EARLY in March 350 serius-minded young people of the Columbia Union Conference took part in the first, event of its kind ever held in the United States and Canada —a Youth Bible Study Conference.
Sponsored by the youth department of the Columbia Union Conference and the Sligo church MV Society in Takoma Park, Maryland, the three-day conference brought together delegates from seven Eastern States and the District of Columbia. It was a "closed" conference, which meant that only delegates between the ages of 16 and 30 were permitted to attend the study groups.
The main purpose of the conference was to study the Bible. There were no entertaining features, no unusual performers. The only possible exception to this was a unique display of old Bibles put on by a layman, George B. Suhrie, of Paterson, New Jersey, who has spent a lifetime with his unusual hobby.
As E. M. Peterson, Columbia Union MV secretary, William Loveless, youth leader of the Sligo church, and study conference committees met together to plan the weekend event, it was decided that deep Bible subjects be presented so that young people might be challenged to further Bible study when they returned home.
The result of their decision can be seen in the line-up of subjects that were presented: "Last-Day Events," "The Sabbath," "What Is God?" "Significance of the Church," "Conditionality of Man," "Evolution and Creation," "The Incarnation of Christ," and "The Spirit of Prophecy."
Leading theologians of the denomination were invited to direct in the study groups. The list included Edward Heppen-stall, Roland Loasby, and R. M. Ritland, all from Andrews University, Michigan; Herbert Douglass, from the Bible department of Atlantic Union College, Massachusetts; G. H. Minchin, of the Bible department of Columbia Union College; Don Neufeld, a research editor of the Review and Herald Publishing Association; Richard Hammill and D. Arthur Delafield from the General Conference.
The plan of the conference was simple. Eight different study groups were conducted simultaneously. Each instructor made a four-hour presentation of his subject. At the end of this four-hour period he repeated his presentation to a second group of students. In the course of the conference each delegate was able to study two complete subjects. The class size averaged around forty.
Formal presentations were given by the class instructors. However, a major portion of the time in most of the classes was spent in asking and answering questions and in discussion of various aspects of the subject at hand.
The Bible study groups were organized Friday night and met for study and discussion Sabbath afternoon, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. In addition, three general meetings were held. The first one was the opening session when the keynote speaker was Edward Heppenstall, much-loved Bible teacher and theologian.
More than 2,400 persons attended the Sabbath morning service in the Sligo church when Herbert Douglass spoke on the subject "The Challenge of the Bible." The last group session was held late Sunday morning at the conclusion of the Bible study groups. It was at this meeting that the reactions of the youth delegates were heard. A typical comment by a young person was, "This has been the most challenging and interesting event I have ever experienced."
The Youth Bible Study Conference was a sincere effort on the part of youth leaders to direct the minds of young people today to the study of God's Word. It was in keeping with the slogan for the MV Department of the denomination for the year 1961, "Spotlight on the Bible." It was also an appropriate follow-up program for the inspiring North American youth congress held last summer at Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the territory of the Columbia Union Conference.
It is hoped that the Takoma Park Bible study group for youth will prove to be the first in a long series of similar studies to be held in local conferences and in local churches throughout the North American Division.
