29 November 2012 St Albans, England [Miroslav Pujic, tedNEWS] Seventy-eight delegates from the eleven Unions and three attached Fields, which constitute the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European region (TED), met from 21 – 26 November in Becici, Montenegro. The theme of the annual council was “Making God Known, a fresh perspective.”
Dr Bertil Wiklander, President of the Trans-European Division (TED), says, “The focus of the Annual Council 2012 was to approve our new strategic mission plan for Europe, present numerous reports and plans and projects for events, services and resources that will help the church in the TED to make God known; approve the budget for 2013, receive guidelines and policies for our work, conduct leadership development workshop, drive the development of Newbold College forward, and inspire, envision, strengthen and nurture the spiritual faith of our leaders and members.”
Representatives from the Adventist World Church Headquarters, Dr G. T. Ng, Executive Secretary, Elder Robert E. Lemon, Treasurer and Pastor Orville Parchment assistant to the President, attended the meetings and provided counsel.
During four intensive days, the Committee listened to reports and the plans from administration and departmental directors, discussed numerous policy changes, processed various items of business, and discussed current and future major initiatives.
Reports
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In his keynote address Dr Wiklander said: “We now make God known in a spiritually cold and yet materially well-to-do Europe, where God is not known. Ignorance and indifference are our two great challenges. As leaders, our great need is the same as it has always been: To remember our life-changing meeting with God, as we walk with him. The first Christians brought many radical changes as they witnessed the risen Christ. What they said was totally different from what people in those days believed about the resurrection. This can only be explained by a crucial and unexpected event that converted them. God had made himself known to them in a new way! So, let’s make God known! Let’s follow Jesus in being faithful to God like him.”
Audrey Andersson, TED Executive Secretary, presented the Division’s statistical report showing the membership of the Trans-European Division was 82,768 at June 2012. “This is a net increase of 911 over the past year. Eight of the 11 unions and three attached fields saw a decline in membership over the past year a trend which could be reversed if we could improve the retention of our existing members. For every 3.3 people baptised one person leaves the church. Preventing this membership drain should be a priority”, concluded Andersson.
Jóhann E. Jóhannsson, TED Treasurer, reported the financial situation and plans for the next year saying that “tithes and offerings in local currencies have been relatively stable during the last year, despite the financial crisis in many countries within our territory, especially in Greece. Some of our unions and fields have experienced moderate increases, while in others tithes and offerings have decreased, and drastically so in some countries. We give praise to the Lord for our members’ faithfulness during these financially challenging times.”
Making God Known is the theme of the newly revised TED Strategic Plan that was presented by Pastor Raafat Kamal, TED Field Secretary, and approved by more than 80 leaders and attendees. The vision is to bring a fresh challenge to bear witness to Jesus Christ and his teachings to over 200 million people residing in the countries of the TED. The plan follows the GC model “Tell the World” with three main goals to Reach Up (worship), Reach Out (witness) and Reach Across (community) – in every community, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas. Based on 30 commitments and multiple exciting actions, the TED leaders entered a pledge with God and with each other to pray, to study, to plan, to prioritise, to work together and to grow together in making God known in Europe.
Dr Philip Brown, Principal of Newbold College, reports a 9.5% increase in student enrolment for 2012-13, including a 45% increase in students living on campus. Recent initiatives taken to enhance the student experience include the refurbishment of the Cafeteria, the full renovation of Keough House (Men’s Hall of Residence) and the initial refurbishment of Schuil House (Women’s Hall of Residence) with a refurbishment of the College Gymnasium scheduled from mid-2013. The College has joined the Adventist College Abroad (ACA) consortium. This is attracting students who wish to combine a ‘British Heritage’ suite of modules with studies in business, English literature, history, media, music, psychology and/or religion. Increasingly flexible delivery options are resulting in more students pursuing postgraduate theology studies. The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programme continues to grow in popularity. During June and July 2013 a number of campus-based intensive study options will be offered across six themes: Media Studies; English Literature; Teacher Education; Business Studies; History and Theology (undergraduate); and Theology (postgraduate). More details of this programme can be accessed at www.newbold.ac.uk.
