Adventist Heritage Center

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1 Adventist Heritage Center From: Sent: To: Subject: Tamara Karr Tuesday, November 1, :11 AM Adventist Heritage Center FW: Monday Trending From: Adventist Review On Behalf Of Adventist Review Sent: Monday, October 31, :31 PM To: Tamara Karr Subject: Monday Trending NAD Year-End: Discussing the Unity Document NAD Year-End: Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End: NAD on Track to Open 300 New Churches This Year 1

2 Login Search Subscribe Menu What Every Christian Should Know About Halloween Week of Prayer Readings Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Hermeneutics and Slavery Adventist Students Baptize 71 Fellow Students at Public University in Zambia Public campus ministries flourishes at Kwame Nkrumah University. Daniel R Provide V Its Eyes During ye NAD pres and follo SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

3 NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Members of the North American Division Executive Committee seek clarification and share feedback. T POSTED OCTOBER 31, 2016 he business session of the first full day of the 2016 North American Division (NAD) Year-End Meeting closed with a discussion of the Unity in Mission: Procedures in Church Reconciliation document that was voted by the General Conference Executive Committee during their Annual Council Meeting on Oct. 11, Members of the North American Division Executive Committee spent a two-hour period seeking clarification and shared feedback on the document that seeks a process for the potential conflict that may arise when a disagreement takes place involving biblical principles as expressed in the Fundamental Beliefs, voted actions, or working policies of the Church. NAD President Daniel R. Jackson chaired the discussion and, after a short introduction to the topic, expressed his desire for each committee member to feel open in sharing their feelings even if they are in disagreement with his own. Jackson then asked NAD Executive Secretary Alex Bryant to explain the path that produced the document, with Bryant sharing the developments that resulted in the document s creation and explained that a process was in development for policy violations. Jackson acknowledged this will impact the two NAD unions that have ordained women into pastoral ministry, currently not allowed by voted General Conference policy, and additionally all world divisions are being called upon to audit their fields for potential policy violations. I go to a school that believes in equality. I believe in equality... Students are Once the floor was opened for discussion, microphones were quickly filled with young members of the NAD Executive Committee seeking answers to the many questions that the voted document was causing in their local communities. Several representatives of the Adventist Intercollegiate Association, the student leaders of the Adventist institutions of higher education in the NAD, expressed concern that the document was not understood by

4 confused, hurt. They feel helpless. younger members in the church and causing discomfort as they viewed it as a threat to their future. One young delegate shared, I go to a school that believes in equality. I believe in equality... Students are confused, hurt. They feel helpless. Another countered with, As a young person, I support the GC's decision and the biblical distinction in roles between men and women. This issue is talked about on our campus a lot," said one university student representative, It has a large bearing on whether people will stay in the church. The same student then wondered what they would go back and say to their fellow students. Jackson responded with an emotional plea, Sometimes (the church) makes a mess of things, and we need your forgiveness, but not your absence. More seasoned committee members comments also mirrored their younger colleagues with Lake Union Conference President Don Livesay asking all members who had direct contact with a young person negatively impacted by the document to stand. Nearly everyone in the auditorium rose to their feet. Jackson and Bryant said the NAD would follow the protocols that are established by the General Conference document, but clarified that currently there has not been a formal finding of noncompliance. Discussion on the document was tabled for later in the business proceedings as the Sabbath hours were approaching and the chair felt the need to have proper time to prepare for the evening vespers program. News & Features Current Adventist News Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2016, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

5 Login Search Subscribe Menu What Every Christian Should Know About Halloween Week of Prayer Readings Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Hermeneutics and Slavery Little-known Adventist hero subject of proposed short film Educator Erwin Cossentine stood against NAD Exec Continue Two Moti U.S. internment of Japanese during Second in Mission World War Executive Support o SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

6 Andrew McChesney News editor, Adventist Review NAD on Track to Open 300 New Churches This Year Jose Cortes Jr. describes new congregations as vital to the life of the church. T POSTED OCTOBER 31, 2016 he Seventh-day Adventist Church is on track to establish 300 new congregations across North America this year as part of an initiative to open 1,000 new churches over five years, a senior church officer said Sunday. A total of 203 congregations were organized from Jan. 1 through Oct. 27, when North American Division president Daniel R. Jackson opened the division s year-end meetings with a first annual update on the Plant1000 program. But the number had swelled to 215 by the time that Jose Cortes Jr., who oversees church planting and evangelism for the North American Division, gave a report about the program to the year-end meetings Sunday. Cortes announced that 300 new congregations might be established by Dec. 31 and emphasized that the growth was vital to the life of the church. Jose Cortes Jr., associate Ministerial director for the NAD, showing new church plants by union at a NAD year-end meeting Oct. 30. (Dan Weber / NAD) If we don t plant churches, we will become a cul de sac in the Seventh-day Adventist highway, Cortes, associate ministerial director for the North American Division, told church leaders from across North America in the auditorium of the headquarters shared by the division and the Adventist world church in Silver Spring, Maryland. The North American Division, which has 1,231,006 members worshipping in 5,493 churches and 853 companies, agreed at its 2015 year-end meetings to implement the Plant1000

