Story by Helene Riggs
“It doesn’t matter if the goal is completely met, but it does matter that there is a goal,” said Delthony Gordon, pastor of the Beavercreek church, as he presented the conference wide “2023 Initiative” to the church board in May 2021.
Gordon shared the idea of 2,023 Ohio baptisms by the year 2023 and challenged the board to set a baptismal goal for their church. After discussion, they unanimously picked 21 baptisms and extended the challenge to each ministry of the church.
Story by Christina Keresoma
God gives us open communication with Him through prayer. It’s our lifeline to Him. He even gives us different ways to enter these conversations with Him: praying the scriptures, prayer walks, prayer journals, prayer through song and worship, personalizing scripture, and group prayer. As a faith-based organization, our physicians, nurses, and employees can openly pray with each other, patients, and visitors.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we know prayer works. Physicians pray with patients before surgery, seeking God’s hand through the procedure and the patient’s healing. Environmental staff pray with patients in recovery rooms.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
This past weekend, the Ohio Conference Hispanic Ministries Department welcomed 155 new members to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. "No one I have spoken to has a memory of us ever baptizing this many people in a single day," says Bob Cundiff, conference president. "As such we feel it is an unprecedented event in our territory."
Editorial by Bob Cundiff
Not too many people have heard the story I’m about to share with you. When the pandemic broke in Spring 2020, many conference administrators contacted the North American Division asking for counsel on how to continue ministry in the new economic fabric brought on by COVID-19.
During the recent Columbia Union Conference Executive Committee meeting, Rubén A. Ramos reported that second-and-third generations of immigrant families are seeking more services in English so they can worship in English rather than their parents’ native languages.
Ohio Conference’s Columbus Ghanaian church recognized this need and recently created a service in English.