The newly formed Council on Evangelism and Witness will explore new ways of more effectively fulfilling the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s mission of sharing hope, says Pastor Ted Wilson, a general vice president of the Adventist Church worldwide.

The inaugural two-day meeting, bringing together more than 40 church pastors, evangelists, administrators and theologians from around the world, convenes September 18 at the Adventist Church world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. It will specifically examine challenges ranging from postmodernity to secularism to various cultural and social barriers to the church’s global witness.

“The council’s objective is to formulate every possible means of evangelistic outreach for sharing Jesus Christ and the Advent hope with those who need to hear it,” says Wilson, who will help chair the meetings.  Wilson says that presentations and discussion topics will include issues of urban evangelism, lay involvement, reaching “unchurched” people, satellite evangelism, and the special challenges of the so-called 10/40 Window, an imaginary rectangle on the world map that takes in much of Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa.  The council will also explore innovative uses of new technology for evangelism.

Wilson says that seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit is “foundational” in knowing how to proceed.  He adds that the council will spend time each day in prayer and the study of Biblical principles of evangelism.

According to its terms of reference, the council will be both a stock-taking body and an evangelism think-tank. It is charged with assessing the effectiveness of current methods of evangelism and encouraging “experimentation and assessment of new approaches.” Another objective is to find ways to maintain “worldwide church consciousness of the primacy of evangelism and witness in church life.”

The council was created by the Adventist Church’s executive committee, a group of 330 delegates from around the world, meeting at the world church headquarters in October 1999.

Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church worldwide, said then that the aim was to set up a “creative forum on evangelism and witness with a broad mandate and a sharp focus on things we value highly.”