hat these meetings are about is Jesus," said North American Division president Don Schneider during his opening remarks at the 2004 Year-end Meetings. "We have business to discuss and policies to vote, but the real reason we're here is Jesus."
The session's theme-"If not now, when? If not us, who?"-as well as the location of this year's session in historic Battle Creek, Michigan, also emphasized the spiritual focus.
"I want us to think about how we're going to reach every person in the North American Division within the next five years, and how we're going to reach every person on the streets where we live," added Schneider. "If this isn't the time to reach them, then when will it be? If you're not the person to reach them, then who should it be? When you walk around the Historic Adventist Village on Sabbath, think about how you're going to tell others about Jesus."
The Village
Historic Adventist Village director Stan Cottrell, Battle Creek Tabernacle members, and many other volunteers organized several Sabbath programs for the approximately 250 session delegates in attendance. On Sabbath morning the delegates chose to attend three of five services held in several period buildings in the village.
Craig Newborn, professor in the department of Religion and Theology at Oakwood College and director of the Ellen G. White Estate Oakwood Branch Office, presented a seminar titled "Ellen G. White and Her Critics" in a replica of the 1861 Parkville Church, the first Adventist church to be legally organized. Newborn discussed what church leaders can do to help reverse current trends that downplay the role of White's writings. "The Adventist Church is at a moment of crisis that is intimately connected to the disengagement of a growing number of church members from the writings and ministry of Ellen White, the church's prophet," said Newborn. "Her contributions are so much a part of the fiber of this denomination that disengagement from her writings by current Adventists bodes ill for the future of this church."
Richard Davidson, professor of Old Testament at the Theological Seminary at Andrews University, presented a 75-minute feature in the Historic Village's large reconstructed barn. It focused on the central importance of the church's sanctuary message to all of its other doctrines-many of which were hammered out in meetings in Hiram Edson's upstate New York barn. "The great wheel" of truth, a visual device developed by the church's pioneers to illustrate the relationship between the sanctuary message and other important beliefs, was highlighted by Davidson, and participants offered recommendations as to how the church could better emphasize its distinctive teaching in its pulpits and classrooms.
Ellen G. White Estate director and Adventist Heritage Ministry chairman Jim Nix shared church pioneer stories of sacrifice, commitment, and prayer in the replicated 1857 Meeting House. "Sometimes the suits worn by our pioneer ministers shone green in the sunlight because they were so worn," said Nix. "No one would think of buying a new suit until it totally fell apart because the money needed to be given to the cause. And the pant knees were the first to go-they were so often on their knees in prayer."
George Knight, professor of Church History at the Theological Seminary at Andrews University, offered a spirited and frank message in a meeting tent located on the village campus. "One problem that has become central to Adventism is that Jesus hasn't come, so Adventism loses its point," said Knight. "This has led to a tendency to downplay the apocalyptic context. But everything we believe needs to have an apocalyptic context."
Indiana Conference ministerial and evangelism director Peter Neri led prayer services in the former Battle Creek home of James and Ellen White (1856-1863). It was in the upstairs front bedroom of this home in 1858 that Ellen White wrote the first edition of what is now known as The Great Controversy.
Secretary's Report
Roscoe Howard, North American Division secretary, presented an encouraging report of Adventist church growth at the Friday afternoon business session.
World church membership, as of mid-year 2004, is 13,663,497. The number of accessions (baptisms and professions of faith) during the past four quarters was 1,006,492, the second time in Adventist history that the number has exceeded one million. This breaks down to 2,756 accessions every day, or one baptism every 31 seconds. A year ago there was one Adventist for every 480 people in the world; this year's figure is one for every 468. One Adventist for every 299 people is projected by the year 2014.
North American Division membership has passed the one million mark-1,001,872 as of October 21, 2004. The total number of NAD church plants for 2000-2003 is 596, and baptisms in this period have averaged 30,000 per year.
According to Howard, NAD challenges for the future include congregationalism, unity in diversity, and global church growth (NAD's influence on the world church and its mission focus). He described the church's future tasks as taking the gospel message to all North Americans, preparing for Christ's second coming, and reaching out to a dying world in tangible ways that show Jesus' love for humanity.
Treasurer's Report
Highlighting church growth during the last 100 years, NAD treasurer Juan Prestol informed delegates that in 1904, total church membership was 81,721, with a tithe income of $691,819. These figures contrast with today's world membership of more than 13 million, and NAD's 2003 tithe income of $727,180,606. The church experienced a tithe increase of 2.7%, or $19,375,457, in 2003, with the highest per capita increase occurring in Bermuda. Currently, there is a five percent increase in tithe in 2004 compared to this time last year.
Prestol presented graphs that illustrated the following tithe-expense breakdown:
GC expenses to missionaries-1.89%
Net amount retained by unions-2.59%
Retirement defined benefit-9%
GC institution appropriations-.44%
GC operations-3.13%
GC appropriations-1.02%
GC appropriations to overseas divisions-2.52%
NAD operating-1%
Retirement defined contributions-3%
Amount retained or spent on behalf of local conferences-75.41%
Projected NAD tithe income for 2010 is $1,011,081,295. According to Prestol, every Sabbath about $22 million is put into the offering plate.
