Honor Verona Church Anniversary

Senate Resolution No. 3130 BY: Senator GRIFFO COMMEMORATING the 200th Anniversary of Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church, Verona, New York WHEREAS, Religious institutions, and the many spiritual, social and educational benefits they confer, play a vital role in the development of the moral fabric of a responsible citizenry; and WHEREAS, It is the tradition of this State and Nation to pay tribute to those institutions and individuals who have contributed to the ethical and spiritual values of their communities; and WHEREAS, This Legislative Body takes pleasure in commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church, Verona, New York; and WHEREAS, Seventh Day Baptists are often mistakenly called Seventh Day Adventists which came on the scene in the mid-1800s; Seventh Day Baptists were first established in Rhode Island almost 200 years before, in 1671; and WHEREAS, Verona Seventh Day Baptists Church is itself older than the Seventh Day Adventist denomination; and WHEREAS, As part of the branch of Christianity known as Seventh Day Baptists, the roots of Verona Seventh Day Baptists Church go back to a great-grandson of the famed Roger Williams, the nation's first Baptist and founder of Rhode Island; and WHEREAS, Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who honor the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as being blessed, holy and made at creation for the good of mankind; and WHEREAS, In 1804, his great-grandson, Daniel Williams, along with his family, left Rhode Island and started "up country"; and WHEREAS, After having lived for a few months in Berlin, New York, they then continued west for four weeks with a yoke of oxen and a horse and settled in what was then known as the "Western Wild" in the towns of both Rome and Verona, New York; and WHEREAS, Soon after, Daniel's brothers and his remaining five sons, who had stayed in Rhode Island, joined them; today, this would be called "planting a church"; and WHEREAS, Five years later, in 1809, this group of pioneers made a covenant with one another to encourage each other in their faith since they were no longer near their home churches in Rhode Island and Berlin, New York; today, this would be called a "fellowship"; and WHEREAS, Then, on June 19, 1820, this original group, along with others, made another covenant together, this time to form themselves into a full-fledged congregation or church; and WHEREAS, To this day, 200 years after becoming a church, Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church, under the luminous direction of Pastor Steven James, continues to thrive and make a difference in the community; and WHEREAS, Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church stands on the threshold of tomorrow, prepared to meet the challenges of the coming decades while retaining that spiritual resolve which characterizes its past; and WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to take note of enduring religious institutions and to bring such institutions to the attention of the people of this Empire State; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church, fully confident that this commemoration reflects the belief in those values which enhance the dignity and purpose of life; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Pastor Steven James, Verona Seventh Day Baptist Church, Verona, New York.