WISE Award

I, Karen Payne, have served as the chairwoman of the Recognition Committee for the past 11 years. When I started it was just the Robe of Achievement Committee, but 3 years ago another the Women In Service Everywhere award (or WISE) was added so the committee became the Recognition Committee.  Serving with me on the committee are Janet Butler and Marcy Kersten. This will be our final presentation as we are stepping down to allow others the joy of serving you in this way. The Women’s Board decided not to make awards last year since there was no in person conference. We were hoping to be able to be together this year, but since that isn’t happening we will announce our choice for the two Recognition awards by video. I’ll start with the WISE award.

This year we are honoring Sharon Gaye Daily from the South East Atlanta Seventh Day Baptist Church in McDonough, GA as the recipient of the Women In Service Everywhere award. Deaconess Sharon Gaye was born and raised in Jamaica, gave her life to God at an early age and has never looked back. She is committed to her husband, family and church. Deaconess Sharon Gaye is a diligent and hardworking woman of God that shares her love of God with all. She is also a compassionate, righteous, intercessory prayer warrior.

Deaconess Sharon Gaye was nominated by her Vessel of Honor Women’s Ministry because she demonstrates on a daily basis the qualities and characteristics of a WISE woman. Her genuine smile, humbleness and love for others can be seen and felt whenever you are in her presence. The work she does within the church, the surrounding community and afar represents what one should do when professing to be a part of the kingdom of God. She goes above and beyond to assist others and is deeply and greatly appreciated.

Deaconess Sharon Gaye wears many hats and wears them well. She is the leader of the Education Department, Prayer Team, Active members and Visitors systems updating, Vacation Bible School and Senior Ministry. She works hard within the church’s pantry, which is open on Wednesdays and Sundays ensuring food pick-ups are done on time and does the pick-ups on Mondays herself. She prepares all the necessary documents, as well as greeting and interacting with those who come to the pantry. Each year she prepares the team and church areas to be used for Vacation Bible School, a spiritual learning and fun time for children, both within the church and the surrounding communities. Every Tuesday she spends the majority of the day reaching out to the elderly, which includes lunch gatherings and other fun activities. She also works alongside her husband with their Healing House Ministry in Georgia and Pastor’s Ministry in Jamaica.

Sister Daily is a precious jewel, humble, loving and a sincere woman of God. The Recognitions Committee is pleased to name Sharon Gaye Daily as the recipient of the 2021 WISE Award.

Robe of Achievement

And now for the 2021 Robe of Achievement recipient. The committee chose a woman who has served our denomination and her church for many years. She is a deaconess and Sabbath School teacher for her local church and served on the Women’s Board and General Council for the denomination. We are pleased to award the Robe of Achievement to Althea Greene Rood.

Althea served alongside her pastor husband, Dale, in Waterford, CT and Westerly, RI before moving to Dodge Center where they served until his retirement 10 years ago. They are both still active in the church serving in many capacities. Althea and Dale celebrated 53 years of marriage on June 30. They are the parents of Kristin (Mrs. Andrew Camenga) and Jeff and the grandparents of three. Althea has tried to retire from teaching Math at the neighboring high school, but her love for helping young people excel has kept her going back again and again. She also tutors and teaches ACT Prep. Her love of young people also shows in the number of camps she has counseled, years she directed and taught SCSC training, served as project director, prayer partner and hostess. But her involvement in SCSC didn’t start there; she was in the 2^nd team of students that served our church in Metairie, Louisiana. I think she has participated in every aspect of SCSC that there is.

In her local church, Anchor of Hope, in Dodge Center, MN she has been a Bible Study leader, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, held various roles in the Ladies Aid, musician, member of the worship team, Missionary advocate, member of the prayer team and Women’s Retreat leader. She has also led retreats for other churches in our denomination.

On the denomination level besides serving as president of the Women’s Society from 2009 to 2014 (which included serving on CLT) she was president of the General Conference in 1991, served on General Council six years and is president of North Central Association this year. She has worked in Pre-con camps, association camps and served on numerous committees both for the denomination, Women’s Board and locally, and the list could go on and on. When does this lady sleep? I don’t think she does!

I was looking for a scripture to close with and knew that Althea really likes The Message.   I have my mom, Muriel Osborn’s, copy so was looking at it to see what I could find. There was a bookmark in Proverbs 4. She loved to underline passages and this one seemed to be just what I was looking for. The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.

I found another bookmark that had a quote by George MacDonald that exemplifies Althea’s life. Whatever God gives you to do, Do it as well as you can. This is the best possible preparation for what He may want you to do next.

