased. We have made several new friends in the Parsons community.”
11/22/2011 2:06 PM
Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
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Visitor News Bulletin Archives
2012 Calendar of Offerings
2012 Columbia Union
Pathfinder Camporee
5427 Twin Knolls Road
Columbia, MD 21045
Tel: (410) 997-3414
Tel: (301) 596-0800
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11/22/2011 2:06 PM
Adventist Review : 31 CN: Andrews Study Bible Goes Digital
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http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=4879
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Notes available for Windows, Mac computers, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices
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BY KERI SUAREZ, Andrews University
he Andrews Study Bible, a product of Seventh-day Adventist scholars working with Andrews University, is now
available in a popular digital format, readily accessible for computers and mobile electronic devices.
Niels-Erik Andreasen, Andrews University president, said the Andrews Study Bible is available as a digital
product through a partnership between the church-owned school and Logos Bible Software, the largest developer of
software for the Christian market and a worldwide leader in multilingual electronic publishing.
Logos offers the largest digital library for theological and biblical study, with more than 9,000 titles from more than 100
publishers. It has long offered a digital edition of The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary on its software platform
as well.
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“Andrews University Press, with the Andrews Study Bible, is now part of that impressive roster,” Andreasen said. “We’re
pleased to work with Logos Bible Software, because the company has established itself as a leader in providing digital
reference and resource material to the Christian world. Logos was a natural choice for helping us obtain an efficient and
user-friendly way to make the Andrews Study Bible available for the new generations of Bible students who are
comfortable with—and even demanding—digital resources.”
ADVENTIST WORLD
KIDSVIEW
SEARCH
The digital edition, officially released on October 10, 2011, is available for all major computer operating systems,
making it accessible on standard desk-based and mobile computers and devices, including Apple, Inc.’s iPhone, iPad,
and iPod Touch, as well as Android-based smartphones and tablets.
“We’re excited about the powerful and user-friendly functionality of this new digital edition from Logos Bible Software,”
said Erno Gyeresi, associate director of Andrews University Press and managing editor of the Andrews Study Bible
product line. “We believe users will be highly impressed with how their reading experience can be customized to their
preferences, the automatic tracking between the New King James Version text and the Andrews Study Bible Notes, and
the speed and specificity of search functions, Gyeresi said.
“Because it operates on many platforms and has effective synchronizing functions, users can use the same purchased
product on all their registered computers and devices. We’re also particularly pleased with how the software handles
the unique linked reference system in the study notes highlighting the great themes of Scripture—a hallmark feature of
the Andrews Study Bible.”
Gyeresi said that new Logos Bible Software customers will want to purchase the complete package of the Andrews
Study Bible, along with the New King James Version of the Bible. The package retails for $39.95. Current Logos
customers who already have the New King James Version from Logos in their digital library will need to buy only the
Andrews Study Bible Notes product, which includes all original content in the Andrews Study Bible. That retails for
$29.95. Information can be found online at www.logos.com/ andrewsstudybible.
Software Brings Adventist Scholarship to Your Hand
The arrival of the Andrews Study Bible Notes on the Logos platform means Seventh-day Adventists with access to
handheld technology will have one of the church’s best Bible study resources in the palm of their hand.
Using the notes is easy, especially on the iPad, where both notes and text are synchronized: enter a Scripture
reference in the Bible pane, and the notes will reflect that selection.
The quality of the notes in the Andrews Study Bible is without peer for Adventist readers. The scholarship is top-notch,
yet the notes themselves are easy to follow and understand. But instead of a three-pound book to carry, it all fits in your
iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android device. There’s only one word for that: neat!
11/22/2011 2:07 PM
Adventist Review : 31 CN: Andrews Study Bible Goes Digital
2 of 2
http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=4879
—News editor Mark A. Kellner has reviewed technology products since 1983 and is the author of God on the Internet,
among other books.
Copyright © 2011, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide. Online Editor: Carlos Medley.
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11/22/2011 2:07 PM
Thanksgiving comes early in Burlington City - phillyBurbs.com : Burlin...
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http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/...
By Jeannie O’Sullivan Staff writer | Posted: Thursday, November 17, 2011 5:45 am
BURLINGTON CITY — For the second year, two congregations joined forces to provide an early Thanksgiving to dozens
of needy people.