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Reports from individual Unions and Fields indicated the full commitment of the leaders, in mission outreach and evangelism. At the same time all of them recognised the challenges faced in postmodernism, secularism, materialism, traditionalism and a resistance to Christian beliefs. Each report pointed out the special role of the church, namely that the church is more than a social club, more than a group of men and women with common interests. Rather, it represents God’s activity in the world and man’s response to that activity with thanks and willing obedience.
To watch some of the reports presented at the meetings, please click here.
The Executive Committee also voted new assignment: Paul Tompkins, Director for Ministry to Clergy Families.
Evangelism
Pastor Raafat Kamal, TED Adventist Mission Director, explained the purpose of the mission of the church across the Division: “The three-fold purposes for Adventist Mission are to enter new areas, reach new people groups and revitalise existing churches. For the first 9 months of 2012, the fields, TED and GC have supported 82 projects within the TED with over $1.4 million dollars – this includes funding for 2 Centres of Influence in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden. This has led many people to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour or request Bible studies. Over the past 17 years, the church organisation has supported thousands of Global Mission projects to the value of $30 million dollars. We praise God and thank Him for his blessings and we request from our members to continue praying for the work of our Global Mission pioneers”, concluded Kamal.
LIFEconnect ministry (www.lifeconnect.info) has been proven as an excellent new evangelistic model creating online communities in making digital disciples with the real people. Thirteen languages, out of 21 registered, made the fantastic results in having 11,000 members of the network; 138,000 visits every week; 241 bible studies, and already 15 baptisms. “I am so thrilled with the LC concept and the report that I heard”, says Iselin Fjeld, lay representative from Norway, and continued: “LC has shown me the great value and potential of going bigger and much wider than we ever have. I believe in meeting people where they are already, where they are available. And this is definitely where you find Norwegians today, on social media.”
Great Hope Project (GHP) is ready to start, reports Dr Miroslav Pujic, TED Publishing Director. “The TED is part of the Great Hope Project worldwide. The vision of this initiative is to engage members and pastors in witnessing to make disciples of Jesus Christ. This will be achieved by sharing 2 million copies of literature for the purpose of bringing spiritual seekers into a better understanding that our only hope can be found in Jesus Christ as a person and that His Second Advent will be a final solution to life’s challenges.”
The plan is to do a massive distribution of the attractive Great Controversy magazines, Escape for adults and Connect for youth, to raise the interest of people who want answers to critical questions about the challenging times we live in. Once the interest is shown, Bible studies will be conducted using the message book, Experiencing the Joy, accompanied with a DVD and curriculum. In addition to this The Great Controversy book will be offered to those who want to learn in depth about the battle between good and evil. Finally, invitations will be offered to follow Jesus and make a commitment by the action of baptism.
Pastor Reidar J. Kvinge, the president of the Adventist Church in Norway sees the GHP material as a fantastic resource: “This is the most appealing and helpful material I ever seen. ‘Is life more than surviving? Why are we here? Why is there so much evil in the world? Are there reasons to hope?’ These and many more questions are reflected upon in such a way that I want to share this with all my friends. People who want a life changing experience will certainly benefit from what they read.”
The Initiatives of the General Conference ‘Mission to the Cities’ with the aim to significantly share the Gospel in 650 major cities around the world before 2015, found positive response at the TED. London is to be the evangelistic focus for the 2013 were more than 100 evangelistic programmes will be done. Janos Kovacs-Biro, TED Evangelism Director and the leader of the programme says that the “the vision is to involve all local church communities in activities which would make God known in a felt and practical way within their communities, mission territories. The aim is to recruit a task force in order to cover practical ministries like community services, health approach, media ministries, youth ministry, Bible studies, etc., to provide training for all who want to be involved.”
