Blended focus is urging local churches to offer ‘gift of health’ to community
The Seventh-day Adventist Church announced the first phase of a comprehensive approach to health outreach, one that for the next year and a half will involve promoting health evangelism to local church members and administrators.
In the coming years, top leaders hope local congregations will offer programs as a “gift of health” to their communities.
“What would happen if 70,000 Seventh-day Adventist churches opened their doors to … teach wellness,” said Mark Finley, assistant to the world church president for evangelism. “This will broaden the base for an evangelistic approach that goes beyond preaching – addressing spiritual, mental and physical modalities,” he said.
Finley introduced the initiative to some 350 delegates today at Annual Council, which is the yearly meeting of the denomination’s Executive Committee at the church’s world headquarters.
For the next two years, a renewed approach on health outreach will be promoted through church media to help prepare members and leaders for the upcoming plans and implementation of projects. “This is a conscious attempt to broaden the understanding and base of local church members and leadership,” Finley said.
The second phase of the comprehensive health ministry approach will begin in mid 2015, offering resources and ideas for local congregations to deliver as health outreach initiatives.
Health Ministries director Dr. Peter Landless said next year’s summit in Geneva would offer training for comprehensive health ministry initiatives. Leaders also said each of the denomination’s 13 world divisions would have training programs for the upcoming outreach approach using health.
The renewed approach to health outreach comes after months of planning to combine many health and ministerial initiatives. Leaders emphasized that the focus is not solely an initiative of the Health Ministries department, but a blending of all ministries.
“Comprehensive health evangelism involves all kinds of gifts, all kinds of ministries, and God will use us together in this thrust in the coming days,” said Jerry Page, secretary of the denomination’s Ministerial Association.
