The pivotal role of evangelism in the life and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was reaffirmed last week as church leaders from around the world met to explore new ways of sharing the Adventist message of hope.

The inaugural meeting of the Council on Evangelism and Witness, held September 18 and 19 at the world headquarters of the Adventist Church, was significant on a number of levels, says Pastor Mark Finley, an evangelist and secretary of the Council.

Finley says “the very fact that there is a Council on Evangelism and Witness at our church headquarters” indicates the high priority placed on evangelism by church leadership.

“There is a danger that after more than 150 years, the Adventist Church could become institutionalized in its approach to its mission,” says Finley. But the meetings provided “tangible evidence” to the contrary, he says, as church leaders from around the world shared their passion for evangelism and spoke about the challenges they face in their regions.

Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church worldwide, has said that the “rationale for the setting up of such a council is very simple.  The church’s primary function is to witness.  When that is accomplished, we are useful to God.  If that function is not accomplished, we may as a church be busy, innovative, resourceful, and even ingenious, but not an instrument of God’s mission.”

“We are living at a time when the growth of the church is exploding,” says Finley.  “And the more we grow, we have to ask the question ‘what more should we be doing to fulfill our mission as a church?’”  To focus inward, instead of outward, at this point would be a deadly mistake, Finley adds. 

Finley says that the initial meeting of the Council was also important in establishing a level of “collegiality” among members of the group, who came from Australia, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and the United States. Participants included pastors, church administrators, evangelists and lay people.

Finley acknowledges that the members represent a vast array of different cultures and environments. But he says that the “diversity and variety enhanced the productivity” of the group. “If, for instance, my specialty is urban evangelism and I’m taken and put with a group dealing with the challenges of the 10/40 window,* it forces me to think out of the box, to think more creatively,” he says.

Urban evangelism, lay training, new technology, “reaching unchurched people,” were some of the areas studied by small discussion groups formed by members on the second day of the Council.  Future meetings will build on the creative process started by the Council at this initial gathering, says Finley.