Preview of 58th General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists

International

St. Louis Adventist Church Meetings to Include Cultural Activities
St. Louis, Missouri to Host Seventh-day Adventist Church 2005 World Session
Adventist World Session Agenda Looks at New Directions; Nurturing Growing Church
Adventist World Session Message Beamed to St. Louis Area
Business Sessions to Take a 'Creative' Approach to Pressing Challenges
ADRA Protests Global Poverty at Convention in St. Louis

Host City of GC Session 2005

St. Louis Adventist Church Meetings to Include Cultural Activities

St. Louis/Missouri/USA | 21.06.2005 | ANN/APD | International

The approximately 70,000 Seventh-day Adventist Church members due in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), to participate in the church’s 58th General Conference Session, will not forget to include the local community. During the 10-day event, there will be several cultural programs available to the public at large, officials say. These include:

Kiener Plaza "GospelFest"

The Kiener Plaza amphitheater has been reserved July 5 to 9 for lunchtime concerts in the park, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. These musical events are presented free to the public and feature artists from the General Conference Session in the Edwin Jones Dome at America’s Center. Each day will feature three to ﬁve artists, with a mix of styles and nationalities represented.

The Sonscreen Film Festival

An expanded version of the annual Sonscreen Film Festival produced by the Adventist Church in North America, this event will highlight the best of young Adventist ﬁlmmakers and also include other Christian ﬁlmmakers from the community and from the ﬁlm industry. With an emphasis on Christian messages, this event will also provide an activity of interest to the ﬁlm-going public in St. Louis as well as Adventist attendees. It will be held in the Roberts Orpheum Theatre located a block from America’s Center on Wednesday and Thursday, July 6 and 7. The festival is being produced and directed by the North American church region.

Bible Festival

This event will have thousands of young people handwrite the Scriptures, but with a twist. This Bible rewrite will be a paraphrase, which will take place on the streets and squares of St. Louis involving thousands of Adventists from the church’s convention as well as youth from area churches, synagogues and mosques and from no church at all. Each person will write a portion of Scripture, putting it in their own words. The resulting version will hardly be "authorized" but it will reﬂect a community’s understanding and view of scripture at a certain place and time. The resulting "St. Louis Bible" will be presented to the city of St. Louis as a gift. This event is being planned and coordinated by the North American church’s Youth Department, directed by James Black.

Classical Oratorio

A classical oratorio by Dr. Virginia Rittenhouse will be performed, under her production, on Friday afternoon (July 8) at 3 p.m. The performance, featuring full orchestra and a 50-voice choir, will be held in the Christ Church Cathedral, an Episcopal church about six blocks from the Convention Center at the corner of Locust and N. Tucker Street. [Editor: Reger Smith for ANN/APD]

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St. Louis, Missouri to Host Seventh-day Adventist Church 2005 World Session

St. Louis, Missouri to Host Seventh-day Adventist Church 2005 World Session | 21.06.2005 | APD | International

The world session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will bring an international flavor to St. Louis, Missouri, the heart of the United States of America. The gathering will be representative of the 25 million strong Adventist family from around the globe, and will meet under a theme of "Transformed in Christ."

Convening the session will be Pastor Jan Paulsen, world president of the church, who shared his expectation that the meeting will be a "time of wonderful fellowship and spiritual refreshment." Referencing the theme of the St. Louis gathering, he said that it "provides the spiritual focus of the Session—it will be a celebration of what Christ has performed in our lives, and a reminder that we also have been called to be agents of transformation within our communities."

The Session, to be held June 29 through July 9, 2005, is primarily a business meeting for the global church family. Denominational leaders are elected, church business is attended to, and policy decisions are often made. Because the core "business" of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that challenge will permeate activities at the St. Louis 2005 convocation, Paulsen said. "At the heart of all that we will do, and all our decision making, there is really only one objective: to better prepare and equip our church for the mission God has given us,” Pastor Paulsen said. “We are essentially a witnessing community, living in anticipation of the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Organized by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the highest administrative body in the church’s worldwide system, the quinquennial world session will be the 58th for the denomination since its first General Conference Session in 1863. The St. Louis convocation marks the first time Adventists have held their worldwide gathering in the USA in 15 years. Daily attendance at the event is expected to average more than 10,000 people; on the two weekends, more than 70,000 are expected to attend.

