A recent meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Chaplaincy Ministry in the South American Division brought together more than 600 participants from July 8 to 10, 2024, at the São Paulo Adventist University Center (UNASP), Engenheiro Coelho campus. Themed “A Calling, a Mission,” the event aimed to encourage chaplains to maintain their missionary projects, which influence their institutions.

Chaplains are responsible for leading and conducting spiritual projects in various Adventist institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and media outlets.

Lucas Alves, the chaplaincy coordinator for the South American territory and organizer of the event, emphasizes that the meeting is essential to reaffirm the value of chaplains and to guide the mission of their work. “The value of this meeting, among so many things, such as recognition, appreciation, and investment, is also to say that they can do much more in this ministry,” he says.

Antônio Marcos Alves, the Education department director, emphasizes that chaplains have a primary responsibility since their work within schools is directly linked to the essence of Adventist Education. “It is the school pastors who lead the entire process of spiritual development of students. They lead the entire process of training missionaries, forming a missionary mindset within the context of students,” he explains. 

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The program included several moments of worship, general lectures, and specific workshops on themes such as mission, new generations, and teaching. Another highlight was the chaplains' visit to the Museum of Biblical Archaeology (MAB), an opportunity to learn more about the history of Christianity. 

Homero Nascimento is a chaplain at the Adventist College of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He values ​​the exchange of experiences with other colleagues. “The meeting helped to establish important concepts for contemporary chaplaincy. These guidelines are important for us to fulfill the mission in an aligned manner,” he emphasizes. 

With the mission in focus during the programs, Alves states that the work of chaplains is essential for the church and that it needs people prepared for the role. “You need to know how to work with students, understand the routine of a school, and know how to reach the parents of students as well. So when you think about the school, the clinic, the hospital, you need to contextualize that environment, that reality, the dynamics of that scenario,” he emphasizes. 

The missionary work carried out by chaplains in their institutions influences students, families, and the surrounding communities. “We have an enormous, incredible number of families who entrust their precious gifts to our education and our pastors. In chapels, in Bible studies, in Bible classes, in weeks of prayer, and in evangelism that they can do within the school or in the community where the school is located, they lead this process of disseminating eternal truths to this community as well. It is, therefore, a central work of the chaplaincy in the entire Adventist educational system”, concludes Marcos. 

The event also saw the baptism of the Madureira family, a result of the work of the Adventist College of Hortolândia's chaplaincy, and the baptism of Júlia, a student at the Adventist College of Rio Claro. These baptisms reinforce the chaplaincy's influence on the daily life of its institutions. At the end, all participated in communion.

The original article was published on the South American Division Portuguese website.