July 2026 Newsletter

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July 1, 2026

Dear Brethren & Friends:

Warm Christian greetings to each of you! As usual, we are all certainly very busy at the headquarters of the work here in Hoschton, Georgia! Our modular building project continues to move forward. The sections have been set on the pad. The heavy rains that we have had posed some challenges, but by God’s grace we are working through the various setbacks.

The month of June is when Berean Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists has its annual church Campout. This is different than Campmeeting, which is the last weekend of September. At Campout, for 4 days in June, we sleep in tents, cook and eat outside, and have our worships outside. This year was a very special Campout because we spent a day in the town of Valdese, North Carolina, that the Waldenses founded. In 1893 a group of 29 Waldensian settlers arrived in Burke County and established the town. Hundreds more Waldenses would follow, and eventually they set up a number of different businesses, such as a bakery, textile and hosiery manufacturing, yarn, wine, and a cooperative store. Today the town has an outdoor Waldensian exhibit, a Waldensian museum, and a Waldensian church. In 1895 the Waldensian group in North Carolina joined with the Presbyterian Church, and the name of the church in Valdese is Waldensian Presbyterian Church. (The Waldenses in Italy joined with the Methodist Church in 1975.) The Waldensian Museum is connected to the Waldensian Presbyterian Church and staffed by church members. It highlights the Waldensian life, especially in Valdese, and covers their history from the time of Peter Waldo to the present. It was quite informative listening to their stories and their struggles, even after they moved to the United States. However, it is quite obvious that even though they have the history of the Waldenses, they now see themselves as Presbyterians, and built their beautiful Waldensian Presbyterian Church.

For those of us who are more interested in the ancient history of the Waldenses, the outdoor exhibit and the onsite timeline of the Waldenses was especially interesting. This faction of the Waldenses see themselves as originating with the Apostles, and their timeline shows this as early as A.D. 58. This is just 27 years after Christ returned to heaven and some 38 years before the Apostle John wrote the Revelation! This confirms Ellen White’s description of the Waldenses as “. . . this remnant of the early apostolic church” (HS 239). Their outdoor exhibit consists of about 10 authentic re-creations of important Waldensian structures, including the College of the Barba where their pastors were trained, a Waldensian church (the simplicity of which is quite a contrast with the current Waldensian Presbyterian Church a couple of miles away), a cave similar to what some of us saw in Italy that they used for worship, a school, and a couple of homes. Another special highlight was that the Visitor Center video confirmed that the Waldenses were seventh-day Sabbath-keepers until recent times, and some perhaps even to the time that they came to the United States!

Campout is also a time that we do a variety of activities. This year we took a cave tour, hiked to a couple of waterfalls, climbed a mountain, had an educational walk with a park ranger, and spent time in the sun and sand at the park beach. During evening worships we learned more about Waldensian history, and our special scripture for discussion and memorizing was, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13.

The sermon for this month is entitled Faith of Our Fathers. This is a most appropriate sermon when we consider our ancient Waldensian brethren. The Waldenses did not come out of the papacy, for they never were a part of the papacy, while the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, etc.) came out of the papacy and brought elements of the papacy with them, including Sunday-keeping. It is as though the torch of Sabbath-keeping was preserved by the Waldenses and eventually taken up by Seventh-day Adventists, and ultimately Free Seventh-day Adventists. The Waldensian logo shows that they had the lamp of truth in a darkened world; so, too, will Free Seventh-day Adventists hold up the lamp of truth in a darkened world in these last days.

Yours to have the faith of our fathers,

Pastor P. Herbert