With a focus on interacting with secular, post-modern people, Seventh-day Adventist mission experts and directors from the church's Global Mission study centers met in early December in Sydney, Australia. They reported on progress and challenges facing the centers and discussed future plans for Adventist relations with other faith communities.

"The study centers were established by Global Mission to research and model methods of building bridges and reaching out to people from other faith and cultural traditions," says Mike Ryan, Global Mission director and a vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Scott Griswold, director of the Buddhist Study Center, introduced new Bible study guides that are being prepared in local languages and contextualized for a Buddhist audience.

Jim Coffin, director of the Center for Secular/Post-modern Mission, introduced the center's Web site at www.secularpostmodern.org which will serve as a resource for those working with secular, post-modern people.

The group also discussed issues facing mission work and the agenda for the next issues committee, which will be held in the spring. That committee will look at parameters and guidelines for parallel church structures.

The study center group also joined with attendees of the Remix conference -- which met to discuss faith, community and mission in a post-modern culture -- in hosting adherents from Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and, by video, the Jewish faiths. Each faith representative was asked to share their personal testimony on what is special to them about their religion.

Pat Gustin, director of the church's Institute of World Mission, spoke of how Paul varied his presentation of the gospel depending on the people he was trying to reach. Each study center director presented challenges and practical ways to relate to people from other faith groups.

"As religion becomes a focal point for conflict and violence in the world, it is more important than ever for us to build bridges of understanding and extend a hand of friendship to other faith groups," Ryan says.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was born in the middle of the 19th century as part of a popular religious awakening. Since then it has developed into a comparatively strong Christian World Communion. Some 30 million Christians in more than 200 countries regard the Adventist Church as their spiritual home. Adventist Church today is the most widespread Protestant denomination. [Editor: Rick Kajiura, Global Mission, and Christian B. Schaeffler for ANN/APD]