Some 2,000 voting delegates from all over the world will gather at the America's Center in downtown St. Louis to participate in meetings that will determine many of the church’s administrative actions for the next half decade. They will receive reports on the church’s growth
in those parts of the world where the Christian message is "reaching the unreached," and have
the opportunity to meet fellow believers and church workers from other lands.

Around the world, Adventist Christians are among the fastest-growing churches today. Adventists work in 203 of the 228 countries and areas recognized by the United Nations, and communicate in more than 717 languages. Seventh-day Adventists operate one of the largest Protestant educational networks in the world, with 5,605 elementary through university level schools worldwide. Of those, 99 are colleges and universities, and more than 1,000,000 students attend Adventist institutions each year.

Hundreds of personnel will assist Session managers Linda de Leon and Sheri Clemmer, in staging the event. The world church is working with leaders from its North American Division as well as the America's Center staff and the St. Louis Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to handle the massive arrangements involved in bringing delegates and visitors to the event, housing them, and feeding them. As during previous such events, Session participants will become patrons of perhaps the largest vegetarian restaurants to be operating at that time anywhere.

Participants of such world convocations have often favored the international evening programs,
which feature reports from all over the world. Other special events associated with the Session
will aim at creating a global awareness and sensitivity to the world community, which is a part
of the Adventist mission to the world.

In a certain sense, the theme "Transformed in Christ, " suggests an objective for Seventh-day
Adventists to "transform the world," one church leader said.

Organizers are planning to use the media to bring the St. Louis 2005 event to viewers of Adventist Television Network (ATN) and other communication delivery organizations, including Adventist World Radio (AWR). Regular reports will be available to delegates of the session and church believers around the world through the church’s weekly magazine, Adventist Review, and the worldwide press coverage of the US-based Adventist News Network and the Adventist Press Service, based in Europe. The meetings are open to the general public. More information can be found at www.adventist.org

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Adventist World Session Agenda Looks at New Directions; Nurturing Growing Church

St. Louis/Missouri/USA | 21.06.2005 | ANN/APD | International

Continued growth in Seventh-day Adventist church membership worldwide will top the agenda of the church's world session in St. Louis, Missouri this summer. Delegates will address the challenge of church life and growth management in the worldwide church. The 2,000 voting delegates to the business meeting will affect the direction of the church for the next five years and beyond as they consider new resolutions and vote on new international leadership of the church.

Adventist World president Jan Paulsen sees the church's upcoming business meeting as an opportunity "to better prepare and equip our church for the mission God has given."

Adventists have chosen "Transformed in Christ" as the theme for their 58th quinquennial business meeting. "The theme is fitting, as change, growth and transformation are at the heart of Adventism," comments Ray Dabrowski, director of communication for the world church.

With more than 5 million members joining the church in the five-year period since the last meeting in the year 2000, such growth presents concerns, says Matthew Bediako, secretary of the world church. "How do we nurture and retain thousands that join the church?"

Despite dynamic growth of the church in Africa in past years, which was so great the church recently added a new administrative region in East Central Africa, the church continues to lose members each year. In the past five years the church has lost roughly a million members, which represent around 7 percent of the entire global membership.

The meeting will also allow leaders to make decisions about fundamental church beliefs that can only be addressed in a setting such as this. A new fundamental belief -- Growing in Christ -- was adopted at the church's 2004 Annual Council meeting, but will officially be added to the existing 27 at the 2005 meeting. It emphasizes daily communion with Christ. "We've never had one that emphasizes prayer, meditation and worship before," says Larry Evans, undersecretary for the world church.

This addition to the fundamental beliefs will encourage members to realize that the church is fluid and ever-changing. "It is also important to demonstrate to members that the church is not locked into a creed," Evans says. "Truth emerges as time changes."

At an executive committee meeting that meets two days before the business meeting, church leaders will also vote on a resolution concerning the role of the Bible in the Adventist Church.

"We are reaffirming the Bible and its central role in the life of the church, and we urge members to seek ways to share its message with others and in their own lives," Evans explains. Adventist Christians accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.