7 program to form 1,000 new congregations from 2016 to The division which has found that new churches grow three to five times faster than established churches intends to hold 12 special Seeds conferences (nadei.org) to promote church plants next year. The division also has set aside $10,000 per church plant, and Cortes said Sunday that the division funded 161 of the 215 congregations organized in Of those 161 new churches, 85 congregations were English speaking, 47 were Hispanic, and 29 were immigrants, including 12 refugee groups, according to statistics shared by Cortes. The largest number of new churches opened in The division also has set aside $10,000 per church plant, and Cortes said Sunday that the division funded 161 of the 215 congregations organized in the Columbia Union Conference (51), followed by the Southern Union Conference (31) and the Lake Union Conference (25). Rounding out the list of nine unions were the Atlantic Union Conference (3) and the Pacific Union Conference (1). Cortes was joined on stage by several church planters, including Florida Conference president Mike Cauley and his own father, Jose Cortes, president of the New Jersey Conference, who spoke about their experiences. Pastor Tim Madding told how his Beltsville (Maryland) church opened a new church plant in September to a crowd of 300 people in a dance studio less than a mile (2 kilometers) from the division s headquarters in Silver Spring. Anthony WagenerSmith, a church planter from Tampa Bay, Florida, said he learned that the process of organizing a new congregation was only part of the job. The most important part was nurturing its members to spiritual maturity, WagenerSmith said. He was echoed by Hyveth Williams, professor at the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews University and planter of the Grace Place congregation in a predominantly Roman Catholic neighborhood in South Bend, Indiana. Winning Catholics is easy peasy, she said. We ve got to just love them. Cortes said love was the necessary ingredient for every new congregation. If you are going to plant a church that doesn t love all sinners, then please don t plant the church, he said. News & Features Current Adventist News Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2016, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

8 Login Search Subscribe Menu Daniel R. Jackson, president of the North American Division, presenting the morning sermon during the Sabbath service of the NAD Year-End Meeting, Oct. 29, 2016 in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Dan Weber / NAD) What Every Christian Should Know About Halloween Week of Prayer Readings Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Hermeneutics and Slavery Little-known Adventist hero subject of proposed short film Educator Erwin Cossentine stood against NAD Exec Continue Two Moti U.S. internment of Japanese during Second in Mission World War Executive Support o SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

9 Daniel R. Jackson Says God Will Provide Vision for Church that Opens Its Eyes During year-end meeting Sabbath sermon, NAD president calls on church to be open and follow God s leading. POSTED OCTOBER 29, 2016 D uring the divine worship service Daniel R. Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America (NAD), said we should allow God to open our eyes, that we may see His plan for the Church. Jackson, preaching a sermon entitled Opened Eyes, challenged the delegates, families, and guests attending the 2016 North American Division Year-End Meeting Sabbath program to open their eyes, and trust God s vision and leading in times of trouble. The sermon expanded on the theme of this year s NAD Year-End Meeting, Collaboration 2.0, which Jackson earlier explained was not a partnership with each other, although that is vital, but rather focused on a collaboration between God and His children. Before Jackson began, G. Alex Bryant, executive secretary of the NAD gave a moving introduction. I believe that God in His wisdom looked down and saw 2016, He saw this moment. And He began to prepare a man long before this moment arrived. We call him Dan, but his name is Daniel. And Daniel went into the Lion s Den. The children sang a song, Dare to be a Daniel. Dan, you do not stand alone. We stand with you." I believe that God in His wisdom looked down and saw 2016, He saw this moment. And He began to prepare a man long before this moment arrived. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them, said Jackson, referencing the story of Elisha and his servant, Gehazi, in 2 Kings 6. Three times in the story, said Jackson, Elisha calls upon the power of God to either enable or to disable vision. He noted that the servant would have given up and resigned himself to death had it not been for the direct and gracious intervention of God. God is allowing the issues facing the church to happen so that we can take a look at ourselves and see what is really important." Jackson, who drew on Ephesians 1:17,18, shared three observations during his sermon: It is only a miracle of God's power and gracious intervention in our lives that enables us to see into the spiritual world; God's realities are different from our realities; and when we accept God's reality and place ourselves in the center of that reality, we place ourselves within the place of God's power. "God is exceedingly, abundantly able to do way more than we ask of Him," said Jackson. Near the sermon's end, Jackson related an experience he had with then NAD president Don Schneider and other church leaders on a whale-watching trip in Newfoundland. During the rainy trip back to port after "spectacular" views of a large pod of whales, a teary and grateful Schneider, who had been battling an illness affecting his vision, said to Jackson, "Only a few weeks ago I was going blind. I never thought that, for the rest of my life, that I would ever be able to see such a beautiful sight as I ve seen today.

