ANN Bulletin - February 5, 2008 - unOFFICIAL ADVENTIST FORUM

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do.
And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with
– even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department.
Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. Romans 14.1: The Message

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#155714 - 02/07/08 07:34 AM ANN Bulletin - February 5, 2008
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 120 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters February 5, 2008 In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventist financial officers to review church's appropriations February 5 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States General Conference re-examining financial distributions to 13 world divisions Church Chat: Mission possible for flautist, academic turned manager February 4 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Diop promoting 'healthy' accountability among church's global study centers Doors close for Christian college at health institute February 5 Weimar, California, United States Weimar board cites finances, says closure will give college a new start -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventist financial officers to review church's appropriations February 5, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In deciding how best to distribute appropriations among the Adventist Church's world regions, Adventist world church treasurer Robert E. Lemon and four other church officials will visit each of the church's regions this summer. The five form the Appropriations Review Committee, which was launched during Annual Council in October. [ANN file photo] For decades, history dictated how the Seventh-day Adventist Church's world headquarters divvies up funds among its now 13 world regions, or divisions. But for the five church officials on the newly created Appropriations Review Committee, "because that's how we've always done it" is no longer an adequate explanation. Beyond the "minor adjustments" that accompanied shifts in division boundaries over the years, the group estimates that church leaders last comprehensively reviewed appropriations in the early 1990s. Even then, the result -- a 1,000-page manuscript bogged down by calculations meant to find a scientific basis for distributing funds -- dwarfed any practical adjustments. "We took a look at it and said, 'This just doesn't make sense. This sort of thing just doesn't fit into a nice, consistent formula,'" says Robert E. Lemon, world church treasurer and committee member. Beginning in April, the committee will visit each division to scour financial records, spot economic strength indicators and weigh employee benefits. After reviewing between 500 and 700 church entities for 1995 and 2005, the committee will compare results for the two study years and make recommendations independent of appropriations history. On the table is US$68 million in annual appropriations for Adventist Church institutions and divisions worldwide and any redistribution would better accommodate each region's challenges, opportunities and economy, Lemon says. Currency exchange is particularly dicey, says Jóhann E. Jóhannsson, treasurer for the church's Trans-European region, first on the committee's list for review. Because appropriations are distributed in U.S. dollars, it can be "a struggle" to balance the budget in regions with incongruent currencies -- take the British pound against the weak U.S. dollar, he says. Currency exchange also affects salaries. "In some parts of the world, it costs five to seven times more to employ one employee than in other parts of the world," Jóhannsson says. Similar economic problems and resource prioritization concerns the committee, not outright misappropriation of funds, Lemon says. "Money may be going toward administrative oversight, or areas where we already have infrastructure rather than the challenging areas," he adds. That means appropriations for some regions will inevitably be trimmed, he says, particularly where recent growth in membership and church infrastructure has kindled financial stability. "I think everybody realizes that there are areas, in spite of once having great need, where the church is now strong enough to begin carrying more responsibility," Lemon says. That mindset challenges traditional distribution methods, says Lemon, which are largely driven by membership rather than need. Instead of such proportional distribution, the committee favors recalibrating appropriations according to specific, long-term needs. "It's very easy to make comparisons between [church regions]," says Lowell Cooper, a world church vice president and committee chair. "In fact we cannot. Growth rates are different. Economies are different. The degree to which the church in one given area relies on appropriations is different from other areas." Regional church leadership recognizes any decrease in appropriations only means a region with greater challenges will benefit, Cooper says. "It isn't 'us versus them'; we're not having to fight and compete with each other." "This sort of review is very helpful, because we constantly need to redefine our goal in order to keep progressing," says Paul R. Clee, communication director for the church's Trans-European region. "When we question ourselves, it helps us sharpen our focus." The committee is expected to report to the Financial Planning and Budgeting Committee, which will recommend any changes in appropriations this fall to delegates at Annual Council, one of the church's biannual business meetings. Recommendations