Inter-America To Train Local Church Elders Through Online Certification Event

Image by Abel Márquez/IAD

February 13, 2018 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD

Local church elders across the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America will take part in a comprehensive training program to train them to better assist pastors in leading the more than 22,000 churches and congregations across the territory.

The online event, themed “Discipling the Flock”, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. The program will feature messages, seminars, and presentations to enhance the ministry of more than 30,000 local church elders who help shepherd the 3.7 million membership in the IAD.

“We want each church elder to be clear in his or her vision and responsibilities as an elder,” said Pastor Josney Rodríguez, ministerial secretary for the church in Inter-America. “There’s a committed body of church elders and we just want to make sure they are trained and focused on spiritually nurturing the membership and discipling them as part of their mission alongside the pastor.”

The certification program will become the second online training in a three-year comprehensive certification program overseen by the top leadership in Inter-America.

Conference and mission fields will gather its local church elders in auditoriums, offices and large churches to ensure they have the opportunity to be part of the live program, Pastor Rodríguez said.

The online event, which will be in Spanish, English and French, will also honor outstanding church elders across the IAD, feature a panel discussion, testimonies by church elders, and more.

Attendees to the program will include church elders and presidents of each of the IAD’s 24 unions, or church regions. Three days of training will follow the online program into next week, organizers said.

To view the online program on Feb. 17, 2018, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Miami Time, visit webcast.interamerica.org