Faithpoints: E-Update from the Ohio Conference 🙏

News and information from around the Ohio Conference

Ohio Conference Students Prepare for Third Annual Geography Challenge

Richard A. Bianco, Superintendent of Schools

It is hard to believe that we are just around the corner from the third annual Ohio Conference Geography Challenge.

During the first year, the event was held at Mount Vernon Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School (MVE). Last year the event was held at Eastwood Junior Academy. This year’s challenge, which will take place on Thursday, February 20 , will be hosted by Worthington Adventist Academy and their amazing team.

You may be asking yourself, “what exactly is the ‘Geography Challenge?’” Well, since you asked, here you go: it is an event where all Ohio Conference schools have an opportunity to send up to two students per each grade group (comprised of Grades 1-4, Grades 5-8, and Grades 9-12), to show off their skills and knowledge in the area of geography. This focus this year is on the United States and its territories.

Topics can range from capital cities, shapes of states, national parks, major historical events, populations, waterways, landforms, and so much more. We are live-streaming again this year via the Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Education Facebook page.

Stay tuned for more details and be sure to “like” our page so you will have access to view this event. Thank you all for your support of our young people. We all appreciate it very much.

Springfield First & New Carlisle Focus on Healthier Living

By Pastor Michael Stough II, Springfield First, Delaware and New Carlisle District

As 2019 drew to a close, members at Springfield First began asking questions about living and eating healthier. In planning for 2020, it seemed like the right time to begin a focus on health. Besides just the need which many have in living healthier, other members suffer from dairy and gluten allergies, to heart disease and diabetes, and even more serious diseases like celiac and cancer.

On a raining Sabbath afternoon in January, Heidi Shoemaker, Ohio Conference Communication and Women’s Ministries director, spent several hours presenting Clean Eating. She focused not only on healthy recipes made from easy to find ingredients, but also highlighted the issues with many of the processed foods we eat.

Showing the list of ingredients found in U.S. based foods, versus European fare, one participant noted, “I already knew there was a larger amount of added ingredients in American foods, but when you see much of the processed food carrying two to three times the number of ingredients, it’s rather shocking.” Besides these added chemicals, it was shown how much the American food industry relies on artificial dyes and highly processed sugars, like Red #5 food dye and high-fructose corn syrup, versus beet juice and turmeric for coloring and the regular sugar found in European foods.

Monday evenings for the next several weeks are seeing Love Your Heart cooking classes, by Janelle McGregor, continuing to emphasize how it does not take much more time to prepare healthy meals from scratch. This class will become a monthly feature on the district’s calendar starting in March, meeting at Springfield First, the second Monday’s of each month at 6:30 PM. So those in the area are welcome to come.

Another addition was made to fellowship meals. Because so many people are trying to watch what they eat, whether it be from lifestyle choices, to food allergies, to medical conditions, a voluntary labelling system is taking place at fellowship meals. Small signs similar to many restaurant menus, indicate whether something is gluten-free, vegan, low-carb, dairy-free, spicy or contains nuts to help those attending fellowship meals know how a particular food item will affect their systems.

No matter where you are at in your health journey, it really doesn’t take much to beginning living healthier lives today.

Seventh-day Adventist Church:

Updated Brand Guidelines

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was born out of the Millerite movement of the 1840s, and we enjoy a certain amount of name recognition. But do people really know what is behind our name, who we are, and what we stand for?

A recent audit revealed that we could benefit from greater consistency in church identity and branding among our departments and entities, including churches, conferences, and unions. Congregationalism can split the church into individual, unrelated sub-groups. When these sub-groups show no association with the church in their marketing materials, two things happen: the opportunity to appear unified is lost, and our visual disconnection is perceived as unreliability.

In a word, our brand is weakened. To change this perception, we must all work together to properly brand all touch points—including connections between entities—to strengthen our overall brand.

Here’s how you can help create awareness:

Consistently use the NAD’s unified branding—in visual identity and messaging.
Clearly show the relationship between the church and its departments and entities by properly branding all touch points.
Whenever possible, educate the public, our members, and employees about the services the church offers, in North America and worldwide.

Consistency and awareness are vital in effectively communicating our unity, making the Seventh-day Adventist Church more recognizable to the public.

Read more from the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists

Wondering where to begin?

The North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists has helped to develop a brand strategy to help create awareness. Our updated logo (in English, Spanish and French) , colors, fonts, and even church signage templates and schematics are available for free online .

Much like the globally recognized brands of Apple or Nike, our Adventist Church has a global identity which has been adopted by the North American Division, the Columbia Union Conference as well as the Ohio Conference.

Questions about our church brand? Contact Heidi A. Shoemaker, communication director, at 740.397.4665, ext 128 or email hshoemaker @ohioadventist.org.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. — Aristotle

One Sabbath. One Drill. A Safer Church.

All churches throughout North America are encouraged to hold an annual safety drill during Safety Sabbath. The official date of the next Safety Sabbath is March 28, 2020 .

Click here to enroll your church

Tithes & Offerings

What are tithe and offerings?

The holy scriptures teach us that a tithe, or a tenth of our income, is holy unto the Lord. Unlike freewill offerings, a tithe is Biblically mandated to be 10%. It is that portion that He has reserved for himself. In ancient times this meant 10% of one’s crops or herds. Today, it is a tenth of our income, or in the case of a business, a tenth of the profit. God has given us clear directions as to the use of the tithe. It is to be devoted to the support of those who are bearing God’s message of mercy to the world. These are the pastors, evangelists, Bible teachers, and administrators. Without members giving a faithful tithe, the means for supporting the work would be crippled. No single congregation could fulfill the great commission to take the good news to all the world. But as churches work together God blesses their united efforts.

How is your tithe money used?

The tithe dollar starts its journey from your local church and is first sent to your local conference. From there, a portion goes to the local union and then on to the North American Division and the General Conference where it is dispersed world-wide to support gospel workers everywhere including the General Conference itself.

The tithing system is beautiful in its simplicity and equality. Every man, woman, and child may become a treasure for the Lord—a shareholder in God’s work on Earth.

Click to read more about stewardship, tithing, and where your offering goes

*Content courtesy the NAD Stewardship Department

Photo of the Week

Have you been to Camp Mohaven lately?

Chances are, it's not how you remember. Camp manager, Carrie Brown, and her team at Mohaven have been hard at work over the fall and holiday season making improvements to the camp and getting it ready for 2020.

Pictured above is a "before" and "after" of one of the cabins, now freshly sealed and painted. Other improvements include the cleaning and organization of the kitchen, which recently had a new dishwasher installed. The lodge rooms have also been spruced up and now include linens, basic toiletries, and even some newly acquired lamps.

Mohaven continues to make a difference in their Danville community through their PELIA (Positive Equine Learning in Action) program as well as their Trailblazers 4H club. Another of the goals the team has for 2020 is to have the volleyball court ready for summer.

Follow the Camp Mohaven Facebook page for regular updates.