will be phased in over a period of time to "allow for adjustments," Lemon says. Once fully adopted, the recommendations will likely guide the church's distribution of its funds for the "foreseeable future," Cooper says. "Perhaps five or so years down the line, there may be need for another round to see if things need to be rebalanced once again," he says. Church Chat: Mission possible for flautist, academic turned manager February 4, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Ansel Oliver/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ganoune Diop began overseeing the Adventist Church's five global study centers last year. [photo: Ansel Oliver/ANN] With his passion for mission, theologian Ganoune Diop is well-qualified to oversee the five Seventh-day Adventist Church global study centers, whose mission is to build bridges to other religious groups. It also helps that he's comfortable in 10 languages. Raised in a multicultural, predominantly Muslim setting in Senegal, he became a professional flautist, an academic and a multilinguist. Now a manager on the job since July, Diop granted an interview last week regarding the church's five outreach centers, which are a part of the Office of Adventist Mission: Hindu, based in India; Buddhist in Thailand; Muslim in Cyprus; Jewish in Israel; and secular and postmodern in England. After a few years in existence, some centers are still ramping up with one-person operations while others have several staff and a body of produced resources. Diop discussed their goals, their progress and need for an expanded role in the church's mission. The dapper Diop, 51, became an Adventist 30 years ago while studying flute at the Conservatory of Music of La Rochelle in France. His extensive education includes a master's in philology, a doctorate in Old Testament studies and another in New Testament studies on the way. He also serves as a liaison between the centers and the church's administration, including the 13 world divisions and the church's Biblical Research Institute. Excerpts: Adventist News Network: Why do we need study centers? Paul and Silas didn't have them. Ganoune Diop: Paul and Silas didn't need them because they had a very localized ministry and they were conversant with the people with whom they were preaching. Paul knew about Greek philosophers. He could converse in the idioms and cite their poets. Today we have a worldwide movement, the Adventist Church, so the centers are to equip the church in developing awareness and competence among church members in reaching people in various world religions. ANN: What are the centers doing? Diop: They are creating methods, models and equipping the church to know how to better understand and approach other people groups. This is helping us train missionaries. Now, some centers are more active than others. Some are [producing] results that could be quantified. Others, like the secular and postmodern center have just started and it takes more time because they work in more challenging areas. Scott Griswold is doing a fantastic job in Thailand. They are putting out a of resources and the Global Center for Adventist Muslim Relations has one already. The World Jewish friendship is creating communities in several countries. These centers are also helping various church departments put out materials. Obviously, it's not just about multiplying activities and production materials. It's also about developing a proper theological vision and applying missional perspectives that are loyal to the church. ANN: We contacted the secular and postmodern center in England, who said they are still in the preliminary stages of research. How long have these centers been open? Diop: The initiative started in the 1990s, so some of them have been around for about 10 years. The Centre for Secular and Postmodern Studies is the newest. It started a few years ago and its current form is only just over a year old. ANN: The Hindu center told us they're having success by promoting an Indian style of worship. What is that? Diop: It doesn't mean that they worship in Hindu temples. I was in India and they sat on the floor, you know, it's not like the same Western [style] with the hymns. They're singing their own songs in their own melodies with words that are in harmony with the Christian gospel. ... The centers can do much more; many of them are just at the infant stage of producing materials. They're on a learning curve right now. Some of them are really doing well. This is my challenge, to help them really deliver what they were set up for. ANN: What have been some of the shortcomings? Diop: I think the church needs the collaboration of missiologists, practitioners and theologians to really bring about a radical understanding of world religions and long-lasting ministries. It's not enough to just have a "missionary heart." That's necessary, but we also need to engage both theologians and missiologists to benefit the ministries in various unentered areas. ANN: I imagine, like within some church administrative structures, that personnel is also limited. Diop: Ideally, we would want to have the centers fully devoted to their global mission because if the centers work for the [local church division administration], the temptation is to miss the global mission. Even though these centers are located in various divisions, they are General Conference [world church administration] entities, so they are called to serve the world church. As they see the global need, the centers will be prompted to produce materials. ... But they are having results. To me, the results can be maximized and we can be doing far more than we are