Southern Tidings for 1983

little more than two-and-one-half years have passed SABBATH SCHOOL since the Southern Union Conference Session was held in Baptisms from and through the Sabbath School Biloxi, Mississippi; an event which occurs once every five 2,704 years. Perhaps it is time to pause and reflect on how the Lord 1981 3,287 is leading thus far; to examine our progress and address our 1982 challenges. Vacation Bible Schools Number Enrollment It is exciting to see that our membership has grown from 1981 153 8,083 less than 100,000 at the beginning of this quinquennium to 1982 184 9,423 nearly 110,000 July 1. We pray that the upward trend might Mission Offerings continue and even accelerate, since the 1,000 Days of Reap- $2,581,961 ing, a worldwide evangelism emphasis for Seventh-day Ad- 1981 ventists, is included within this five-year period. 1982 2,604,722 Branch Sabbath Schools Number Enrollment MEMBERSHIP 1981 103 1,431 6/30/83 1982 145 2.376 12/31/80 12/31/81 12/31/82 (6 mos) The Family of God Alabama-Mississippi 6,325 6,521 6,546 7,700 The Family of God slide-tape programs were originally Carolina 10,227 10,510 10,831 10,785 Florida 20,424 21,462 22,070 22,345 produced in 1981 for use in the Sabbath school. This pro- Georgia-Cumberland 16,962 17,471 17,521 17,632 gram has been well received and is being shown in Sabbath Kentucky-Tennessee 9,591 9,860 10,005 10,097 schools around North America. These sets are available on a South Atlantic 21,959 14,087 14,697 14,654 loan basis through your local conference Sabbath School South Central 13,698 14,626 15,614 16,274 Department. 10,551 Southeastern 9,112 10,312 Because of increased requests for expanded use by small TOTALS 99,186 103,649 107,596 109,036 groups, the series is now available in filmstrips with cas- Net Gain per year 4,463 3,947 1,144 settes programmed for automatic visual advance on either 50 or 1,000 hz. BAPTISMS AND PROFESSIONS OF FAITH The Family of God consists of 12 complete programs- 6/30/83 each filmstrip and cassette contains mood music, one world 12/30/81 12/30/82 (6 mos.) division Mission Spotlight, and one orientation program. Alabama-Mississippi 330 262 196 The Heritage series is contained in a separate notebook. Carolina 479 499 157 Churches may obtain these filmstrips through their confer- Florida 1,649 1,571 742 ence Sabbath School Department. Georgia-Cumberland 837 757 197 Kentucky-Tennessee 542 386 207 "You Can Understand the Bible," a course designed to South Atlantic 1,210 1,128 278 encourage personal Bible study has been prepared and pre- South Central 1,261 1,153 805 sented in many places. Southeastern 981 1,203 167 TOTALS 7,556 6,777 2,749 Southern Union members have expressed their devotion to God's Cause by returning their tithes and giving offerings so that, in 1982, TITHE the total tithe of the Union was 7.4 percent more than that in 1981. 1981 1982 Gain % Gain Contributions to local churches were ahead in the first six months of Alabama-Mississippi $ 2,638 750 $ 2,889,173 $ 250,423 9.5 1983 compared to 1982. Carolina 4,292,137 5,136,887 844,750 19.7 Florida 10,288,346 10,969,838 681,492 6.6 Georgia-Cumberland 8,029,350 8,173,748 144,398 1.8 Kentucky-Tennessee 3,999,227 4,193,943 194,716 4.9 South Atlantic 2,645,857 2,753,479 107,622 4.1 South Central 2,873,702 3,073,672 199,970 7.0 Southeastern 2,237,284 2,549,010 311,726 13.9 TOTALS $37,004,653 $39,739,750 $2,735,097 7.4 LOCAL CHURCH GIVING 6/30/83 12/30/81 12/30/82 (6 mos.) Alabama-Mississippi $ 1,165,477 $ 1,255,523 $ 506,787 Carolina 2,625,462 2,225,212 1,330,516 Florida 7,040,867 7,703,273 3,923,640 Georgia-Cumberland 4,350,878 4,549,183 2,281,044 Kentucky-Tennessee 2,975,080 2,658,091 1,360,858 South Atlantic 1,350,315 1,169,892 570,444 South Central 1,613,139 1,487,208 601,469 Southeastern 1,185,005 891,532 717,199 TOTALS $22,306,223 $21,939,914 $11,291,957 TWO SOUTHERN UNION At the end of 1982, there were 604 churches in the Southern Union, making it third among Seventh- day Adventist union conferences worldwide. Esti- mated value of these buildings was $106,196,485. Two new day academies have been established during this quinquennium: Atlanta Pictured is the Atlanta, Georgia, Korean church, Adventist Academy, Georgia-Cumberland Conference; and Greater Atlanta Adventist which is symbolic of the increase in ethnic congre- Academy, South Atlantic Conference. This brings the number of church-sponsored gations in recent years. Other groups include secondary schools in the Southern Union to 11. The first graduating class of GAAA is Spanish, Filipino, Haitian, and Vietnamese. As of pictured. June 30, 1983, the total number of congregations