10 Jackson concluded with encouragement for the Church: "Regardless of how overwhelming the odds whether outnumbered, out maneuvered, out planned, out classed, or out strategized those who are with us are more than those who are with them. He said, "[We] do not need to despair because God is committed to surprising us with joy." News & Features Subscriber Access About Departments Resources Current Adventist News Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2016, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

11 Login Search Subscribe Menu Opening session of NAD Year-End meeting, October 27 Pieter Damsteegt What Every Christian Should Know About Halloween Week of Prayer Readings Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Hermeneutics and Slavery NAD Executive Committee Votes NAD Yea Continued Support of World Church Documen Two Motions Voted During Course of Unity Members in Mission Document Discussion; NAD Executive Executive Committee Votes Continued share fee Support of World Church SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

12 Andrew McChesney News editor, Adventist Review Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service The North American Division opens its year-end meetings POSTED OCTOBER 27, 2016 aniel R. Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, announced that more than 200 new congregations have been established this year D and called on every North American Adventist to participate in the church s mission of spreading the hope of Jesus soon coming. Jackson, giving his annual president s report Thursday at the opening of the North American Division s six-day year-end meetings, said a person s worthiness to serve God was not determined by education, talents, or ordination. I don t care if you are not ordained, Jackson told a packed auditorium at North American Division headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, you are a minister of the mosthigh God. But the bottom line, he said, is that every member must be involved. No matter who you are, God has a call and a claim on your life, he said. Jackson said people across the division wanted to know how to be more effective in mission and it was the job of division leaders attending the meetings to find creative ways to facilitate mission. I don t care if you are not ordained, if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, you are a minister of the most-high God. If you give an adult a chair, he or she will find three to four ways to use it, he said. A child will find 40 ways. He said North American Adventists should keep four words in mind when it comes to mission: reach, Christ-centered message, hope, and wholeness. Speaking of reach, he urged every church member to not only pray for revival in their own churches but to also actively engage in their communities. There is no safety for God's church within the walls of a building, he said. In engaging, church members need to share a Christ-centered message to those around them, he said. If you don't preach Jesus, you are wasting your time If you don't preach Jesus, you are wasting your time and everybody else's, he said. Together with Jesus, he said, church members need to remember that the church has a message of hope rooted in the three angels messages of Revelation 14. The three angels messages proclaim Christ s soon coming.

13 and everybody else's, Jackson said the Adventist Church s distinctive, Christ-centered message also points to wholeness physical, mental, and spiritual wholeness that people can experience today. Those four elements of mission can only be shared through the intentional efforts of church members, he said. I don t care about your education or talents, he said. All can be used by God. Later, he added: All are needed. All are wanted. NAD President Dan Jackson shares his report Thursday afternon Pieter Damsteegt Jackson reiterated the desire of North American Division leaders to employ more women in gospel ministry across their territory and said it was up to each member to decide his or her own views on women s ordination. But he said the North American Division s actions adhered to the policies of the General Conference, the administrative body of the Adventist world church. If you have heard that we are in a state of rebellion, it's just not true. It's just not true, he said, adding moments later, Our emphasis on more women pastors is within General Conference Working Policy. Jackson was referring specifically to the employment of commissioned and noncommissioned woman pastors, Daniel Weber, communication director for the North American Division, said in an interview. Weber said the division currently has about 160 women among its 5,000 pastors.about half of those 5,000 pastors will retire over the next 10 years, he said. More pastors will be needed as pastors retire and the division seeks to open 1,000 new churches over the next five years, a goal that the division announced last year. The division is on track to meet that goal of 1,000 church plants with Jackson s announcement Thursday that more than 200 new congregations have been established since January Weber said the precise number is 203. The division sees new church plants as vital to membership growth. It tweeted on account on Wednesday that new churches grow three to five times faster than established churches and reach far more people who are not members of any denomination. Overall, the Adventist Church in North America has 1,231,006 members Overall, the Adventist Church in North America has 1,231,006 members worshipping in 5,493 churches and 853 companies, G. Alexander Bryant, executive secretary of the North American Division, said in a report after Jackson. He said church growth of 1.42 percent in 2015 was really small in comparison to some regions of the Adventist world church but

