By the time you read this, the annual meeting of Reformed Believers Publishing (RBP) will be finished. The speeches from the annual meeting will appear in some form in future editions of Sword and Shield, Lord willing, so keep an eye out for those. On behalf of the editors, the board, and the organization, a warm welcome to all who have joined Reformed Believers Publishing this year. We are thankful to be able to labor with you in the publication of Sword and Shield. May God bless the witness of his truth in the magazine.

For those who are not yet members but would like to be, it is not too soon to start thinking about joining RBP. At the next annual meeting in October 2022, new members will be received. Since you are thinking about it now, this would be a good time to email the office or visit the website and request membership: https://reformedbelieverspub.org/membership/.

While you are writing your email or are on the website, you could also let the board know your interest in obtaining bound volumes of Sword and Shield. The board provides this notification: “Now that we are well into the second volume year of Sword and Shield, the RBP board is interested in hearing from our readership about the interest in obtaining the issues from the first year in a bound volume. Please send an email or letter to the business office and indicate your interest in getting a bound volume. Depending on the level of interest, we will respond with a price and procedure to order.” This is exciting news, and I, for one, am looking forward to having bound volumes. Looks like it’s time to start finding those stray issues from under the couch and on top of the bookshelf and getting them in order for binding. For those of our readers who have been burning their copies of the magazine, I am guessing that there will be some sort of option to purchase a bound volume without turning in your old copies. We will wait to hear what is possible, but for now I encourage all of our readers to let the board know if you are interested in bound volumes.

With thanksgiving to God, we present to you this issue of Sword and Shield. Most of the writers in this issue have already been introduced to you. We do have one new contributor: Dr. Hilgard Goosen. Dr. Goosen and his family were most recently members of the Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. As an elder at the time of Synod 2018, Dr. Goosen was a delegate to the synod and served on the committee of preadvice regarding the Reverend Overway sermons and the appeal of Mrs. Meyer. He recounts the fascinating history of his own role in the controversy, including his work on the committee. His article was originally submitted as a personal letter to the members of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church when he and his family left the church to worship with the faithful congregation, the consistory, and Rev. M. VanderWal in Edmonton. Several people encouraged him to submit his letter as an article for publication, and we gladly publish it here. With his permission, his letter has been copyedited for printing. Not only does his article serve as an important part of the historical record of the reformation that God has worked, but Dr. Goosen also teaches sound doctrine in his letter.

May God speed the truths written herein to your heart and the next issue into your hands.