had grown to 687. Adventure Series STEWARDSHIP Each quarter three special programs for the children's The Personal Giving Plan divisions are available through your conference Sabbath The Personal Giving Plan is a comprehensive plan for School Department. The three filmstrips with cassettes in- systematic benevolence designed to help organize and clude a mission story, A Bible story, and a nature story. simplify our financial gifts to God's cause. A step beyond the These are prepared to be used during the Sabbath school 10+10+ program, it establishes minimum percentages of program. income for each area of need. A total of more than 162 YOUTH churches are on the PGP in five conferences. Baptisms among youth age 10 to 30 totaled 3,599 from The tithe returned by Southern Union members in 1982 January, 1981, to July 1, 1983. There are 529 active Adventist was 288 percent of that of 1972, a small indication of the Youth Societies (AYS), compared with 333 in 1981, with an Christian character being developed through God's plan of active membership approaching 17,000. systematic benevolence, as well as growth in membership Leadership training is a real priority of the Youth Depart- and income. ment. There are presently 443 youth leaders certified, 464 Pathfinder directors certified, 454 Master Guides —a total of PERSONAL MINISTRIES 1,361 trained leaders, and more in process. During 1982, the Personal Ministries Department was able Summer camp attendance for 1981 and 1982 totaled 7,804, to report that Southern Union members had been active in with 1,795 making decisions for Christ while at camp, and missionary work as reflected by the following statistics. 213 being baptized. Bible studies 129,588 The Pathfinder camporee in April, 1982, was the largest in Literature distributed 1,564,432 the history of the Southern Union, with 3,000 in attendance. Contacts 876,082 As a result of requests from the field, the Southern Union Persons helped 421,109 Resource Extra (SURE) was begun with nearly 100 pages for Clothing 988,646 youth leaders on leadership, nurture, and outreach. Lay efforts 553 The Union-wide Youth Ministries Convention in De- Souls won 2,566 cember, 1981, resulted in the training of 250 church youth Cash for local welfare $743,055 leaders. In gathering —1982 totals by conference were: Adventist Youth Fellowships (AYF) has been organized in Alabama-Mississippi $140,726 all eight conferences of the Southern Union, compared with Carolina 167,000 three in 1981. The result has been more involvement, out- Florida 380,583 reach, and youth baptisms, as well as a stronger youth Georgia-Cumberland 238,175 leadership. In the AYF program each conference is divided Kentucky-Tennessee 150,418 into regional areas and the churches in each region conduct South Atlantic 76,000 a youth rally quarterly. One pastor in each region functions South Central 68,400 as youth coordinator. Southeastern 68,659 TEMPERANCE TOTAL $1,289,961 The temperance director has recently completed re- quirements for the master's in public health degree from Personal Touch Loma Linda University and is also certified to teach bread- This audio-visual program from the Personal Ministries making. BreakMake classes have been conducted at camp Department is now being shown in approximately 1,200 meetings, summer camps, and the union Medical-Dental churches. The objective is that every church in North Congress. America subscribe to this quarterly program on lay witness- Temperance weekends at academies have encouraged ing in North America. Personal Touch had its beginning in campus and community health for teens. the Southern Union. Volume 77 SOUTHERN TIDINGS (USPS 507-000) Number 11 Published monthly. Second-class postage paid at Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. Subscription rate—five THREE dollars per year. POSTMASTER, send form 3579 to SOUTHERN TIDINGS, Box 849, Decatur, GA 30031. ters opening in areas where there are no churches. A new congregation has been organized with 59 members in Thonotosassa, Florida, as a result. The South Central Con- ference recently voted to purchase and equip a feeding unit. A prison ministry begun by laymen has become a major emphasis of the Alabama-Mississippi Conference, with work being done in eight prisons in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. More than 1,600 Bible studies are being given each week. PUBLISHING Literature Evangelists Sales Bible Studies Baptisms 1981 $3,270,321 6,240 297 The hotel complex at Cohutta Adventist Center, Crandall, Georgia, was 1982 $3,200,795 10,174 317 opened in 1982.

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