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EPHESUS Preview Issue [April 2013]
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In This Issue Looking Back, Reaching Forward 4 Tiffiney Miles
Church Anniversary Celebration: What did YOU think? 12
Healthy Congregations: Check-Ups 13
Responsible Fatherhood 14 DaRon Barfield
Tri-State Youth Convocation 16 Tiffiney Miles
Charles and Brenda Bruce: Engine 2 Diet 20
Let’s support our women running in the
Divas Half-Marathon:
Gwen Preston
Olive Sease
Sonja Johnson
N’Zisa Barnes
Shelley-Ann Bowen
Teisha Hunter
Patty Thomas Sunday, 4/28/13
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“The Minor Prophets together have a power-
ful message, one that comes through again
and again, which is about God’s grace toward
undeserving sinners.”
Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide
Sabbath School lessons for all ages!
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Looking Back, Reaching Forward
Ephesus Celebrates 102 Years by Tiffiney Miles
Photos by Jessica Mayers
Right: Pastor John Pooler from the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church started the 102nd Church Anniversary Celebration on
Wednesday, March 13th. He uses the analogy of football to show how we need to be prepared to receive the blessings that God throws at
us.
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Left Page: Friday, March 15th, was the Memorial Service in which those who had passed away within the year were remembered. Pastor Victor Bartley from the West End Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Atlanta, GA spoke about “R.S.V.P.”: accepting the invitation of eternal life and preparing for eternal life with Jesus Christ. “I chose Victor [to speak] because he’s a young
person, and we have a lot of young people in our audience. And he’s also from the [Ephesus] church,” says Shirley Mayers, 2013 Church Anniversary leader.
Above: The Ephesus Mass Choir sings “I Go to the Rock” for Sabbath’s Anniversary service.
“It’s tempting to think that God needs my help at times in order for His goodness to be unending. But I
will remind you that if you take a look through the Scriptures, as soon as man got into trouble, God was
there looking for us. He’s able to keep us.”—Pastor Victor Bartley
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Left Page: Friday, March 15th, was the Memorial Service in which those who had passed away within the year were remembered. Pastor Victor Bartley from the West End Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Atlanta, GA spoke about “R.S.V.P.”: accepting the invitation of eternal life and preparing for eternal life with Jesus Christ. “I chose Victor [to speak] because he’s a young
person, and we have a lot of young people in our audience. And he’s also from the [Ephesus] church,” says Shirley Mayers, 2013 Church Anniversary leader.
Above: The Ephesus Mass Choir sings “I Go to the Rock” for Sabbath’s Anniversary service.
“It’s tempting to think that God needs my help at times in order for His goodness to be unending. But I
will remind you that if you take a look through the Scriptures, as soon as man got into trouble, God was
there looking for us. He’s able to keep us.”—Pastor Victor Bartley
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Above: Pastor Calvin Preston from the West End Seventh-Day Adventist Church expounds on the Sermon on the Mount during Sabbath
service on March 16th. “Calvin is from my time at Ephesus in Henderson Street, so there are a lot of people in that audience that could iden-
tify with us that’s been on Henderson Street.” Shirley Mayers states.
“I’m not sure whether I want God to clean up the church. ‘Why you say that, Calvin?’ Because God is fair...if God cleans up the church, He’s getting rid of all
sinners. So what does that mean? That means that tomorrow morning, let’s put Ephesus up for sale! Because by sunset, if God is cleaning up the church, by
sunset, the church will be empty!”—Pastor Calvin Prestion
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The Ephesus Seventh-day
Adventist Church celebrated its
102nd anniversary on March 13, 15,
and 16 2013.
The theme for the Anniver-
sary Celebration was “Looking Back,
Reaching Forward.” Shirley Mayers,
this year’s Church Anniversary lead-
er, talks about the mission behind
this year’s homecoming: “Our goal
this year was bringing everybody
forward and out of the past because
God wants us to live for today and
not tomorrow.”
The speakers for the event
were Pastor Pooler from the Ephe-
sus Seventh-day Adventist Church in
Columbia, SC; Pastor Victor Bartley
and Pastor Calvin Preston, both
from the West End Seventh-day Ad-
ventist Church in Atlanta, GA.
For 2014, the Anniversary
Committee has decided to let the
youth take over “because it’s their
time to shine,” says Shirley. The
2014 Anniversary Committee leader
will be Leslie O’Neal.