The committee will also reaffirm the authenticity of the writings of Ellen G. White, a co- founder of the movement. The affirmation follows support at the executive committee's 2005 Spring Meeting for a plan to distribute key books written by Mrs. White to every Adventist family, to provide spiritual help and direction toward the Bible's counsel.

Another major issue is the number of delegates to attend such future meetings. Currently the number is limited to 2,000; but, Evans explains, the delegation committee wants to keep that number more flexible to make room for new church organizations.

Delegates will also address world regions and local church regions that plan to reduce staff or reorganize.

Although this meeting will not carry some of the more hotly-debated issues from recent years, such as women's ordination, divorce and remarriage, Bediako confirms significant decisions will be made at the 10-day meeting. Though a major part of the assembly is the business aspect, Bediako also sees the gathering as a huge family reunion with up to 70,000 people expected to attend on the weekends.

"We are now in 206 countries and some will, for the first time, see their brothers and sisters from other parts of the world," he says.

In addressing delegates and participants, Jan Paulsen, president of the world church, says: "At the heart of all that we will do, and all our decision-making, there is really only one objective: to better prepare and equip our church for the mission God has given us. For we are essentially a witnessing community, living in anticipation of the return of our Lord." [Taashi Rowe and Christian B. Schaeffler for ANN/APD]

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Bikllboards announce GC Session

Adventist World Session Message Beamed to St. Louis Area

St. Louis, Missouri/USA | 24.06.2005 | APD | International

With as many as 70,000 Adventists and friends expected in St. Louis during the 58th world church business session, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is explaining the sudden influx to the local community.

A series of billboards, television, radio and newspaper advertisements will tell residents about the meetings and why the 142-year-old denomination is assembling in the center of the United States to conduct its official business.

"We're in town in a big way, but a lot of people don't know who we are and why we're there," said Reger Smith Jr., director of public relations for the world church. "We [Adventists] have a challenge of presenting ourselves to the community as a face they can recognize," he added.

Normally, the local Adventist church membership of roughly 3,500 people with 14 congregations would be all but lost in the 2-million-plus St. Louis area, where the majority of people are Roman Catholic Christians, followed by members of the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod, with headquarters in a St. Louis suburb. But the presence of the General Conference Session will draw attention to the Adventist movement, creating an opportunity, Smith said.

The advertising "becomes part of a bigger outreach that we are doing, saying we're here as part of the community," he said. Other outreaches will include cultural events, community service projects and a Bible festival to which the community will be invited.

[img id=479 align=left]A key element of the advertising program is five large billboards visible on major roadways around town. Each shows two expressions on a person's face, one that is sad or conflicted, and another that is happy and confident. Headlined "The Ultimate Makeover ... Transformed in Christ," the billboards are designed to quickly convey the Session's theme of regeneration through faith.

"Our challenge was to make 'Transformed in Christ' not just an internal slogan for the meeting, but also something that reaches and connects with the community; the idea was to add 'the ultimate makeover,' playing off the public's interest in [television show] makeover themes. It's the makeover that lasts," Smith said.

He added, "Then we found we had the opportunity to do television, newspaper and radio; so that's when we decided to expand the same theme to a television commercial. Using this theme of the people, we wanted to represent a variety of people showing the spectrum of the church's membership."

All the models were people who either work at the church's world headquarters or are members of nearby congregations. The creative team of the world church's Communication Department included Smith, communication director Ray Dabrowski, media relations director John T.J. Banks, public relations specialist John Torres and communication intern Melita Pujic.

Global Mission videographer Daniel Weber and freelance musician John Stoddart contributed to the television ads, which were voiced by Adult Bible Study Guide editor Clifford Goldstein. The TV spots, the first Adventist church advertisements filmed in high-definition, used still photos as visuals, with Pujic and Smith as the photographers.

Two additional TV ads will air in St. Louis, informational spots created by Adventist Media Productions (AMP) in Simi Valley, California. One pre-Session spot explains why Adventists are coming; a second, to air during the meetings, will offer more information. Both spots invite the public to attend events at the America's Center venue.