It is with great pleasure that we award the 2021 Robe of Achievement to Althea Greene Rood.

2021 Women In Service Everywhere

I, Karen Payne, have served as the chairwoman of the Recognition Committee for the past 11 years. When I started it was just the Robe of Achievement Committee, but 3 years ago another the Women In Service Everywhere award (or WISE) was added so the committee became the Recognition Committee.  Serving with me on the committee are Janet Butler and Marcy Kersten. This will be our final presentation as we are stepping down to allow others the joy of serving you in this way. The Women’s Board decided not to make awards last year since there was no in person conference. We were hoping to be able to be together this year, but since that isn’t happening we will announce our choice for the two Recognition awards by video. I’ll start with the WISE award.

This year we are honoring Sharon Gaye Daily from the South East Atlanta Seventh Day Baptist Church in McDonough, GA as the recipient of the Women In Service Everywhere award. Deaconess Sharon Gaye was born and raised in Jamaica, gave her life to God at an early age and has never looked back. She is committed to her husband, family and church. Deaconess Sharon Gaye is a diligent and hardworking woman of God that shares her love of God with all. She is also a compassionate, righteous, intercessory prayer warrior.

Deaconess Sharon Gaye was nominated by her Vessel of Honor Women’s Ministry because she demonstrates on a daily basis the qualities and characteristics of a WISE woman. Her genuine smile, humbleness and love for others can be seen and felt whenever you are in her presence. The work she does within the church, the surrounding community and afar represents what one should do when professing to be a part of the kingdom of God. She goes above and beyond to assist others and is deeply and greatly appreciated.

Deaconess Sharon Gaye wears many hats and wears them well. She is the leader of the Education Department, Prayer Team, Active members and Visitors systems updating, Vacation Bible School and Senior Ministry. She works hard within the church’s pantry, which is open on Wednesdays and Sundays ensuring food pick-ups are done on time and does the pick-ups on Mondays herself. She prepares all the necessary documents, as well as greeting and interacting with those who come to the pantry. Each year she prepares the team and church areas to be used for Vacation Bible School, a spiritual learning and fun time for children, both within the church and the surrounding communities. Every Tuesday she spends the majority of the day reaching out to the elderly, which includes lunch gatherings and other fun activities. She also works alongside her husband with their Healing House Ministry in Georgia and Pastor’s Ministry in Jamaica.

Sister Daily is a precious jewel, humble, loving and a sincere woman of God. The Recognitions Committee is pleased to name Sharon Gaye Daily as the recipient of the 2021 WISE Award.

2021 Robe of Achievement

And now for the 2021 Robe of Achievement recipient. The committee chose a woman who has served our denomination and her church for many years. She is a deaconess and Sabbath School teacher for her local church and served on the Women’s Board and General Council for the denomination. We are pleased to award the Robe of Achievement to Althea Greene Rood.

Althea served alongside her pastor husband, Dale, in Waterford, CT and Westerly, RI before moving to Dodge Center where they served until his retirement 10 years ago. They are both still active in the church serving in many capacities. Althea and Dale celebrated 53 years of marriage on June 30. They are the parents of Kristin (Mrs. Andrew Camenga) and Jeff and the grandparents of three. Althea has tried to retire from teaching Math at the neighboring high school, but her love for helping young people excel has kept her going back again and again. She also tutors and teaches ACT Prep. Her love of young people also shows in the number of camps she has counseled, years she directed and taught SCSC training, served as project director, prayer partner and hostess. But her involvement in SCSC didn’t start there; she was in the 2^nd team of students that served our church in Metairie, Louisiana. I think she has participated in every aspect of SCSC that there is.

In her local church, Anchor of Hope, in Dodge Center, MN she has been a Bible Study leader, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, held various roles in the Ladies Aid, musician, member of the worship team, Missionary advocate, member of the prayer team and Women’s Retreat leader. She has also led retreats for other churches in our denomination.

On the denomination level besides serving as president of the Women’s Society from 2009 to 2014 (which included serving on CLT) she was president of the General Conference in 1991, served on General Council six years and is president of North Central Association this year. She has worked in Pre-con camps, association camps and served on numerous committees both for the denomination, Women’s Board and locally, and the list could go on and on. When does this lady sleep? I don’t think she does!

I was looking for a scripture to close with and knew that Althea really likes The Message.   I have my mom, Muriel Osborn’s, copy so was looking at it to see what I could find. There was a bookmark in Proverbs 4. She loved to underline passages and this one seemed to be just what I was looking for. The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.

