{"id":475,"date":"2014-09-01T09:02:32","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T09:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/2014\/09\/01\/hundreds-baptized-as-first-ny13-phase-wraps-up-at-nassau-coliseum\/"},"modified":"2014-09-01T09:02:32","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T09:02:32","slug":"hundreds-baptized-as-first-ny13-phase-wraps-up-at-nassau-coliseum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/hundreds-baptized-as-first-ny13-phase-wraps-up-at-nassau-coliseum\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds Baptized as First NY13 Phase Wraps up at Nassau Coliseum"},"content":{"rendered":"

29 June 2013 Uniondale, New York, United States [Mark A. Kellner, Adventist Review]<\/span>\u00a0Wearing a dark blue baptismal robe, Tomas Olivera of Peekskill, New York, stepped into the giant pool placed before the platform at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on this afternoon and knew only one thing: he was finally about to be baptized.<\/p>\n

<\/a>It quickly developed that the Seventh-day Adventist pastor who placed Olivera under the water was the president of the Adventist world church, Pastor Ted N. C. Wilson, who had just completed a sermon about the role this religious movement would play at the end of time.<\/p>\n

Olivera was all smiles, as was John MacKneil, a former resident of New York\u2019s Greenwich Village, who returned to the Historic Seventh-day Adventist Church on West 11th Street to hear Wilson present a four-week \u201cRevelation of Hope\u201d seminar. MacKneil was also baptized by Wilson, and was a bit overcome at the experience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an inspiration to be baptized by this man of God,\u201d MacKneil said, standing next to Wilson, who briefly interned at that church when he first began his ministry. \u201cI wanted to be baptized; I needed to be baptized. I feel good and I feel inspired.\u201d Both MacKneil and Wilson said MacKneil\u2019s brother would also soon join the church.<\/p>\n

Inspiration was certainly the theme for this day of celebration and commitment, which was held under the banner of a joint campmeeting of the Greater New York and Northeastern Conferences, something local officials said was a first for the two groups. Adventists came from all over the region \u2013 joined by officials of the Adventist Church world headquarters and the denomination\u2019s North American Division, as well as from even farther afield \u2013 to mark the completion of an initial phase of urban evangelism and the welcoming of hundreds of new believers. At least 150 were baptized at the Nassau Coliseum venue, evangeslist Mark Finley told Adventist Review, with many more in area churches the same morning. Estimates point to nearly 2,000 baptisms in the NY13 campaign before today’s event.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hundreds more had been baptized before the event, as the New York City area hosted more than 400 evangelistic outreach events held by Adventist congregations. As Wilson said of the NY13 effort during his sermon, \u201cThis is not a spectator sport,\u201d noting that several Adventist world church vice presidents and other world church leaders had conducted campaigns in the area as well.<\/p>\n

At least one other division leader came to observe the results: Erton K\u00f6hler, president of the South American Division, and his wife Adriene were spotted among the worshippers Sabbath morning, no doubt happy that the \u201cArautos do Rei,\u201d the Brazilian \u201cKing\u2019s Heralds\u201d quartet, were part of the morning\u2019s worship music.<\/p>\n

Music wasn\u2019t the only cause for happiness that morning: several public officials came to publicly acknowledge the positive impact the Seventh-day Adventist Church had on the community. Mayor Wayne J. Hall, Sr., of neighboring Hempstead, New York, welcomed the Adventists, and Una S. T. Clarke, a former member of the New York City Council and mother of U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) was also recognized for her presence at the event.<\/p>\n

