Oakwood University Chaplain T. Marshall Kelly sings Friday night, April 8, at the opening of Spring Meeting.
Seventh-day Adventist leaders highlighted church mission, both within and outside its own walls, at the Friday night opening of Spring Meeting, one of the denomination's two major annual business meetings.
Delegates also approved the meeting agenda as Sabbath began, before holding a spiritual service at McKee Auditorium at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, United States.
Executive Secretary G. T. Ng called for mission efforts to not neglect people who are already members. Without many choosing to leave the church, world membership would now likely be 24 million instead of the nearly 17-million at present, Ng said.
"Nurture is part of our mission. We just read that in our mission statement, unless I need new glasses," Ng said.
Other leaders also challenged the church to include a variety of people in mission. Ministry magazine Editor Derek Morris and called for the church to increasingly include specialized professionals in assisting pastors with ministry. He read from the sixth chapter of Acts, in which a growing church called for other Spirit-filled people to assist with the work, allowing pastors to focus solely on ministering.
Friday night's service opened the weekend meeting of the denomination's Executive Committee. Business sessions will be held Sunday and Monday.
The committee is meeting this week at Oakwood University, an institution directly affiliated with the denomination's world headquarters.
The Friday evening service also featured testimonies and music from students of the University, a historically Black institution.
The service was broadcast on Hope Channel, the denomination's television network.
Business sessions are periodically held at sites away from the church's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Beginning Sunday, delegates are expected to address agenda items that include:
-Transparency and accountability measures in financial reporting.
-A review of compensation.
-Confirming upcoming international Bible Conferences.
-An update on a Middle East and Mediterranean Survey commission, which is studying a possible realignment of church administrative structure in the region.
-Electing an associate director of the Stewardship department at the world headquarters.
Spring Meeting is one of two major annual meetings of the Executive Committee and addresses budget and finances. Top leaders from each of the church's 13 world divisions are present. The other, Annual Council, held each October, typically addresses a wider range of items, including policy, and also includes presidents of each of the church's Union administrative units.