Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in South America have voted to implement "Integrated Evangelism 2002,"a wide-ranging plan to unite the efforts of all church departments and institutions--from schools, to medical facilities, to publishing houses--in f
Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in South America have voted to implement “Integrated Evangelism 2002,” a wide-ranging plan to unite the efforts of all church departments and institutions—from schools, to medical facilities, to publishing houses—in fulfilling the mission of the Adventist Church.
“The time is over when church departments are only concerned with the topics of their area,” said Ruy Nagel, president of the Adventist Church in South America. “Today, all departments have to support evangelism.”
The plan, adopted at the South American church’s annual leadership meeting held April 30 to May 2 in Brasilia, Brazil, also calls for the expanded use of mass communication in “preaching of the Adventist message, especially in the large cities and metropolitan centers.” Leaders also committed themselves to “better control financial resources” in order to facilitate “the work of witnessing of the church members.”
“We have two departments that move the church—Personal Ministries, which involves all members, and the Ministerial Association, which orients and trains pastors and elders,” Nagel said. “Youth Ministries and Women’s Ministries are new forces that should be involved with this mobilization. The other departments have to give total support with concentrated action in evangelism.”
Those attending said that the meeting was marked by the unusually large amount of time–-some 80 percent—dedicated to discussing plans for church growth. Church leaders from each country, region, and department presented their visions and ideas for participating in the central strategy of Integrated Evangelism.