Commenting on whether the
Anniversary celebration was a suc-
cess, Shirley Mayers says, “I think
everyone went away with a full
heart and a Christ-like spirit.”
Above: Shirley Mayers, the 2013 Anniversary Committee leader.
Next Page: Ephesus church members take a group picture at the close of the Anniversary
Celebration weekend.
“I’m not sure whether I want God to clean up the church. ‘Why you say that, Calvin?’ Because God is fair...if God cleans up the church, He’s getting rid of all
sinners. So what does that mean? That means that tomorrow morning, let’s put Ephesus up for sale! Because by sunset, if God is cleaning up the church, by
sunset, the church will be empty!”—Pastor Calvin Prestion
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2013 Church Anniversary
Celebration
What did YOU think?
“I thought that there were a lot of great and inspiring messages, especially on Wednes-
day. It was a great reminder form the Bible about not to be held on by our past, but to
keep looking forward to the goal, which is heaven, ahead of us. That really encouraged
me. Then today’s message on Sabbath by Pastor Preston, I was really challenged to re-
member that I am always building, and I want to be sure that I’m building wisely and
that I’m building a building that’s going to help me withstand the storms of life.”
—Nina Nelson
“It was truly a blessing.
From the sermon, to the
praise team, to the music,
to the testimonies, to eve-
rything. From beginning to
end. From Wednesday
night when we started it
off , to Friday night with
Victor speaking. Even the
concert. It was amazing!
—Brook Williams
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Reposted from the South Atlantic Conference
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The favorable or prospe
rous termination of attempts
or endeavors; the accom-
plishment of one's goals is
the definition given for suc-
cess.
On March 9th success
was shown in the Responsi-
ble Fatherhood afternoon
program hosted by Ephesus’
Men’s and Family Life Minis-
tries. Problems and issues re-
garding men and family life,
were exposed and discussed.
Men and women were chal-
lenged to break through the
issues discussed and reach
workable resolutions.
Mr. Tracy Rogers, from
the Department of Social
Services (DSS) of South Car-
olina, gave necessary infor-
mation on the Responsible
Father Registry.
In most cases we talk
is on the road to being re-
sponsible and being an ac-
tive part of his child’s life.
For more information on this
registry, go to https://
dss.sc.gov/content/
customers/fr/index.aspx for
frequently asked questions.
For actual registration to the
Responsible Fatherhood Reg-
istry, go to https://
ssl.sc.gov/
DSSFatherRegistry/
FatherReg/RegIndex.aspx.
The Responsible Father Reg-
istry: A voice for putative fa-
thers!
Not only was the door
open for new information on
being responsible men, but
the initiative to becoming re-
sponsible fathers and men
came through personal testi-
monies.
Andrew Singleton,
about fathers being forced to
take responsibility by means
of court-ordered child sup-
port or some other means
that states the father is not
being responsible based on
his own merit.
The Responsible Father
Registry was created to aid
fathers that want to be a part
of their child/children’s lives,
but may not be given that
chance due to conflict be-
tween the mother and the
father that may lead to adop-
tion or other legal measures
without the father’s knowing.
This registry requires
that the father receives noti-
fication of adoption proceed-
ings. This notification gives
him an opportunity to main-
tain custody of his child.
Certainly to sign this
registry states that the father
A workshop was presented by Tracy Rogers
that looked at the challenges men are facing
in the world as they seek to parent their kids,
and the vital role fatherhood plays in the success
of the next generation.
Responsible Fatherhood
By DaRon Barfield
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open up about his former
gang life and reckless atti-
tude toward life. His choices
as teenager led him to prison
where thankfully he met God
and his love for Jesus Christ
and the truth changed his
life.
Kelvin Barnes, father of
three, shared insights of his
relationship with his father
and the life lesson of “RCC”
Responsibility . Choices .
Consequences.
DaRon, relayed how his
father left him and mother at
a young age and how it took
years for the anger to be re-
solved and for there relation-
ship to be restored. He
shared how his experience
spilled over into his relation-
ship with his children.
Dominique, youngest
to speak, shared his strug-
gles growing up with a father
that left him and his mother.
Each of these men,
even though may not have
always had the easiest walk
have dedicated themselves to
be a positive standard in so-
ciety and more importantly,
to be soldiers of God.
Kevin Cox, Ephesus
Men’s Ministries Assistant,
gave us the importance of
the theme “Preparing For The
Return Of The King” and it’s
two-fold meaning based on
the verse Mark 9:24. We as
men must believe that we are
who God says we should be!
