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Welcome to The Sabbath Directory! |
We hope that this website will assist you in not only locating fellowship groups with which to meet, but to bring you into contact and community with brethren of like-mind, whether it's across town -- or across the nation!
It is our hope that this website will be a favorite stopping place for you, as we have many things to offer besides the most comprehensive directory of local fellowships/groups. The main thing that is different about our Directory is that it is database-driven, everything is done in real-time! When you add or change any item in the Directory, it is instantly reflected on the site. Because of it's highly interactive nature, it is our hope that this Directory will become the definitive Directory and and one of the main central information points for brethren. This is really the underlying mission behind the website: to help unite and support the Sabbatarian Community. In other words, to help You! Any "directory" website is only as good as the information with which it is supplied. That's why we need You to help us! Please take a few minutes to register and contribute your information to The Directory (especially your Contact information), and encourage others to do so. You can add/update/remove any entries you make to The Directory instantly with a click of the button.
Accuracy is also of primary importance to us. And we employ You to help us in this. For any link we display, there will be a button called "IR" (Integrity Report). If you try the Link and it doesn't work or the Link contains inaccurate/inappropriate data, click on the "IR" button and it will be logged on our site so that we can investigate and either temporarily deactivate the link or remove it entirely. This will help us maintain a much more accurate Directory. It is only when a Directory becomes truly "comprehensive" while maintaining "accuracy" that it is useful to its constituents. Please Contact Us with any ideas about how we can make this site more useful to you!
The backbone of our Directory is a comprehensive Group Listing. Each Group entry in the Listing can and should be directly maintained as needed by a person within that Group. Therefore, what is presented is a more personalized "page" of comprehensive information about each group. This allows for each group, no matter how small, to have an up-to-date information "page" on the web without having to create their own website. This page has a static URL unique to that group, meaning one can "bookmark" it (save it to Favorites) and access it directly any time. The Group can give this web address (URL) or their Group ID out to anyone -- it will never change. If a group already has it's own website, The Directory will display that page as well. In addition, the Directory also provides real-time Events information. Even if a group has its own website, the "Events" section will be beneficial because having the information within The Directory will provide the event with much greater exposure. This Events functionality is available to local fellowships as well as all participating Para-Churches and Organizations. This allows us to show you what's going on throughout your state, region, or the nation for any given time period!
We realize that there may be groups listed that may not be of interest to each person. That's why we've added Query Filtering capability so that you can taylor the Listing to your particular needs and interests while still allowing us to offer an "open" Directory for Sabbatarian groups. The Links Directory contains Link information for other Sabbatarian sites, Personal Ministry sites, Youth & Singles sites, Mailing Lists/Forums/Clubs, Christian non-Sabbatarian sites (NS), as well as a separate section for Sabbatarian Businesses.
This section provides Direct Resources to brethren by presenting direct links to on-line Articles, Audio Messages, and Newsletters/Publications. Hint to those producing on-line resources: add your links here to get more exposure to your materials! This allows an organized, one-stop shopping place for brethren to get to needed resources [by Category/Author, etc...] quickly without having to surf through hundreds of websites. Authoring and Hosting information is visible for every link, so the user can go directly to the authoring/hosting site as well.
This section is the "heart" of our website--to help bring Sabbatarians together in a "Virtual Community". A place where they can dynamically interact and share. Our Contacts page allows you to find long-lost brethren or to make new friends! Add your name, e-mail, and other interesting information to the list! The Events section reports on special opportunities for learning and fellowship amid the Sabbatarian community. The News section allows brethren to share relevant news. The Classifieds section allows for communication of specific needs or resources. And what would a Christian website be without Prayer Request and Praise Report sections for brethren to help support and encourage each other and to praise and glorify our awesome God!
It is our fervent hope that this website will provide some blessing to everyone who visits. Although we attempt to "cater" to Sabbatarian brethren, there may be material reference links to useful and edifying non-Sabbatarian entities as well. We will always place "NS" where we know it is a non-Sabbatarian entity. We hope that our users will provide the same courtesy. We do not do this out of any form of "exclusivity", but for information purposes only. If users come to expect mainly Sabbatarian information on the this site, we feel it is our duty to indicate to them when it is otherwise. Besides some of the bedrock doctrinal beliefs, the Sabbath is the one thing that still unites many of the Sabbatarian Churches of God brethren.
Again, please Contact Us with any ideas about how we can make this site more useful to you.
A special thanks to our Partners who have volunteered their time and efforts in support of this website.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another...
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 13:34-35
Blessings!
The Sabbath Directory
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