I found another bookmark that had a quote by George MacDonald that exemplifies Althea’s life. Whatever God gives you to do, Do it as well as you can. This is the best possible preparation for what He may want you to do next.

It is with great pleasure that we award the 2021 Robe of Achievement to Althea Greene Rood.

The Robe of Achievement committee consisting of Janet Butler, Marcy Kersten and myself chose this year’s recipient from several worthy nominations. Like many of the previous Robe recipients, our honoree is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She has been a member of only one church where she serves as a deaconess. Our recipient is a breast cancer survivor. That narrows down the possibilities a little, doesn’t it? This lady has served on the Board of Christian Education for 39 years in various rolls including president, vice president, and Youth Committee Chairman.

Amanda Snyder is our Robe of Achievement recipient for this year. Amanda has been a member of the Alfred Station Seventh Day Baptist Church where she has served as organist, choir director, VBS director, Sabbath School teacher, Christian Education Chairperson, Music Worship Chairperson for over 50 years, member of the chime choir, SCSC project director and as previously mentioned deaconess for over 25 years. Amanda was also a fair booth witness.

The community of Alfred Station would be lost without her being there to be a vocal coach, teach piano and be a participant in community choirs.

Many of you may remember Amanda and her husband, Nelson, directing Youth Pre-Con and also serving on staff of others. They were Association Youth Directors, served as association camp directors and staff. She also directed the conference choir, served on the staff of Family Pre-Con, lead a workshop at conference, sang in a trio for the women’s banquet and participated in the scripture memorization program.

Amanda’s amazing grace during her fight against breast cancer was a constant witness to those around her. The Alfred Station church and community have truly been blessed to have Amanda in their midst for so many years. Thank you, Amanda, for all you contributed to your family, church, community and to us as a denomination. We are very pleased to honor Amanda L. Snyder as our Robe of Achievement recipient for 2018.

We are pleased to honor one of our very deserving women with the Robe of Achievement. Here are a few hints for you to see if you can guess who we are awarding the Robe of Achievement to this year. Like many of the previous Robe recipients, our honoree is a deacon, wife, mother, (including foster mother,) grandmother and great-grandmother. That narrows down the possibilities, doesn’t it? She is not only a wife, but a pastor’s wife and also a “preacher’s kid.” This being the case, her childhood and youth were spent in WV, NY and AR. This year she was bestowed with the degree Doctor of Letters honoris cuasa by the Salem International University.

The following is taken from the citation given her with her doctorate:

Mrs. Janet Van Horn Thorngate graduated from Salem College with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in English and History, and then earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from West Virginia University.  She obtained West Virginia’s secondary school teacher certification.

She has spent much of her life as a teacher.  She was an instructor in English at West Virginia University and Salem International University, as well as with Upward Bound at then Salem College.  She worked as a technical librarian at several Educational Resources Information Center clearinghouses, and was a member of the ERIC National Steering Committee, 1976-1981.

She has devoted much of her life to the Seventh Day Baptist Church, whose members were founders of Salem College in 1888 and whose continuing support over the past 129 years has been valuable to the university.  She was librarian and archivist for the Seventh Day Baptist Historical Library.  She continues to be an instructor in Church History for the Seventh Day Baptist School of Ministry.  She is the editor of Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society publications.  She has been President of the Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society since 2002.

Her other literary endeavors include editorship of Seventh Day Baptist World, the newsletter of the SDB World Federation, of which her husband, Rev. Dr. Dale Thorngate, is President. She has been editor of Lead-Line, the leadership newsletter of the SDB General Conference and editor and writer of a variety of church and organization newsletters, booklets, etc.  Her extensive work in church history and her meticulous attention to detail in her research led to her most recent publication:  a volume published by Mercer University Press for their series Baptists in Early North America.  Her volume, entitled Newport, Rhode Island, Seventh Day Baptists, was published early in 2017.  Another recent work, Seventh Day Baptist World Federation: The First Fifty Years, 1965-2015 was published for the SDB World Federation conference held in Brazil in 2017.

Doctor Janet Thorngate would you please make your way to the platform as I continue telling of more of your accomplishments and acts of service?

In addition to the activities mentioned in the citation some of Janet’s church volunteer work includes:  serving as Youth Advisor, pianist, Sabbath School teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher, Camp JOY board member, various roles at church camps, and church secretary.

