Karla Solis, Michael Pedrin and Vasilie Rotaru can't help but stand out in the group of about 200 delegates to the Seventh-day Adventist Church's autumn meeting at the church's headquarters. A quick scan of the crowd explains why. They are some of the you
Karla Solis, Michael Pedrin and Vasilie Rotaru can’t help but stand out in the group of about 200 delegates to the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s autumn meeting at the church’s headquarters. A quick scan of the crowd explains why. They are some of the youngest people on one of the Adventist world church’s most influential committees, the General Conference, or World Church, Executive Committee.
Members come from all over the world. They are traditionally church administrators, pastors, teachers and church members who have had years of experience on similar church committees. Much of the church’s policy is decided each time they meet, in the spring and the autumn.
Of the some 14.3 million people that make up the Adventist Church, about 70 percent are young people. But the majority of a committee such as this are often middle-aged and older members.
Adding young people to the committee seems to be a conscious effort, not only on the part of world church president Jan Paulsen, but from all over the church. Paulsen consistently encourages church leaders to include young people in church business, most recently at the church’s quinquinnial business meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Under his administration Paulsen has initiated a “Let’s Talk” dialogue and a Web site where young people can ask him questions face-to-face and through the Web site. Most recently he requested that young people join this committee.
At an Oct. 9 orientation for new committee members, Paulsen addressed a group of first-time delegates. It is important that the church’s makeup is reflected in its leadership, especially in this critical body, he told them.
“It may seem daunting to be a member of a body such as this, but you can only bring your background—nobody is expecting you to bring what you do not have,” Paulsen assured new delegates. “You were chosen because of who you are. We encourage you to open up—do not be bashful. Make your point of view heard.”
He adds that, “Our first and primary agenda is to look after the spiritual life of the church. Thank you for your willingness to serve with us.”
“This is a big responsibility. This is new to me and I’m so excited,” said Karla E. Guitierrez Solis, a 20-year-old graphic designer at the Universidad de Valle de Mexico.
Solis is the director of publicity and communication at her local church but has never been to a meeting such as this before. “I expect that some of my ideas will count.”
Marius Sturz, 28, is president of the Adventist student group in Romania and runs a private Christian publishing house.
“I understand that I am representing probably for all the members in my region, but I don’t really know what to expect,” he says. “But I come as I am with my educational background and my love for God and the church.”
Robert Vollmer, a 27-year-old engineering student from Austria, says he thinks internationally, especially when it comes to the church. “I believe in the world church and I believe in working hard for the church. I believe we have to give young people more responsibilities and let them make decisions regarding the church.”
Vasilie Rotaru, 31, a teacher at the Moldovan State University law school who also works for a nonprofit civic education group, is very active in his local church.
“From this point on it is very important that youth voices are heard,” he says. “We have a problem with keeping youth and this happens because they are not understood. In my country the middle-aged don’t understand the concerns and wishes that youth have.”
Thirty-three-year-old Michael N. A. Pedrin, from Mangalore in Karnataka state, India says that including young people on this committee is a “Good sign for the church because in the long run it is very good exposure and experience for young people to take that experience early and for a longer time.”
Pedrin is a lay pastor for a small church of 20 in Mangalore and was 23 years old when he led a series of Bible prophecy seminars in Kuwait.
Shelton Green, 29, runs a computer business and explains that youth in leadership are crucial to the life of the church. He hopes the presence of young people on this committee will improve the generational breach that sometimes exists in many churches.
“Seeing the inner workings of the church has really opened up my eyes,” he says. “I really feel that it is time the church marches forward in cultivating a new generation of leaders.”
Baraka Muganda, director of youth ministries for the world church, says that having so many young people on this particular committee is a first. “This sends a very positive signal that indeed the church is serious about involving young people in the mission of the church and its decisions.”
This group of young people are also filled with ideas of what they would like to see happen in their world church.
“I’d love to see the church going into the inner cites and really connect with people there,” says Green. “We’ve always built our churches far away from the cities as if we are trying to escape the world. But have to be in the world to be effective.”
Pedrin wants to see the church organize an international prayer telephone line that can be called 24 hours a day.
Rotaru, who joined the church in 2001, says he would like to see church evangelism change. “As strange as it sounds, in Moldova most people don’t think they need God, so preaching to them doesn’t work. We must first look at their needs. Also from my experience it is very promising to go to people and be friends first. They will want to learn about God by my example.”
The appointment to the General Conference Executive Committee lasts five years.