I had never heard of the Reformed Presbyterian Church until I placed Geneva College on my list of prospective schools. In God’s providence I chose Geneva, and three of my four roommates were RPs.

As we shared stories of our lives, it was obvious that many memorable things in my roommates’ lives had happened at RP camps and conferences. Those events also created connections with people around the country and around the world–some of whom they now were seeing again on Geneva’s campus.

As a mainline Presbyterian, I marveled at this. It seemed unusual to me, but I was also envious. I knew little about my own denomination beyond the bounds of my local congregation. I couldn’t have gone to college anywhere and found the connections these people had.

Reformed Presbyterian International Conferences have been milestones in the lives of thousands of saints. They have served as a small but permanent reminder of the worldwide connections of Christ’s body, the Church. They have been the place where hundreds made a deeper commitment to Christ, or where they met people who would make a permanent difference in their lives.

Some RPs look back at their personal history and recount it in light of those four-year mileposts that are the International Conferences, much like they see their lives in light of other mileposts such as school years, weddings, births, and special vacations.

We’re making a big deal of the 2012 RP International Conference, because it is a big deal. This year it will be even bigger, and, for most of you, even closer (Marion, Ind.). For me and my family, the International Conferences have been more than worth the sacrifices to attend. We now look back at past conferences, gathering around those mileposts in our minds, savoring the blessings and the fruit. May God bless many of you in a similar way.

Big Changes–Speaking of mile markers, this is the month that brings a significant change to the magazine. The biggest part of that change actually won’t appear here: You’ll have to go to RPWitness.com to see that the magazine is now available online to our subscribers. With this change, we’ll be able to offer additional features to you–some of which you can see now, and others that we will add in the coming months. You’ll also have access to our archive of back issues, which we are building right now. And of course you’ll continue to receive the print edition, now coming out every two months in an expanded 36-page format. We’ll be adding some features to that in the coming months as well.