The world headquarters and North American Adventist church region are sharing the cost of the media buys, while North America has covered the production costs for the ads, Smith said. The media campaign is likely to be repeated in Atlanta five years from now, when another major city will wonder who is visiting in such large numbers, and why. [Editor: Mark A. Kellner for ANN/APD]

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Business Sessions to Take a 'Creative' Approach to Pressing Challenges

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 24.06.2005 | APD | International

The upcoming world Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, June 30 to July 9, will focus not just on business items, but will also creatively look at how to answer several pressing issues for the nearly 14 million-strong mainstream protestant Church.

These issues include: high rates of members leaving church fellowship; the challenge of reaching out to secular societies; the urgent need for dedicated leaders to serve a growing church; and the absence of a strong church presence in large -- and growing -- cities of the world.

The business meeting, known as the "General Conference Session," brings together church members from around the world every five years, 2,000 of which vote on important issues facing the church in the coming five years.

This is a rare opportunity, says Pastor Jan Paulsen, world church president. "The business agendas of sessions have come to be viewed as somewhat routine and predictable. But this time we are deliberately saying: 'Let's come together as representatives of our international family and creatively reflect on some significant issues--matters of critical importance for the health of our church, and our ability to engage more effectively in mission.'"

Two agenda items -- Profiling Adventist Leadership and Challenges to Mission 2005 to 2010 -- will highlight these concerns.

A series of five presentations and discussion periods will explore the essential qualities of Adventist leadership. Issues such as integrity, response to diversity, acting with responsibility, and ecclesiastical authority will be discussed against the background of extraordinary church growth, and the increasing need for high-quality, committed leaders.

Five one-hour discussion periods will focus on the church and spiritual life, the church and society, the church and apostasy, the church and the cities, and the church and secularism.

"Recent studies have identified these as areas of serious concern," says Pastor Michael Ryan, a world church vice president and director of the Office of Strategic Planning. "We have an extraordinary chance at this Session to prayerfully consider these challenges, and to gather input from world church leadership about how we can move forward in the next five years to address these concerns."

For each topic there will be a brief presentation, but the largest portion of time will be reserved for comments and discussion by delegates. The discussion will be recorded, distributed, and will become part of the thinking and planning of church leaders as they come together for Annual Council, one of the church's two annual business meetings, later this year, says Ryan.

"The time devoted to these presentations and discussions has just one purpose: to prepare and strengthen our church for the mission with which we have been entrusted," says Paulsen. "Until our Lord returns, this will always be our most pressing responsibility." [Editor: Bettina Krause for ANN/APD]

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ADRA Protests Global Poverty at Convention in St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri/USA | 28.06.2005 | APD | International

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International is protesting global poverty at its exhibit at the 58th World Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, June 28 – July 9.

To enable exhibit visitors to partner with ADRA in protesting poverty, ADRA International is allocating US$400,000 of general project funding, which visitors will designate to poverty-fighting projects included in ADRA’s 20th anniversary issue of its The Really Useful Gift Catalog. Sample catalog projects include training women in small business skills in Papua New Guinea, providing care to infants orphaned by AIDS in Siberia, and paying school fees for a child in a developing country.

"The tsunami that devastated parts of Southeast Asia and Africa this past December generated an unprecedented generosity and sense of individual responsibility to get involved," says Tereza Byrne, bureau chief for marketing and development at ADRA International. "Reflective of the spirit ADRA saw following the tsunami, we created an exhibit that enables visitors to be directly involved in ADRA’s ongoing global fight against poverty."

Additionally, ADRA will tape six live programs of its weekly radio broadcast, ADRA’s World Radio, featuring interviews with its staff from countries such as Mongolia, Russia, and Thailand. A daily publication, ADRA Daily, includes feature stories, project reports, and updates on how visitors are allocating the funding. At ADRA’s Marketplace, visitors can purchase ADRA merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, binoculars, and pins. Customers receive ADRA currency equal to the amount of their purchase to allocate to the projects of their choosing at ADRA’s main exhibit.

According to the World Bank, 2.8 billion people, about half the world’s population, struggle to survive on less than US$2 a day. ADRA’s community development programs in food security, primary health, basic education, and economic development address the debilitating effects of poverty.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at http://www.adra.org

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