Story by Heidi Shoemaker / Photos by Hollie Macomber
Walk into Shona Macomber’s classroom at Spring Valley Academy (SVA) in Kettering, Ohio, and one is transported into an artist’s paradise: bright open space, skylights, soft music and students intently working on projects—from pastels to pottery. Inside students are overheard saying, “This is my favorite class of the week!” while others stop to admire displays outside her classroom.
Story by Heidi Shoemaker
On Wednesday June 22, the Mount Vernon Academy Board of Trustees (MVA BOT) and Ohio Conference Executive Committee (EXCOM) voted to accept bids for the purchase of Mount Vernon Academy (MVA) properties from multiple bidders. Auction bids totaled $1,595,000.
“The money will be used to reduce the debt owed by the former Mount Vernon Academy and to further Adventist Christian Education within the Ohio Conference. We are developing a new scholarship plan, ideally making it possible for many Adventist youth to receive the education they need and want,” says Ron Halvorsen Jr., Ohio Conference president.
Beth Michaels, editor of the Columbia Union Visitor, who served her Lord and the Seventh-day Adventist Church with distinction and dedication, passed away June 9 after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 44.
Michaels, who served at the union for 10 years, was named editor and associate communication director in 2014. Read more here.
Memorial Services for Beth Michaels
Story by Heidi Shoemaker
This May more than 500 people in South Africa learned about Jesus at a Rev It Up! Revival evangelistic meeting led by Tom Hughes, a pastor in the Ohio Conference.
Story by Tom Albrecht
Earlier this year, more than 60 young adults from across Ohio gathered at the Camp Mohaven Conference and Retreat Center in Dansville for the first Immersion conference where they spent the weekend actively learning to study the Bible, not passively listening to a speaker. Designed by Edward Marton, conference youth director, the event instructed attendees in the methodology of proper Biblical study. Organized into groups of eight, the study session was left to the young adults to practice what they learned.
Attendees studied the book of Joel, and leaders report that all came away with a better understanding of how to study the Bible, as well as a deeper appreciation for the book of Joel and its prophetic message.