Some 300 leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will spend the next six days chiseling out grounds for agreement on issues ranging from tithe distribution to mission funding while gathered at world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland for Annual Council, one of the church’s biannual business meetings.

Reinforcing the church’s united front for mission will be a major undercurrent driving the agenda for the October 12 to 17 meetings, says Larry R. Evans, the world church’s undersecretary. Evans says the church’s effort to stay connected and pool its resources has long been one of its greatest strengths.

“Exciting things are happening in the [Adventist] Church and keeping such a rapidly growing movement united and focused on mission does not happen by chance—it demands full participation by leadership with opportunity for and give-and-take dialogue,” Evans says.

Annual Council is the only meeting in which church policy is voted.

Delegates representing the global Adventist Church will hear reports from the church’s Office of Adventist Mission and its Secretariat and Treasury departments. The church’s Commission of Ministries, Services and Structures will also report on its progress in determining possible adjustments of church administrative structure. 

While the church’s budget report might seem less than riveting, Evans admits, it’s nonetheless an important indicator of the church’s priorities. He says delegates will hear of opportunities for mission work, particularly the Tell the World initiative in regions where the Adventist message has little foothold.

The “noteworthy” naming of a new associate director for the church’s Biblical Research Institute is also on the Annual Council ticker, Evans says. “This appointment really underscores the church’s commitment to find Biblical answers to pressing current issues in a changing social environment.”

Evans says delegates will also address pivotal steps the church can take when government anti-discrimination laws require the church to consider hiring people who practice alternative lifestyles.

Visit news.adventist.org  for daily coverage of all Annual Council events along with links to photos, audio and video clips from selected sessions.