14 worshipping in 5,493 churches and 853 companies was one of the fastest among Christian denominations in the United States. Bryant reiterated concerns that he mentioned at the 2015 year-end meetings that a large number of members especially young people were leaving the church. He said 33 percent of members have left the church over the past eight years, a figure that is lower than the world church s 49 percent but nevertheless deeply troubling. The North American Division has taken steps to stem membership losses by making more intentional efforts to engage young adults. One of the sessions at this year s meetings is about how to retain young people. Jackson opened his report on Thursday by asking all division delegates under the age of 30 to stand at the front of the auditorium. He then invited the group numbering about 15 to choose a man and a woman from among themselves because in this division we believe in women and men, just like in other divisions to serve as prayer interveners during the meetings. His instruction to the two delegates was to "aggressively" intervene if discussions got too heated. You are spiritual leaders through prayer, he said. One of the young delegates promptly asked Jackson for permission to offer a prayer. Jackson quickly agreed, and the young man pled with God to lead the meetings. Help us not to be divisive, he prayed. Jackson said he hoped that attendees would leave the meetings filled with hope. News & Features Current Adventist News Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2016, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

15 Login Search Subscribe Menu What Every Christian Should Know About Halloween Week of Prayer Readings Daniel Jackson Says Education, Talents, and Ordination Don t Decide Service NAD Year-End Meeting Discusses Unity Document Hermeneutics and Slavery Little-known Adventist hero subject of proposed short film Educator Erwin Cossentine stood against NAD Exec Continue Two Moti U.S. internment of Japanese during Second in Mission World War Executive Support o SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

16 Andrew McChesney News editor, Adventist Review Adventist Students Baptize 71 Fellow Students at Public University in Zambia Public campus ministries flourishes at Kwame Nkrumah University. E POSTED OCTOBER 30, 2016 vangelistic meetings organized by Seventh-day Adventist students attending a public university in Zambia have resulted in the baptism of 71 fellow students. Many of those baptized at Kwame Nkrumah University, Zambia s largest teachertraining university with about 12,000 students, only learned about the biblical seventhday Sabbath during Bible studies around the time of the two-week meetings, said Ephraim Mutoya Jr., director of public campus ministries for the Adventist Church s Northern Zambia Union Conference. We praise God that many were knowing the Sabbath truth for the very first time but decided to follow Jesus, said Mutoya, speaker for the Oct meetings titled, Blessed Hope Bible Lectures. When Jesus called them to follow Him, 71 responded positively and got baptized on Sabbath, Oct. 22, he told the Adventist Review. Courtesy of Ephraim Mutoya Jr. Courtesy of Ephraim Mutoya Jr. Adventist students organized the meetings and invited fellow students to attend at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kabwe, a town situated 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of the African country s capital, Lusaka. The Adventist students worked under the auspices of Public Campus Ministries (PCM), an Adventist Church department that supports Adventist students studying at public universities and colleges. It was a blessed day for the baptismal candidates as each was presented with a certificate, Bible, and a book, When God Said Remember, said Mutoya, who baptized the 71 students. This was not the first evangelistic series organized by Adventist students from public It was a blessed day for the baptismal

17 universities. In August, students co-led an evangelistic series in Mpondwe, a predominantly Muslim city in Uganda, that resulted in 21 baptisms and a city street being named in the students honor. candidates as each was presented with a certificate, Bible, and a book, When God Said Remember, The evangelistic initiatives are among youth retention efforts overseen by Jiwan Moon, director of public campus ministries for the Adventist world church. The PCM seeks to retain students and young professionals by mentoring them, kindling their missionary spirit, and then sending them out into the world to serve as Jesus hands and feet. In another initiative, the Adventist Church held this month its first annual Global Public Campus Ministries Weekend, a three-day event during which thousands of young people did good deeds on their campuses on Friday, worshipped and fellowshipped on Sabbath, and reached out to their communities on Sunday. news/story4397-adventist-students-witness- 21-baptisms-in-predominantly-muslim-cityin-uganda The goal of PCM is to transform our young people both students and young professionals into being disciples of Jesus, empowering them to share the everlasting gospel, and sending them out into the world to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Moon said Friday. Moon expressed joy about the 71 baptisms in Zambia and said public campus ministries encourages all new church members to share their faith with others. It is encouraging to see that public campus ministries is not only bringing new followers to Jesus but also equipping and empowering them to be missionaries who will change the world, he said. News & Features Subscriber Access About Departments Resources Current Adventist News Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2016, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

18 NAD Year-End: Daniel Jackson Says God Will Provide Vision for Church that Opens Its Eyes Adventist Students Baptize 71 Fellow Students at Public University in Zambia The Creation - The Earth is a Witness Watch Now Copyright 2016 Adventist Review, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: 2

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