“There is a work to be done in the cities, so many of us lose our children in the jungle of the city,” emphasises Pastor Sam Davis, President of the South England Conference.
Comments
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Renate Hazel, lay representative from the Netherlands, says: “After a few days filled with meetings, Sabbath came as a welcome change of pace! We heard testimonies, instrumental specials and inspiring video clips. To me, there is nothing better than when the church unites in singing. Songs like ‘Ancient Words’ and ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ touched my heart. The hotel lobby filled with music and I spotted one of the hotel staff joining us, in her own language the song “Morning by morning, new mercies I see”!
Ossi Turunen, lay representative from Finland, says: “The meeting provided an opportunity for learning from the experiences of other unions, networking, spiritual strengthening, hearing a large number of excellent talks, and discussions with high quality people and with leading persons about timely topics for today.”
Kärt Vahtramäe, lay representative from Estonia, says: “I am really glad I have been given the opportunity to take part in such a gathering of the leaders of the church. With all the devotionals, the reports on God’s miracles and blessings, as well as the presentations of the evangelistic programmes and resources that have been developed for spreading His love, the meetings provide an experience that (re)inspires and (re)motivates me in my work for the local church.
What is there not to like – the food is fantastic, the venue surprises me each morning with an indescribably beautiful view over the sea and the mountains, the weather has been warm and welcoming, the company simultaneously awe-inspiring and inclusive, and the Sabbath a brief glimpse at what heaven might be like! For a lay member, this kind of leadership meetings and organisational matters may at times seem too distant and even unnecessary or useless. Some issues may appear deceptively clear-cut from the safe surroundings of the local church, and some vaguer and more confusing than they become when addressing them in a company of people from all over Europe who know their business, and – most importantly – know God’s business. It is reassuring to see our leaders’ dedication to and passion for His mission – no, these people are no different from us (no saints or extra-holy men in the group); and yet, they are blessed with the skills, knowledge, faith and inspiration necessary for leading our church and providing for it.
Pastor Orville Parchment, Assistant to the GC President: “I experienced a tremendous blessing while attending the 2012 TED Annual Council. The spiritual atmosphere was inspiring. The attitude among the attendees was outstanding. The initiatives and programs outlined by the administration of the Division, Unions and Attached Fields will certainly be effective in sharing the good news of the gospel. The location was invigorating and splendid. Let us move forward in faith to continue to “Make God Known in Europe”
Conclusion
In his final remarks Dr Wiklander noted that “we succeeded by God’s grace, our excellent teamwork, and very good cooperation with the Unions to achieve our objectives. I am very pleased with the atmosphere and participation in the meetings. We have shared a great amount of material, especially as we launched the Great Hope Project, and approved plans for the Mission to the Cities project which will focus on New York and London next year, and for the Pan-Europe Adventist Youth Congress in Novi Sad, Serbia. It was also very impressive to see how many evangelistic projects around TED are now working extremely well, and they are creative and innovative and leading to baptisms everywhere. Some unions have had strong growth and church plants have turned into churches. The use of social media through LC ministry has also become prominent and we are making a bigger impact on our societies than before. We had a vigorous and significant discussion about the church’s time-table in answering our request to ordain women for the gospel ministry and reported on our study of the theology of ordination including women’s ordination. We have started a new work in Cyprus which is looking very exciting. We pray for the situation in Greece and thank God that our church there is doing many things to relieve the suffering of the people. Above all, we have been encouraged to engage in our mission with spiritual tools, our faith and reliance on God, and we have been reminded that we will not give up in the ‘race’ to make God known. I would like to invite all readers of this newsletter to come on board with us and never give up. [tedNEWS]
If you would like to see more photographs from the TED executive meetings, please click here.
To learn more about the Trans-European Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, please visit our websites: www.ted-adventist.org – www.lifeconnect.info – www.tedmedia.org – www.essenceofworship.org – www.lifedevelopment.info – www.ministrytopostmoderns.com
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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