Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

by Jeff Zaremsky
The Beth-El Shalom of New Port Richey congregation celebrated Shavout, the Biblical Holy Day of the Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost) by reading the ten commandments in Hebrew. A special part of the day occurred when three individuals joined the congregation by baptism and one by profession of faith.
Brenda Bowman, who is Jewish through her father, and her husband, Arnold Loomis, were baptized by Rabbi Pastor Jeff Zaremsky in the Anclote River. Several years ago, Brenda started attending services with the Beth-El Shalom of St. Petersburg congregation and even attended a series of meetings held there with the help of Adventist-laymen’s Services & Industries (ASI) youth before moving away. Recently, Brenda, Arnold, and Brenda’s mother, who is preparing for baptism, moved back into the area closer to New Port Richey.
Nelson and Irene Janice started attending the congregation a year ago after Nelson met Jeff at a Passover service. He was intrigued by how we viewed the Jewishness and the Messiah as one. He was baptized and his wife was accepted into membership by profession of faith.