The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a growing, dynamic international community of faith, reported Matthew Bediako, secretary of the Adventist Church worldwide, during his address September 26 to members of the church's executive committee.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a growing, dynamic international community of faith, reported Matthew Bediako, secretary of the Adventist Church worldwide, during his address September 26 to members of the church’s executive committee.
Reviewing the events of the past few weeks, Bediako said the terrorist attacks in the United States have “brought home to us a message that we live in a frightening world—and it grows more so each day.”
“Life comes with no guarantees, except this: that Christ loves us, that we are saved through His death and resurrection, and that He has promised to come back and rescue us from the sad, uncertain, frightening world we live in.”
“So as we go into the agenda of this historic Annual Council,” said Bediako, “let us do the business of God’s church with the assurance that He is in control.”
Bediako called current church growth rate “strong,” reporting that the Adventist Church officially passed the 12 million-member mark in June this year. While significant growth continues, said Bediako, the current 6.03 percent growth rate is slightly lower than last year’s unusually high rate of 8.18 percent.
Over the past five years, an average of 2,400 new believers joined the Adventist Church each day. Growth has been greatest in the Africa-Indian Ocean region, the Eastern Africa region, and the Inter-American region, where more than 55 percent of the total number of new church members live.
By the end of this decade, the Adventist Church will have a total membership of 20.4 million, if the average growth rate of the past decade continues, said Bediako.
Bediako sounded a caution, however, pointing out a noticeable increase in the rate of those leaving the Adventist Church. Currently, an average of 21.5 members leave for every 100 who join. This is up from 1999 when an average of 17 members were lost from membership rolls for every 100 that joined the church.
“These figures suggest the need for careful administrative analysis and response,” said Bediako.
Bediako also reviewed the progress and challenges facing the church’s key ministries, services, and initiatives, including Global Mission, education, stewardship, health ministries, and volunteerism.
He paid tribute to supporting ministries of the church, naming Adventist-Laymen’s Services and Industries and Maranatha Volunteers International as organizations that continue to make significant contributions in furthering the mission of the church.
For the full text of the report, go to www.adventist.org.
Adventist president Pastor Jan Paulsen’s opening address to Annual Council was reported in an ANN Special Report September 25. For the full text, audio, and video of his address, go to www.adventist.org.