But the greatest praise for Seventh-day Adventists came from Bill DeBlasio, who holds a citywide office as New York City Public Advocate, a job formerly known as president of the City Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI represent all 8.4 million New Yorkers,\u201d DeBlasio said. \u201cAnd I come to bring greetings and appreciation\u201d for the work Adventists are doing in the community, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was moved by the work of your young people after Hurricane Sandy struck. Every day, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is doing good works in the City of New York,\u201d De Blasio said. He lauded Adventist efforts in promoting healthy living and said the church\u2019s schools comprise \u201cone of the greatest educational systems on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>DeBlasio concluded saying,\u00a0 \u201cEvery day [Seventh-day Adventists] make us a better and a stronger city. I say, \u2018God bless you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the comments of these public officials, Adventist evangelist Mark Finley prayed for Hall, Clarke, and DeBlasio, each of whom was also greeted by Wilson.<\/p>\n

Wilson, in his morning message, emphasized that the June 29 event, though historic, isn\u2019t the end of outreach here: \u201cNY13 continues until Jesus comes!\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the \u201clittle scroll\u201d that would be sweet to taste but \u201cbitter in the belly\u201d (Revelation 10:8-9), Wilson linked the disappointment of the early disciples, who thought Jesus would establish the Kingdom of God during His time on Earth but instead was crucified, buried, and resurrected, with that of the early Millerites. The 1840s Millerites, out of whom the Seventh-day Adventist Church eventually emerged, initially thought that the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8 pointed to the return of Christ to Earth in October of 1844.<\/p>\n

Instead, the first-century disciples began preaching the gospel and, as Acts 17:6 records, \u201cturned the world upside down.\u201d So too, Wilson said, Seventh-day Adventists \u2013 the spiritual descendants of the disappointed Millerites \u2013 have reached out around the world bringing the three angels\u2019 messages and the hope that Jesus is coming soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not another church,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a movement of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting the church\u2019s presence in over 200 nations and territories around the globe, Wilson added praise for the church\u2019s media outreach, noting \u201cAdventist World Radio is making a major impact around the world,\u201d and praising church-owned Hope Channel and supporting television ministry 3ABN for their part in the media outreach.<\/p>\n

Wilson again emphasized that the day\u2019s event was not the \u201cend\u201d of outreach in the region. He told the thousands gathered for worship and celebration, \u201cWe came to New York to highlight \u2018Mission to the Cities.\u2019 This is not a culmination today in New York City: the work is continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking with Adventist Review while waiting to baptize Olivera, Wilson said his own campaign was \u201can amazing experience in Greenwich Village. The audience stayed with us the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the congregation were impressed. Duane Cady, interim president of Atlantic Union College, a church-owned institution in South Lancaster, Mass., was visiting from his home in Syracuse, New York.<\/p>\n

Cady, also a former board chairman of the American Medical Association, choked back tears as he contemplated the number of new Adventists being baptized.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing. We\u2019re going forward, and I\u2019m very happy, even thrilled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the baptisms continued, and an afternoon of music and testimony loomed, the joyfulness promised to remain for quite some time. [ted<\/em>NEWS]\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

ted<\/em>NEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: tednews@ted-adventist.org
Website: www.ted-adventist.org<\/p>\n

ted<\/em>NEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
You are free to re-print any portion of the bulletin without need for special permission. However, we kindly request that you identify ted<\/em>NEWS whenever you publish these materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29 June 2013 Uniondale, New York, United States [Mark A. Kellner, Adventist Review]<\/span>\u00a0Wearing a dark blue baptismal robe, Tomas Olivera of Peekskill, New York, stepped into the giant pool placed before the platform at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on this afternoon and knew only one thing: he was finally about to be baptized.<\/p>\n

<\/a>It quickly developed that the Seventh-day Adventist pastor who placed Olivera under the water was the president of the Adventist world church, Pastor Ted N. C. Wilson, who had just completed a sermon about the role this religious movement would play at the end of time.<\/p>\n

Olivera was all smiles, as was John MacKneil, a former resident of New York\u2019s Greenwich Village, who returned to the Historic Seventh-day Adventist Church on West 11th Street to hear Wilson present a four-week \u201cRevelation of Hope\u201d seminar. MacKneil was also baptized by Wilson, and was a bit overcome at the experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-organisational-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}