Janet’s denominational service includes being the Youth Field Worker in Colorado before there was an SCSC program, and most of you are familiar with her work on the Historical Society/Council on History not only as a member, but as president. She served on the Faith and Order Committee for many years and as chairperson for over 10 years. Along with husband Dale, she co-directed Young Adult Pre-Con in 2006 and served as Conference Choir pianist that year. She even wrote the theme song for conference in 1978 Bearing the Fruit. How many of you remember that song?  She has been part of the US Delegation to World Federation meetings since 1986.

Church and denomination activities aren’t the only place Janet has served. Her community activities include being a board member for a United Way agency; a member of the Salem International University Auxiliary; she organized and helped cook Thanksgiving dinners for students who couldn’t get home for the holiday; was pianist for community worship services; a choir member at WV Black Heritage Festival; and donates devotional booklets to young people who have attended the Salem church.

Time does not permit us to tell of all the ways Janet has served her community, church and denomination. She is an exemplary Christian, a life-long Seventh Day Baptist and truly a woman deserving of this Robe of Achievement.

The Robe of Achievement Committee as part of the Women’s Board is pleased to announce that Linda VanHorn Camenga is our choice as recipient of the Robe of Achievement this year.

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Linda was born in West Virginia to Pastor Delmer and Rowena VanHorn. She counts herself blessed knowing that she was saved at a very early age due to Christian parents that taught her to love and serve God with her whole heart.  Delmer and Rowena were wonderful role models and helped her develop a true servant’s heart.  She was brought up to find the need and make sure it was taken care of. Linda graduated from high school while her father served the Adam Center, NY church.

During her time at Salem College she followed her heart and married Pastor John Camenga 47 years ago, knowing she would continue to be in God’s service with this life choice. While she did not complete her degree in Music Education she later completed her training and was certified in Early Childhood Education. Linda and Pastor John were blessed with four children; Andrew, Faith, Grace and Johnmark. They, along with their spouses Kristin, Mark, Rick and Cathy have blessed them with 13 grandchildren.  These are not the only things that make Linda so deserving of this award.

Following her husband to the churches he was called to serve she helped fill the holes she found. These churches include Salemville, PA; Dodge Center, MN; Little Rock, AR; Blountville TN; Shiloh, NJ; Daytona Beach, FL and Brisbane, Australia. She is currently a member of the Kissimee, FL church. Whether changing diapers, teaching Sabbath School, leading and planning VBS, directing choir, playing the piano or organ or serving as a deaconess she tackled each task with a desire to make sure her Lord and Savior was glorified.

The Women’s Board moved to Daytona Beach, FL while she and Pastor John were serving that church. Linda was very involved with the board move from Shiloh, NJ and worked hard to make the transition go smoothly.  She was glad to be involved with SCSC, serving as the chairman of that committee. She also served as vice president of the Women’s Board. Linda had a vision of changing the SCSC program to a more educational focus and has a real heart for the young adults of our denomination and keeping them actively involved in furthering the work of Christ and SDBs. It was during her time working with the SCSC program that she came in contact with some young adults in Australia. She encouraged their involvement in the program and even set up an exchange program for US young adults to go to Australia and serve in an SCSC project “down under.”

Linda has worked in a hospital, as a foster mom, played piano/organ for community churches, worked in children’s centers – as an early childhood teacher/lead teacher, as a substitute teacher & music teacher, set up and ran a child care center in her home, and has worked in a Dollar General.  She has always worked very hard to help provide for her family and did this along with meeting all the expectations that come with being a pastor’s wife

She has struggled the last few years with heart problems and has had to find less actives roles. This did not stop her heart’s desire to be a servant leader. She was so excited to take on the challenge of missions work in Australia. She picked up a more active role as she started this new ministry.

As of now, she continues to face chronic health issues.  These issues do not allow her to be as active as she would like to be and prevented her from coming to conference to receive this award in person.  However, she continues to serve in the Kissimee, FL SDB church where the youth and young adults have sought her out to mentor and encourage them.  She and Pastor John also provide breakfast for the church on a weekly basis – even though they travel over an hour to get to the church.  They have also opened their home to the whole church on Sabbaths when they cannot use their current facilities and they hosted a retreat for the church this spring.

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Linda’s humble servant’s heart has been exhibited throughout her life.  2 Corinthians 12:9 encapsulates it best – “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”  Linda’s faith and servant’s heart has impacted her family, the churches she has been a part of and the communities she has lived in.  Linda, however, has never sought attention or credit for her work.  Her hope is that her service would further God’s Kingdom and draw people to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Click on the link below for the 6 month update report of the Seventh Day Baptist Women’s Society.  This will be available in print at the 2014 Sessions of the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference as well.

2014 Six Month Update.6.30