Report of the
Board of Publication and Printing
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1
God is interested in declaring His glory. He does it in very obvious ways. If we look to the sky, the vast reaches of the Milky Way galaxy, and beyond we see the recounting of His glory over and over and over. God’s glory is rehearsed in so many ways we cannot count them. It is the same way on earth. God’s honor, dignity, and riches are proclaimed everywhere we can look on our planet. Repeatedly they are rehearsed in all our senses. Our five senses become the doorways through which we begin to comprehend the true extent of the greatness of God. Begin is all we can do, however, because the job is too prodigious for our relatively weak minds.
We who know God in Christ see obvious reasons to exalt our living God. Most of the world does not. They need to be told. We need to tell them. John Piper in his excellent volume Let the Nations Be Glad affirms this. Evangelism, more accurately, discipling the nations, will result in greater glory going to God because there will be more people to praise him. It is imperative that the church publish its message. We need to “publish glad tidings” as the old hymn reminds us. Not to do so is disobedience of the highest order. Undergirding everything the church does to reach those outside the church requires a supportive framework of unity. The church must have a unified and informed testimony. Communication is fundamental. We hope the efforts of our board have resulted in increased communication among us. We desire to do our job better, because we believe the better we do our job, the better will be cooperation and understanding among the churches, agencies and leadership. Please inform us how we can do better. It has been the Board of Publications and Printing’s privilege to serve you.
This year, for the first time, we are making the complete up-to-date Faith & Order and the most recent Yearbook available together on one compact disc, thus adding a whole new dimension of usefulness to both volumes. You may order at the Board Of Publication and Printing table and/or on the order blank.
Also, this year we have added another issue of Fellowship News, bringing the total to eleven a year. Your positive comments encourage us to maintain and improve quality. Thanks! Why not distribute copies of Fellowship News to your people as they come in your building. Or ask greeters, or teens, or anyone else to hand them to people as they leave the building. Send copies to college students, retirees living out of state, military personnel from your church. Don’t be shy. People who read it like it. People who don’t will never know.
Please encourage the regular subscription of the Yearbook to your members and especially to your church officers. Sometimes it takes the encouragement of pastors to move people to do that. We find it difficult to understand how a person can be an officer in a BFC and not want at least a nodding acquaintance with such an important publication.
Don’t forget to order your updates for your Faith and Order while you are at Annual Conference. Also please bring your check for Fellowship News.
Please note the following for your information:
1. Fellowship News articles and questions about editorial policy should go to: Carol Z. Snyder, 3091 York Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325; 717.337.3408, ccsnyder@supernet.com
2. Questions about billing of accounts should go to the Business Manager: Paul T. Rutman, Apt 607, 824 Lisburn Road, Camp Hill, PA 17011, 717.731.1490
3. Orders and checks for anything published by the Board should be sent to: BFC of Ephrata, PO Box 299, Ephrata, PA 17522; 717-733-2526; ebfc@ptd.net.
4. Our webservant, Stephen Mann, is at svmann@compuserve.com. You can contact him through the main page on our website at www.bfc.org.
The following resolutions are submitted to the 118th Annual Conference for their approval:
1. Resolved, that a contribution of $325 for the conference year 2001 to be given to the Board of Publication and Printing from each agency to help underwrite the cost of printing and distribution of the Fellowship News. Payments are to be made to the Business Manager, c/o Bible Fellowship Church of Ephrata, by December 31, 2001.
2. Resolved, that $1.75 per member of the Bible Fellowship Church for 2001 be forwarded to the Board of Publication and Printing from each church to help underwrite the cost of printing and distributing the Fellowship News. Payments are to be made to the Board of Publication and Printing table at the 118th Annual Conference.
3. Resolved, that the cost of the 2001 Yearbook be $8.00 per copy.
Board Of Publication And Printing: William H. Bartron, Chairman; Daniel P. Allen, Secretary; Paul T. Rutman, Business Manager; Carol Z. Snyder, Fellowship News editor; Stephen Mann; Clyde W. Snyder, Jonathan P. Tait