currently doing. ANN: What's next? Diop: I think the future would be to expand the centers and have a body of cross disciplinary competence. Also, identify new venues. I just got back from Azerbaijan and it would be great to equip those people to minister to nearby countries. That's something I'm exploring -- different venues and the unreached people groups. Many of those [nearby] countries are Islamic but with a communist, secular twist. It's a different kind of Islam than you find in the Middle East or Africa or Indonesia. ANN: There are parts of the world where proselytism is illegal. To what degree can we promote our beliefs? Diop: Well, let me say this is where contextualized ministry functions -- indigenous people are empowered to find ways to live their newfound faith in Christ in spite of the adverse circumstances in which they live. So the centers explore ways, in that sense, and develop models. ANN: How can we encourage generosity among missionaries and promote embracing people rather than dueling with people to whom they're sent? Do some feel they are in a battle of who's right? Diop: It's not that "we have the truth and you better listen to us." But, definitively, I think a missionary can be confident in being sent to proclaim God's truth. There's no arrogance in that. Actually, every religion, you know, claims their beliefs are absolute. Well, except Hinduism and syncretistic religions. However, you go out there, not to patronize them or demean them, but rather to accompany them in their spiritual journey toward a radical transformation. ANN: Is there anything else you wish to share with us, the readers or the study center directors? Diop: I'd have to say the mission is God's mission. We are participating in what God is doing. These centers not only equip but develop mission awareness in people by training them all over the world. But in participating in God's mission, the bottom line is still about promoting Jesus Christ, His dignity and sovereignty, His compassion that He shares with all people groups. So I want to encourage the study center directors to fulfill the mission entrusted to their care in conversation and in partnership with the leaders of the church. Accountability is healthy and the only way to measure efficiency and overcome a sectarian mentality. --additional reporting by Taashi Rowe Doors close for Christian college at health institute February 5, 2008 Weimar, California, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weimar College, a four-year Christian school and missionary training center at Weimar Institute in Northern California, will close this summer after 30 years of operation. School officials say shutting down will allow them to re-evaluate finances. [photo: courtesy Weimar] Citing financial reasons, board members of Weimar Institute of Health & Education in Northern California announced in a statement last month that the self-supporting Christian college known internationally for its eight-step, 18-day NEWSTART health recovery and disease prevention program will close its doors on June 20. The NEWSTART program hinged on many of the healthy lifestyle principles -- including proper nutrition, exercise and temperance -- advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's department of Health Ministries. NEWSTART, which school officials say draws more than 400 participants every year, will continue. Also expected to remain open is Weimar Academy, the institution's boarding high school. Established in 1978, Weimar College grew steadily until the early 1990s when changes in economics and student priorities began whittling away at enrollment, the statement said, adding that the decision came after "various financial and ministries solutions" floundered. Rather than go into debt by continuing operations with so few students -- enrollment last semester was 20 -- college officials decided closing the school would best allow them to reevaluate the situation. In the statement, Bob Hancock, Weimar acting chief operating officer and board chairman, cast a positive light on the closure, insisting it would give Weimar a chance to re-evaluate its finances and "rebuild from the ground up." "We are not abandoning our goals for the educational aspect of our program," Hancock said. "We are going to keep that an essential part of our mission ... [but] we have to get down to bedrock and develop a solid financial foundation." Dr. Michael Orlich, Weimar acting academic dean, elaborated on the college's plans to rebuild, naming healing arts, foreign missions and evangelism as possible areas of training Weimar administration might explore. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- news.adventist.org ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters. Reproduction Requirements: Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged. When reproducing this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must appear under the headline or immediately following the article. The words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be given equal prominence to any other source that is also acknowledged. Ground 7 News Podcast: Ground 7 News is a review of news and information issued by the Communication Department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. Reproduction of the ANN podcast is encouraged. When rebroadcasting this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be mentioned before and after the podcast. ANN Staff: Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant; Natacha Moorooven, proofreader. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
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