Above (from left to right): Pastor John Pooler, DaRon Barfield (Men’s Ministry Leader), Samuel & Rachel Paschal (Family Life Leaders), guest
speaker Tracy Rogers, Deacon Kelvin Paxton
Continued on page 20
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Youth Convocation
Brings Three States Together by Tiffiney Miles
The South Atlantic Confer-
ence of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church hosted a Tri-State Youth
Convocation in Orangeburg, South
Carolina. From Friday, March 22nd
through Saturday, March 23rd, Sev-
enth-Day Adventist youth and young
adults from Georgia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina came together to
worship and learn more about God.
Pastor Patrick Carter, the
Youth and Young Adult Director for
the South Atlantic Conference, talks
more about the purpose of a youth
convocation. He says that it is “an
opportunity for our youth and young
adults to come together to worship
God, to fellowship, to meet new
friends, to learn ideas, to learn
Below: The three Youth Federation Presidents of the South Atlantic Conference (from left to right): Georgia President Lavar Hickerson,
North Carolina President Tye Vaught, South Carolina President Karen Thrower.
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different ways of expressing them-
selves through song, through dance,
and most importantly, through the
word of God. “
Pastor Carter also expresses
the importance of why a youth con-
vocation is needed. “It is an oppor-
tunity where our churches from all
three states...can come together and
put our young people on display.”
Below: TyQuan Reed introduces the main
speaker for Saturday’s worship service, Pas-
tor Helvis Moody.
Right: Pastor Helvis Moody uses an expen-
sive purse to illustrate how society puts val-
ue on material items and how we are price-
less in the eyes of God.
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The theme for the convoca-
tion was “Priceless: Jesus Paid it All,”
and there were plenty of opportuni-
ties for youth and young adults to
learn more about how priceless they
were through sermons, workshops,
and by displaying their talents
through performances. The goal of
the youth convocation was to help
youth and young adults to grow
leadership skills in order to become
better men and women in church,
but also in other aspects of their
lives.
Pastor Carter uses one word
to describe the future of the upcom-
ing youth convocations.
“Excitement!” He says, “Excitement
about the potential to come up with
new concepts and ideas that will
continue to meet the growing, di-
verse needs of the world that we live
in...The purpose and the future of
the convocations are to be proac-
tive, and they will be proactive in
helping our young folk and our
young adults, as well as our church
in general, to meet the various
things that are happening in the
world, and to meet the tricks of the
Devil, so that we can be prepared to
meet Jesus and to spread the Gos-
pel.”
Left page: The South Georgia Hispanic Pathfinder
Club from Atlanta, GA posting colors for the
Youth Convocation. Above: Pastor Patrick Carter
hosts a workshop called “Don’t Compromise to
be Recognized!” Below: The group Chosen sings
“Jesus, He Will Fix It” during Saturday’s talent
night. Group members (from left to right): Kelvin
Moore, Kaleb Paxton, Andrew Davis, Antonio
Bermudez, CJ Wells, Dominique Goudy
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We must lead in the
manner that God has shown
for us to
lead. We must reinstitute
the kingship of men, of Afri-
can American men, in the
home, community and
church as the charge was
given by Christ. Most im-
portantly, we must believe
God is who He said He is
and that His son, Jesus
Continued from page 15 Christ, is coming again …
SOON!!! Are we prepared?
Let us be, for great is
the reward of those that live
and depend on Jesus Christ
to forgive, cleanse, and save
us from our sins. Our Heav-
enly Father was responsible
and loving enough to send
His Son to give us a chance
to be with Him eternally.
What chances are we
giving those we have fa-
thered?
Brenda and Charles Bruce participated in the Engine 2 28-day Challenge, sponsored by Whole Foods Market. The
winner with the most improved BMI received a $200 voucher from Whole Foods Market. Charles and Brenda did
not win, but at the end of the challenge, they lost a combined total of 27 pounds!
VOTE NOW FOR
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Come Worship With Us!
Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church
7709 Wilson Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29203
803.786.2800
Pastor John Pooler, III
Service Times Sabbath Morning Praise and Worship 8:00am
Sabbath School 9:15am
Divine Worship Service 11:00am
AYS One hour before sunset
Wednesday Night Prayer and Bible Connection 7:00pm
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www.EphesusSDA.org
Every department,
Every ministry,
Every member,
has a story
for Christ.
Share it with us.