Top Adventist leaders pray for church membership, look at growth and vote comprehensive evangelism initiative :: Adventist News Network

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The Seventh-day Adventist top leadership of the church in the Inter-American Division (IAD) began day one of its mid-year annual business meetings May 6 with a session of prayer for the work of the church and the safety of its members across the territory.

“You all realize that the time we are living in is a special moment not only for us as part of the Inter-American family but this situation is affecting the world globally,” said Elie Henry, president of the church in Inter-America. “There is talk everywhere of this coronavirus pandemic and we believe that in times like these it is very important for us to go and ask God to intervene to help us through this.”

The video conference meetings, which gathered more than 160 executive committee members spread across Inter-America’s 24 major church regions, began with a prayer session for victims of COVID-19 and their families among the church membership and those in the community, for the authorities in each of the countries represented in the territory, for the church and its mission, for organizational employees, particularly those in the health care institutions and health food companies on the frontlines, as well as for the local fields, unions, and educational institutions.

“We are facing big challenges as a church but we have to call to God and He will respond,” said Henry.

Church growth

Highlighting the end of the five-year period of church growth and membership since 2015, Pastor Leonard Johnson, executive secretary of the Inter-America division, reported that the year 2019 closed with 184,279 new members baptized into the church. The total IAD membership stands at 3,708,300 as of Dec. 2019. The report indicated a total of 23,209 churches and congregations across the territory. That represents 393 new congregations formed in 2019 alone, an average of 33 new congregations each month of the year, he said.

“Inter-America continues to rank the third largest in membership among the 13 church world divisions,” said Pastor Johnson. A ranking spot kept for over two decades, he reported. “At the beginning of the quinquennium [in 2015], church leaders pledged to baptize one million members,” he explained. The total of baptisms reached during the five-year period was 905,341.

Although that is nearly one million, because of ongoing auditing of the books across the territory, the letters of transfers, deaths, dropped members, missing, and other adjusted to the losses in membership for 2019 came to 261,167. “We are losing too many members,” said Johnson. “And we are baptizing, but we can do a better job with retention and record keeping.”

Pastor Johnson pointed to 2022, the year when the IAD will celebrate 100 years as a Division of the Seventh-day Adventist world church. “We want to reach the 4 million-member mark in 2022 and continue praising God for what He has done and what we have been able to accomplish.” According to his report, in 1922, there were 8,146 members recorded in the Inter-American Division. By 1987 the one million-member mark was hit. Then in 2000, the 2 million mark, and in 2008, the 3 million member mark was surpassed.

Getting more active members committed and involved in sharing the gospel where they live is at the core of the new strategic plan voted by top church leaders. Coined as ‘I Will Go – Inter-America’ the comprehensive initiative has been in the works for over eight months by top church administrators across the IAD.

‘I Will Go – Inter-America’ initiative

“I Will Go – Inter-America” involves inspiring and equipping all church members to use their God-given spiritual gifts in witness and service for Christ to reach all people in the territory and influence them to accept Jesus as their personal Savior,” stated Balvin Braham, assistant to the IAD president for evangelism, as he introduced the final version of the plan.

The plan’s document affirms the mission, vision, and values statements of the Inter-American Division, pulls from General Conference’s ‘I Will Go’ initiative, and incorporates key results of a recent membership survey, for greater spiritual impact and more effective focus on mission throughout the entire organization from the local church level to the mission, conference, union, division and institution level.

Formulated to address Inter-America’s three principal strategic issues on evangelism, education, and community service, the plan includes more than two dozen Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to develop and execute action plans, with an accompanying financial plan, and evaluation process to ensure effectiveness, Braham explained.

The evangelism focus will seek to motivate “every leader and member to grow as disciples of Jesus, sharing the gospel with others, ensuring continued soul-winning and growth in the body of Christ,” the document states. It’s about reaching, equipping, rescuing, and retaining people of all classes and demographics through an inclusive and collaborative plan: soul-winning initiatives, retention of new members and evangelism and mission.

The education focus includes: 1) formal education acquired through a Christ-centered educational approach through Adventist schools and institutions, and 2) non-formal education, which is a discipleship paradigm that prepares everyone for the joy of service in this world and the one to come. Formal education will include academic improvement, student growth, accreditation, and accessibility to Adventist education throughout the territory. Non-formal education will include discipleship and leadership training.

Community Service focus “covers the fundamentals of connecting with people and through intentionally organized and executed initiatives and projects which address the social, emotional and physical needs of residents within urban, sub-urban and rural areas. It also addresses development needs within communities as well as improvement of the image of the church in the community. Objectives will include mission impact, community development, socio-emotional impact, as well as physical growth and development.

Braham explained that the strategic plan will see an evaluation process for each of the three main focus issues for optimal organizational effectiveness. (Read the full comprehensive ‘I Will Go – Inter-America’ plan HERE.)

The executive committee voted unanimously to adopt the strategic plan for the next five years throughout their countries and islands, as well as approved the reorganizations of the Valley of Mexico Mission and North Costa Rica Mission to upgrade status, and the Central Cuban Mission for a territorial adjustment.

For updates on Inter-America’s Mid-Year Meetings this week, visit interamerica.org.

This article was originally published on the Inter-America Division’s website