Christian Record Services, Inc. celebrates 120 years of ministry to the blind in 2019. “With the Lord’s guidance, it is the members, donors, volunteers, and employees who have made Christian Record impactful all of these years,” said Diane Thurber, president of Christian Record. “To all of you, we say a hearty ‘thank you.’ And we invite those who are just now learning about who we are and what we do to join our community. You’ll be in great company!”
Christian Record’s Annual Day of Giving promotion is Sabbath, April 13, 2019, and it is the emphasis for the World Budget offering.
Here are a few quick facts. At the very beginning, “Christian Record” was the name of our Braille magazine. It was the only Christian-focused Braille magazine published in 1899. The name carried over to the nonprofit that now also provides many services for people who are blind, along with its magazines (and, yes, “Christian Record,” the Braille magazine, is still published to this day).
Christian Record led the way for many other innovations and services that together inspire and transform lives. It was the first organization to offer a blind camp, beginning in the ‘60s. The camps give individuals who are blind an opportunity to be themselves and freely create and engage with the community. A couple of decades later, the organization was the first to pioneer a new kind of book that provides Braille along with images, print, and an audio disc for the entire family to enjoy.
Today, Christian Record is still continually looking for the best way to serve its members. In 2017, it launched an online library of nearly 2,000 titles. Members may request many of these titles in formats specifically for them, including refreshable Braille, large print, audio streaming, and downloading, and on National Library Service’s digital cartridges. Through the online library, they may request Bibles, the new Discover Bible Study Guides in Braille and large print through our Bible School, select the next books they wish to read or listen to, and much more.
Since the 1980s, Christian Record has awarded college scholarships to students who are blind who demonstrate academic promise. The program was initially endowed by a former employee and continues to grow through gifts by people interested in the program. In 2018, a total of eight scholarships were awarded.
Christian Record has prepared items for churches to use, in support of the ministry during the World Budget offering appeal on Sabbath, April 13, that can be downloaded from the website CRSBday.org. Provided online are:
- Posters
- Videos (long or short versions)
- Bulletin Insert
- Offertory Reading
- Sermon (print or audio file)*
For more information on CRS, please visit www.christianrecord.org or call 402.488.0981.