Members of the Burlington Seventh-Day Adventist Church cooked and served a traditional turkey meal at the
Burlington Quaker Meetinghouse and Conference Center on High Street on Wednesday.
Apron-clad volunteers smiled and dished up the buffet while folks of all walks of life dug into the holiday feast and
peeked into gift bags filled with toiletries and other essentials. Medical screenings and chair massages, new features
this year, were also part of the package.
Friends Rose Bickle and Jounita McHugh were impressed.
“Everything was delicious,” said Bickle, of Burlington Township, adding that she’d gotten her blood sugar tested.
McHugh, of Lumberton, just stuck to the savory cuisine.
“If I’d have gotten a chair massage, I’d have fallen asleep,” she said.
The meal was made possible by $3,000 collected from Adventist members and 25 cheesecakes donated by Mother’s
Kitchen, a bakery on Veterans Drive. The spacious dining room and professional kitchen at the meetinghouse served
as the ideal venue.
Adventist Pastor Daniel Duffis worked the room, grinning and taking candid digital photos. Duffis said the community
meal carries out the helping-hands vision of the church, which has operated on Conover Street for 120 years.
“We think this is really reaching out. For some people, it’s the only Thanksgiving they’ll get,” he said.
Duffis said that unlike corporate-funded charities, the meal was paid entirely by donations from the church’s 75
members.
They also gave freely of manpower. Event coordinator Marilyn Mapp of Burlington Township said 25 volunteers,
including teenagers, helped prepare and serve the meal, and that a committee was assigned to take care of shopping
for the food and getting the word out.
“My brothers and sisters at church are really, really good. A major difference this year is the youth involvement,” said
Mapp, a church member for nine years.
Attendance was down from last year’s 200 visitors, likely because of the rainy weather, she said.
Still, nothing went to waste as the servers switched from serving hot plates to packing the extras in to-go boxes.
The Meetinghouse and Conference Center, which has lodging space in addition to cooking and dining facilities,
frequently hosts traveling groups and other nonprofits of different faiths. Center director Carol Strawson spoke of the
excitement that preceded the much-needed brunch.
“People were knocking on the door yesterday, asking about it,” Strawson said. “It’s really wonderful.”
11/22/2011 2:07 PM
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http://www2.timesdispatch.com/lifestyles/2011/nov/21/tdmet01-south-side-church-feeds-the-hungryar-1473280/
Published: November 21, 2011
Home / lifestyles / faith_values /
By Jeremy Slayton
The line began to form outside Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church on Sunday about 5:30 a.m., even
before many of the volunteers arrived.
1 of 2
11/22/2011 2:10 PM
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For some, the visit to the house of worship on Midlothian Turnpike in South Richmond may be their only
chance for a Thanksgiving meal.
The church's gym was converted into a food pantry, tables stacked neatly with flour, turkey, cake mix and all
the ingredients needed to make a Thanksgiving meal complete.
Before the gathered crowd of nearly 150 people was able to pick food from the tables, Pastor Cecil Williams
acknowledged that the need of the community exceeds the resources the church has to help everyone.
But, he told the crowd, it's a blessing to be able to help those they can.
Williams said more people are in need because of the economic downturn and the unemployment that comes
with it.
"We see individuals more and more these days that have needs for basic necessities," he said before the food
pantry opened. "Our community services department has developed relationships and ties where they can
generate large amounts of food."
It was a special day for the church members and volunteers, one in which they were able to give back. Smiles
were present on their faces despite the long, hard work to pull off the Thanksgiving feeding program.
"God provides for us," said Norma Foster, director of the church's community service department who
oversees the Thanksgiving food pantry. "He's in charge of this whole program, and I'm working under him."
Dr. Sharon Joseph, an internist and pediatrician with Bon Secours in Powhatan County, donated money to
help the church buy some of the food items for people to take to feed their families.
She also volunteered her time helping to help distribute the items. For her, she said, it was a way to reach out
to the community in a meaningful way.
As Williams looked over the gym, taking stock of the food and people, he said the Thanksgiving food pantry
is the church's largest ministry.
It's also one the church wants to continue and grow to make a difference for more people.
"As you can see, it touches a lot of people. That alone makes it very important to us," he said. "This is the
only ministry we have that is touching as many lives as it does."
Richmond Times-Dispatch © Copyright 2011 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company.
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11/22/2011 2:10 PM