November 13, 2020 | St. John’s, Antigua | Carson Greene
October 24 was a Sabbath, but it was also a special celebration of creation. Each year, the Seventh-day Adventist World Church places emphasis on Creation by hosting a special celebration on the fourth Sabbath in October. While this is a regular feature on the World Church’s calendar, it was the first time that the event was being celebrated on a Conference level in the South Leeward Conference.
The celebration was a part of the strategic initiative of the Conference to place emphasis on Creation. The Conference’s administration is aware that in recent times, there has been a gradual erosion of the Christian emphasis on the biblical position of creation in six literal days. Unfortunately, some Christians are now adopting what is called “Theistic Evolution”—a belief that teaches that God did create, but used evolution in the development of life forms. Therefore, the emphasis on creation, served to strengthen the biblical position and to strengthen the understanding of its significance in the life of the Christian.
The Creation Sabbath celebrations began on Friday evening at 6 p.m. The program lasted for nearly two hours and was a combination of scripture reading, songs, poetry, and the interpretation of creation from the perspective of certain professions. The professions of artist, environmentalist, architect and carpenter were featured on Friday night.
The program continued on Sabbath morning at 10:30 a.m. and lasted another two hours. The emphasis on the interpretation of creation from the perspective of certain professions continued. The professions of lawyer, farmer, doctor and theologian were featured. Additional items included poems, songs, puppet ministry, scripture meditation and special messages from the Caribbean Union (CARU) and South Leeward Conference (SLC) presidents.
A special SLC “Scenic Meditations” was created just for Creation Sabbath. This featured various nature scenes—both land and underwater—from across the Conference with accompanying instrumental music played by local musicians. The main accompaniment for the Scenic Meditations was by a children’s orchestra. Additionally, three original poems were written by members from across the Conference: “The Sabbath” by Christine Joseph; “The Work of Creation” by Irisdeane Rhodes and “Return to Creation’s Sabbath” by Lyndale Lynch-Daniel.**
The Sabbath afternoon also featured two special programs—Let’s Talk and a special panel discussion on theistic evolution. Both of these programs looked at the matter of intelligent design—a biblical perspective of Creation verses the evolutionary approach. All the programs for Creation Sabbath are available for on-demand viewing at SLC Adventist on YouTube.
The first Creation Sabbath celebration of the South Leeward Conference was a tremendous success. God be praised for His amazing work in Creation; for in it, humanity can find its identity and it ultimate destiny.