Pastor Don Schneider, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, opened the church's Year-end Meeting October 28 with a call for church leaders and members to embrace a vision for evangelism.
Pastor Don Schneider, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, opened the church’s Year-end Meeting October 28 with a call for church leaders and members to embrace a vision for evangelism. He highlighted different evangelism initiatives—around the world, across America, and in New York City—throughout his address to the more than 320 committee delegates.
Schneider challenged each of the conferences and colleges in North America to send someone to work in New York as part of the church’s coordinated outreach effort there. He noted that Adventists are a smaller percentage of the population in New York City than they are in Papua New Guinea. “If you really want to be a missionary, go to New York,” he said.
“I look around our division and I say, ‘We must do more for the Lord,’” said Schneider. “You want to have fun? Fun is leading people to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Schneider previewed the church’s evangelism plans through 2005, a line-up of initiatives that includes public evangelism, youth-led outreach, and church planting projects. A calendar of these initiatives will be featured in the November North American edition of the Adventist Review.
Year-end Meeting is an annual meeting of the entire 325-member North American Division Executive Committee. It meets each autumn to vote policy changes, elect leaders, consider strategic changes in plans, and hear reports.
On Monday, delegates heard a report from the division treasurer, Juan Prestol, who explained how tithe income is divided and used. During the afternoon, they met in small groups with North American media ministries, including the Adventist Communication Network, Adventist Information Ministry, Breath of Life, Faith for Today, It Is Written, La Voz de Esperanza, LifeTalk Radio, North American Division Evangelism Institute, and Voice of Prophecy.
The meetings, which conclude October 31, will also address retirement and remuneration rates for church employees.
