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.