How is the Seventh-day Adventist Church going about telling the world about Jesus? This question was answered at the start of the church’s Spring Meeting, one of the church’s biannual business meetings. The meetings started with reports from around the world that showed seven ways the church can implement the church’s vision to invite every person in the world to Tell the World about Jesus between 2005 and 2010. Reports showed an increase in the Tell the World goals of spiritual growth, community involvement, personal witness, church planting, city outreach, evangelistic programming and media ministry. 

In reviewing the significant growth of the media ministry in the Euro-Africa region, Gabriel Maurer, secretary for the region, said, “It is not big events but it is thousands and thousands of small witnesses that bring people to Christ.”

“It is wonderful to be a part of a church that is moving forward,” Michael L. Ryan, a vice president for the Adventist world church, said in response to the reports. He added that the church plans to hold 400,000 evangelism meetings in this quinquennium.

Pointing to the upswing in new Adventist congregations since 2001, Gary Krause, director for the church’s Office of Adventist Mission emphasized that the proper nurturing of members was essential to successful church planting.

The meeting continues on Wednesday with financial items and a few constituency legal meetings on the agenda. Wednesday’s financial agenda is expected to report on the increase in the church’s mission offerings indicating that mission awareness is increasing in local churches throughout the world.

On Tuesday, the council also voted on an appeal called “Conserving Membership Gains” regarding church member retention and the reclaiming of former members. The document came as a recommendation from the Council on Evangelism and Witness and is intended to receive widespread distribution to church leaders and local congregations.

The document cites rapid membership growth throughout the world as well as membership losses. Between 2000 and 2005 the church baptized more than 5 million people yet lost nearly 1.4 million. A full report on the document will be available later this week.