For more information on how NAD funds are used, go to www.nadadventist.org then click on Resources-Department-Treasury-and The Use of Tithe, Ingathering, and Other Funds 2002.
Retirement Policy Amendment
Southwestern Union Conference president Max Trevino, who chaired an eight-member committee that reviewed NAD retirement issues at the request of NAD administration, reported that after studying retirement trends and perceptions during the past five years, the committee recommends that the division continue with the current defined contribution plan.
Because of what NAD retirement administrator Del Johnson described as a "valley of concern" in the current retirement plan policy, however, delegates voted an amendment to the Retirees Health Care Assistance Plan. As of January 1, 2005, the level of retirement assistance will be extended to include all of an employee's qualifying years of service-those accrued under both the former NAD retirement plan (defined benefit plan) and the current plan (defined contribution plan). The "valley of concern" refers to mid-range employees, those who had not been under the defined benefit plan long enough to meet the minimum requirements, and won't be under the defined contribution policy long enough to benefit from that plan.
Denominationally Owned Stations-Policy Amendment
Delegates voted wording changes to help clarify policies and guidelines for radio and television stations owned or operated by church entities, including the following:
To qualify for status as a denominational entity, the constituency of the station must be members of the Adventist Church. Station boards must be appointed by the constituency, and at least half of the constituency must not be members of the board. The amendment also requires stations to be audited by the General Conference Auditing Service or a church-approved auditing agency.
Walter Pearson Challenges Attendees
During Monday morning's devotional, Breath of Life director/speaker Walter Pearson challenged the delegates to witness boldly for God. "I have seen what God can do, and I'm impressed," said Pearson. "The church has nothing to fear. So, why do some of us show such amazing timidity?"
"I don't think everyone should act like a black preacher, but act like an Italian preacher or an Irish preacher or some kind of preacher speaking in God's power. God has given us the power," Pearson added. "I believe we need to get to the place where we're naïve enough to take God at His word. If you're waiting for the 'time,' then you don't understand the time, because we're running out of it. Let's show people the miracles."
Pearson also reported that thousands of baptisms resulted from the Breath of Life “Experience the Power” satellite evangelistic series held October 2-30. At the home site of Miracle Temple in Baltimore, Maryland, 149 people were baptized. Pearson’s messages were uplinked by the Hope Channel to nearly 1,000 sites in Africa, Europe, North America, Inter-America, Australia, and New Zealand, and were translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Swahili.
Delegates Express Overwhelming Support
for Historic Adventist Village
Delegates delayed other agenda items Sunday afternoon to express their support for the ongoing ministry of the Historic Adventist Village, which they had toured and worshiped in the previous day. Learning from Adventist Heritage Ministry chairman James Nix that the mostly volunteer organization is in difficult financial straits, some speakers urged a comprehensive funding solution that distributes the costs for necessary salaries and operating expenses across the North American Division and to the other 12 divisions of the world church. At least three conferences pledged immediate financial help to secure the ongoing operations of the village, and others strongly urged administrators to secure the future of the ministry by spreading costs across a wider financial base.
Adventist Heritage Ministry, begun in 1980, now owns and operates a three-block piece of Battle Creek's historic West End valued at nearly 3 million dollars, in which many of the church's pioneers lived and worked from 1852-1902, as well as the upstate New York farms of church pioneer Hiram Edson and the homestead of William Miller, the founder of the Adventist movement in the nineteenth century. To date, it has operated through donations from hundreds of supportive church members and occasional special grants from church entities. Thousands of visitors, Adventists and otherwise, annually visit the Historic Adventist Village and the two New York sites.
When asked what was the most beneficial aspect of this year's session, Florida Conference president Michael Cauley said, "The opportunity to walk again in the footsteps of our pioneers--to sit and walk where they did; to hear the stories of their prayer life, their commitment, and their sacrifices. These are anchors that bring clarity and focus to the church's mission and perspective."
Adventist Review Hosts
Luncheon for Presidents
Seventy-five conference, union, and college presidents gathered at noon Sunday in one of the McCamly Hotel's function rooms for a luncheon hosted by the Adventist Review. This annual event, usually hosted at the church's world headquarters during the NAD's year-end meetings, offered leaders an informal opportunity to fellowship with Adventist Review staff, ask questions, and hear important information about new initiatives.
Sunday's session focused on the scope and mission of the magazine's proposed new Adventist World edition, slated for monthly distribution beginning in September 2005 to more than 1.4 million Adventist homes and 5 million English-reading members worldwide. Executive publisher and editor William Johnsson reviewed the content plans for the new edition, which include regular features on the church's fundamental beliefs, Spirit of Prophecy, health, Bible study, and leadership development, as well as ample news and information sections.
Other magazine initiatives, including its six-year old New Believer Plan, by which local conferences and the Adventist Review team send a year's subscription free to each newly baptized Adventist, were reviewed by marketing director Jackie Ordelheide Smith. Associate editor Bill Knott briefly highlighted plans for a new wide-ranging survey of the magazine's subscribers that will be coordinated by the Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University early in 2005, and will provide important opinion and demographic information to the editorial team for strategic planning.
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Sandra Blackmer is the news editor of the Adventist Review.
