ANR Bulletin No. 1 ? GC Session 2005, St. Louis, USA
Adventist News Review
Trans-European Division of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church

Thursday, 30 June 2005


INVITATION TO THE DELEGATES AT THE 2005 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION

I am delighted to invite you to the 58th Session of the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, in St. Louis, Missouri.

A gathering such as this is usually described as a ?business session?
of the world church. But don?t be misled by the word ?business,? with
its suggestion of the mundane or the routine. At the heart of all
that we will do, and all our decision-making, there is really only
one objective: to better prepare and equip our church for the mission
God has given us. For we are essentially a witnessing community,
living in anticipation of the return of our Lord.

How do we foster growth?not just numerical growth, but also the
spiritual development and discipleship of our members? How do we
strengthen those ties that bind us together as a global community of
faith, united in purpose and mission? How can we better promote the
quality of life that can only be found in Jesus Christ? How are we to
manage our resources in such a way that recognizes the lateness of
the hour and the huge task yet to be completed? This is the real
business of the church, and these are the challenges that will shape
our deliberations.

Of course, these 10 days in St. Louis will also be a time of
wonderful fellowship and spiritual refreshment. The theme,
?Transformed in Christ? provides the spiritual focus of the
session?it will be a celebration of what Christ has performed in our
lives, and a reminder that we also have been called to be agents to
transformation within our communities.

Please join me in praying that the Holy Spirit will move powerfully
as we meet in St. Louis. May God bless and keep you as you prepare to
attend the 2005 General Conference Session.

[Jan Paulsen/ANN/ANR]


CHURCH LEADERS MEET TO PRAY AT GENERAL CONFERENCE OPENING

For the first time in many years, the General Conference Session in
St Louis opened with 24 hours of spiritual emphasis entitled "Hearing
God's Call". This was especially to pray for God's guidance during
the coming 10 days of business.

Dwight Nelson, pastor of Pioneer Memorial Church at Andrews
University, USA, opened the first meeting on prayer with the
question, "If we could have a simultaneous prayer session of the
world church, what would we pray for?"

Beginning with Ezekiel 43:1-2, he began tracing the theme of the
glory of God, noting how Ezekiel saw that "the earth shone with His
glory" and that before Jesus will come, the whole earth will be
"illuminated with His glory" (Revelation 18:1)

Quoting Ellen White, Nelson affirmed the way in which this would
happen, "Could there be a convocation of all the churches on earth,
the object of their united cry should be for the Holy Spirit."
(Letter 114, 1894, 4MR 335)

Noting that there is a net increase of two people on earth every
second, making a total of 60 million more people each year, Nelson
believes that we are not going to be able to reach the world with the
gospel, "not at the present rate, not in our present state". Thus,
praying for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit was unavoidable.

Quoting Ellen White again, Nelson declared, "We need to pray as we
have never prayed before for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for if
there was ever a time when we needed this baptism, it is now. There
is nothing the Lord has more frequently told us He would bestow upon
us, and nothing by which His name would be more glorified in
bestowing, than the Holy Spirit." (The Upward Look, 346)

Delegates then divided into groups to pray for the Holy Spirit in our
devotional lives; for global challenges; church unity and
safeguarding our families.

Gjorgija and Marija Trajkovski (South East European Union) commented
on this spiritual emphasis to begin the General Conference Session,
"We are really delighted. It is most important to have our leaders
pray together in order to lead; to be empowered. We were really
refreshed."

Other meetings and prayer sessions focusing on worship, relationships
and witness are being held prior to the opening business session
later today.

[Gavin Anthony/ANR]


RECORD NUMBER OF BRITISH ADVENTISTS TO ATTEND GC SESSION

Seeking fellowship, networking opportunities and a glimpse of how the
world church works, a record number of Seventh-day Adventists from
Britain, will join thousands of other members at the church's
quinquennial business meetings in St. Louis, Missouri this week.

"I think people want to feel the experience of being part of the
global Adventist family," Catherine Boldeau, communication director
for the church in South England commented. "It's a great networking
opportunity. Many of our members in Great Britain have relatives who
live in America and this is an opportunity for them to fellowship and
share quality Christian time with them. As for the meetings
themselves, I don't think our members are really sure what to expect,
but many of them are excited to see how the international Church will
carry out its business on such a large scale."

Most of the British contingent attending the meetings will be coming
from the church in South England whose members make up more than two
thirds of the 24,500 members in Britain. Along with those attending
the meeting as visitors, 11 Adventists from Britain, will join 2,000
delegates who make decisions on critical church issues. The British
delegates comprise approximately 12.5 percent of the Trans-European
region's delegation, a regional official estimated.

[John Surridge/ANN/ANR]


[ANR Team/ANR]

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ANR Team: Miroslav Pujic, news director/writer, Beverly Coysten,
editor/writer, Gavin Anthony, news writer.

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