There was canoeing & crafts….there were chores and Bible Science and morning flag raising…..there was swimming and July 4th fireworks…..there were quiet evening vespers in the hills of West Virginia…..morning Revele and evening Taps…..and so much more!
Fifteen campers (grades 3-5) and eight counselors under the able direction of co-directors Pastor Robert Van Horn and Susie Fox had a GREAT time at Junior Camp Joy July 1-5, 2018 in Berea, WV. Three of the campers (Emma Van Horn, Arabella Lear, and Abigail Lanzer) represented the Pataskala SDB Church as well as the directors and Peter Fox as a counselor.
The theme was “Choose Joy” with Bible lessons each day about ways we can do that. The campers were divided into four work groups with a different “chore” to do each day: wash dishes, clean the lodge, plan evening vespers, and plan campfire activities.
Everyone was surprised the first night when the electricity went out just before bed-time due to a thunderstorm resulting in no showers or fans or lights after a long hot day. We had a chance to “Choose Joy” instead of fear, complaining, and irritability!
We had daily cabin inspections which motivated the campers to keep their bunk areas cleaned up as well. We awarded the “Clean Cabin Award” to a different cabin each day. Although we also had the “Stinky Sock Award”, there were surprisingly not any cabins that deserved that award throughout the week!
It was HOT, so the “Slip-n-Slide” during recreation time was a big hit and two afternoons swimming at North Bend State Park as well! During our “rotation” time each day, the campers were divided into three different groups and one third of the group did Recreation, one third went canoeing, and one third worked on some pretty neat crafts. Every 40 minutes we switched to the next activity until everyone had done all three things. Each evening after supper, Professor Solomon invited us into her laboratory to explore interesting Bible Science experiments!
Thanks to our cooks (Chip & Michael Thorngate, Hannah Smith, and a little help from Dusty Davis), we had delicious food for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day along with plenty of liquids to keep us hydrated!
Enjoy these pictures from 2018 Junior Camp Joy:
[We also had one camper from our church, Lily Van Horn, attend Middler Camp Joy the previous week June 24-July 1, 2018 and Kym Goodson helping cook at Senior Camp Joy the following week July 8-15, 2018.]
On June 9, 2018 our church had a Cookout & Movie Family Night. As usual, there was lots of food, family, friends, and fun for all ages. The church provided hamburgers & hot dogs which were skillfully prepared by Pastor Robert Van Horn. The other people attending brought side dishes and desserts to share. After a relaxing time of sharing the food and visiting, we headed into the sanctuary to view the movie 
The theme for the annual SDB General Conference is “Less Talk, More Action” which will be held July 29-August 4, 2018 at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. The program for the week will be led by this year’s Conference President, Pastor Dave Stall from the 
Activities for the week include a full program of worship, Bible Study, outside guest speakers, Conference business, breakout interest groups, and children’s programs as well as time for informal conversations with old and new friends.
The 
Attached below for review prior to the Ordination Examination Council are copies of Chris Galarneau’s personal testimony and statement of beliefs. Following the Ordination Examination Council, a recommendation will be made to the 
Coming up on May 19-20, 2018 at 
Plans have begun for another exciting camping season at Camp Joy in Berea, West Virginia. Here’s the 2018 scheduled camps. More information plus online (and downloadable) registration forms are available at 
Money collected, presents bought, gifts wrapped, packages delivered . . . Our church’s Christmas Outreach project has been completed! Starting back in July, our weekly “Building Up the Temple” mission offering for 3Q/2017 was allocated for Christmas Outreach. For the second year, we teamed up with the 
We applied and were provided names, ages, sizes, etc. for two local families enrolled in the program through the Salvation Army. Shirley Pest and Veronica Van Horn made a GREAT shopping team! They scoured the stores and came up with great gifts for all. We were able to provide pajamas, hat & scarf, boots, two toys, and a filled stocking for each of the children on our list. Each family also received some gift cards to use for holiday food.
The next step found Susie Fox wrapping the gifts, adding name tags, and filling the stockings with all the things Veronica & Shirley purchased! Per the program guidelines, each family’s wrapped gifts were then placed in bags labeled with their “Adopt-A-Family” number.
On Thursday, December 14, 2017, Dean & Susie Fox delivered the bags of gifts to the 
Lots of fun, great food, and plenty of energy describes the Fall Festival held at the Pataskala Seventh Day Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon, October 29, 2017 from 4-6 pm. Due to the cooler weather, the festivities were moved indoors, with various games scattered in different rooms throughout the church. As guests entered, they were greeted with the Photo Spot where people could get their pictures taken with or without a variety of things to “accessorize” them. Several people went home with family pictures taken and printed while you wait. In addition, there were several carnival-type games for prizes including ring toss over pumpkins, Plinko, Tic-Tac-Toe beanbag toss, Bible Bingo, make-your-own paper airplane, and tossing ping pong balls into floating rings in a baby pool.
Pataskala Seventh Day Baptist 