Newly re-elected leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Dr. Jan Paulsen held a half-hour press conference this afternoon in America's Center, St Louis, where the church is holding its quinquennial business meetings.
Newly re-elected leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Dr. Jan Paulsen held a half-hour press conference this afternoon in America’s Center, St Louis, where the church is holding its quinquennial business meetings.
In his opening remarks Dr. Paulsen said that the day had been special for him, not just because of his re-election but because it was also his, and his wife Kari’s, fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Opening questions from the more than 100 reporters, representing Adventist-oriented television, radio and print media, focused on the role of young people in the church and their apparent lack of involvement. “We need to do better at talking with our young people,” Paulsen confessed. “They need to feel that we are sincere about wanting to hear them ... We have not done terribly well in giving young people a sense of ownership and involvement in the church.”
Paulsen has a good record in dealing with young people himself, having instituted a series of live television programs where he talks directly with a young audience. However, he recognizes that a lot more needs to be done, particularly in the area of youth leadership. “We cannot just simply leave things as they were yesterday, ” he said. “I’ve got to be ready, in a local congregation, to sit down and let [the youth] stand up. I’d be delighted to trust a younger one with responsibility ... Yes, they would make mistakes, [but] didn’t you?”
Responding to a fellow Norwegian’s concern about the lack of church growth in Europe, Paulsen said that people should not see lack of growth as evidence that God is not involved; “God is there,” he said. He also pointed out that church members and leaders should not compare their situation with that in other parts of the world and that the best solutions to regional problems are usually homegrown.
In a related question one reporter asked whether or not the church was facing a financial crisis due to its rapid growth. “Income is not declining,” replied Paulsen. “Where the church is growing rapidly so is her capacity for self-sufficiency ... As a church we are always ‘broke,’ but the resources are there.” Paulsen related finances to a sense of mission. “When the church is being ‘the church,’ our laity give. Summing up the spirit of giving, which is ingrained in the Adventist psyche, he added, “No Seventh-day Adventist wants to meet the Lord with his bank balance intact!”
When pressed further on the challenges posed by the church’s growth, Paulsen pointed that new churches were not growing as quickly as they could simply because ‘capacity’ could not keep pace with numerical growth. New congregations need to have pastoral care and they need to “have to have a physical facility where people can meet,” he said. A more important challenge though is that of maintaining the church’s unity, he said. “Where you grow rapidly there is a danger of forgetting that we are a world church.” He emphazised that the Adventist Church does not want ‘regionalism’ and that unity is something that has to be worked on.
“Will you remain in office for the full term?” was the final question put to Dr. Paulsen. “I’m happy with what I do,” he replied. “I have a wonderful team of fine colleagues. I have been wonderfully blessed.” The Lord “owns the future,” he continued, choosing his words carefully, but “I go into it as an open assignment.”