January 8, 2019 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD
An initiative to reclaim members who have left the Seventh-day Adventist Church across Inter-America will launch during a special online program Sabbath, Jan. 12, 2019. The three-hour live program will start from 3:00 p.m. Miami Time and will outline the 12-month plan to seek out, minister, and engage former members into the life of the church.
“We know that there is a large amount of missing members not only throughout the Inter-American Division territory but around the world church,” said Pastor Samuel Telemaque, Sabbath school director for the church in Inter-America. “There is a great need and we must create a culture of seeking them out, listening to their pain and allowing them to heal emotionally before any spiritual healing takes place.”
Understanding the process to reclaim members who have left is highlighted in a practical guide which was voted by top administrators and leaders during Inter-America’s Year-End Executive Committee Meetings last November.
The guide, which has been distributed across the IAD’s 24 major church regions, emphasizes conversion as an act of returning to God and the church, examines the function of love in the conversion of former and active members, focuses on the stages of reconciliation and gives practical instructions on how to implement a ministry of reconciliation for former members, explained Telemaque. The guide also focuses on the discipleship of former members and reintegration into the fellowship life of the church.
Speakers will include presentations on how to seek former members, the church as a community of grace and love, the call to the ministry of reconciliation, how to bring healing to former members, and more.
The program will be carried in English, Spanish and French, Sabbath, January 12, 2019, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Miami Time, at webcast.interamerica.org