November 18, 2008 – Miami, Florida…[Libna Stevens/IAD] – Miami, Florida…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
Managing the existing and potential fast growth of the church in the Inter-America Division (IAD) was one of the major concerns top church leaders from the Seventh-day Adventist Church discussed during the Executive Committee meetings earlier this month. The business meetings–one of two annual meetings held each year–gathered more than 100 church leaders to Antillean Adventist University in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
With more than three million members among its 17 major church regions, leaders are working towards ensuring that the membership is well cared for.
“We are taking preventive measures right now in establishing a philosophy of growth management,” says Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America. “Inter-America is at an equilibrium right now, our numbers are not overwhelming but they are growing fast and we want to take action before there is a breaking point.”
It’s a breaking point that is starting to be felt out in the local territory where pastors are overworked and overwhelmed, according to Pastor Leito.
“Right now our unions are working to address the issue of keeping the balance of membership and pastors, yet we are working on looking at all the issues and define how to work toward managing fast growth,” he said.
A special commission has been assigned to oversee the ongoing study, which will submitted to the General Conference for review.
During the three-day business session, leaders also reported on evangelism growth and voted on policies and initiatives to benefit the church. These included the following:
Focus on the Scriptures
Church leaders focused on the need for more emphasis on the study of the Bible throughout the territory. Committee members vowed to work toward making the Bible more central to local church committee meetings, as well as the lives of each member.
This renewed focus reflects the “Follow the Bible” (www.followthebiblesda.com) initiative created by the Adventist World Church. The Bible, which contains the scriptures in 60 languages, is currently on a 21-month journey throughout the world. It will visit each of the world divisions and finish its trip at the start of the next General Conference Session in Atlanta, GA, in 2010. IAD leaders voted to develop a plan whereby each member will distribute at least one Bible during the 17-week period the traveling Bible will reach all 17 unions of the IAD. The special Bible is due to arrive in October 2009. In addition, action was taken to distribute 10 million “Follow the Bible” tracts and 11 million posters during this time throughout the territory.
Establishing low-powered radio and TV stations
The initiative to establish low-powered radio and TV stations was voted in order to promote greater saturation of the communities in the Inter-American Division territory with media, radio, television and internet through netAdventist. With these low-powered stations, many more churches can bring both local and outside programming from Adventist Radio/TV Channels.
According to Pastor Leon B. Wellington, communication director for the church in Inter-America, these local stations are valuable because they will be able to broadcast free to air within a 50-mile radius without the need for cable connections. This will allow more church members to view Adventist programming in their homes.
The IAD will provide financial assistance for these low-powered stations.
New church buildings
Action was taken to build more churches for the fastest-growing communities in the territory. Expanded from the One-Day Church project introduced by Maranatha International, where a ready-to-assemble metal-and-roof structure is provided by one of the unions, the buildings will consist of a metal structure, roof, and a front entrance. These ready pre-fabricated structures can be adopted for urban as well as rural areas.
Disaster assistance church members
Church leaders also voted on a plan of action to provide special assistance to church members affected by natural disasters throughout the hurricane-prone territory. Unions will have access to special funds to aid Adventist families who have lost their homes and suffered loss according to a set of guidelines established.
Among the upcoming events voted were:
Conversations with pastors
A group of Adventist pastors from throughout the English speaking unions of the Inter-American Division territory will have the opportunity to meet with the president of the Adventist World Church, Pastor Jan Paulsen, in a open forum called “Conversations with Pastors”. The one-hour dialogue will allow pastors to respond to Pastor’s Paulsen’s main topic of “What can your organization do to help you be a more effective pastor.”
The meeting will take place on February 7, 2009, in Belize City, Belize, and will include a select group of six pastors from the West Indies, Caribbean Belize, French Antilles Guiana, and the Haitian Unions.
IAD Festival of the Laity
Inter-America will celebrate the first division-wide Festival of the Laity in its territory in nearly 10 years. The festival was voted to be held July 21-25, 2009, in Panama City, Panama. The festival is expected to attract 1,500 delegates from the division territory. For more information, visit the Personal Ministries department section at www.interamerica.org
Inter-America’s Day of Kindness and Compassion II
Due to the success of the Day of Kindness and Compassion last October, church leaders voted to go ahead with another such event in October 2009. The Day of Kindness and Compassion, a division-wide event promoting freedom from hunger, saw the distribution of almost one million meals in the period of several hours to the neediest people in their communities. Church leaders hope to distribute 1.5 million meals during next year's event.
Inter-America’s next scheduled business meetings will take place in Miami, Florida, May 18-21, 2009.
