GC Session Day 7, June 30, 2010

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 7
June 30, 2010

Another historic day at the 59th General Conference Session today. For the opening of the morning business session, the Steering Committee and the new General Conference President, Ted NC Wilson, brought to the delegates on the floor the statement and document, “Response to an Affirmation of Creation” which had been voted by Annual Council in 2004. Several of us had been praying that some statement of this kind would come before the World Church and be not only considered, but in fact, voted upon. The basic core of this statement would be found in point 3 of the document. “We reaffirm the Seventh-day Adventist understanding of the historicity of Genesis 1-11: that the seven days of the Creation account were literal 24 hour days forming a week identical in time to what we now experience as a week, and that the Flood was global in nature.”
Basically, the delegates voted to take this in two measures. The first motion was to vote to approve this Affirmation of Creation. The second motion was to request the General Conference Officers to begin the process of incorporating this affirmation of Creation into our current Fundamental Belief # 6. Both motions passed. The reason it is vital to strengthen Fundamental Belief # 6, is as Dr. John Baldwin presented at our Pennsylvania Camp Meeting Pastor’s meeting this year, certain Adventist scholars sought to intentionally frame Belief # 6 in the beginning, in order that a wide range of interpretation could be applied to Belief # 6. Even during this session, the need for strengthening Fundamental Belief # 6 was clearly shown by a written statement, posted June 25, 2010 on the Spectrum blog by the Chairman of the board of Adventist Forums, Charles Scriven, President of Kettering College of Medical Arts. “…the statement on creation in the Twenty-eight Fundamentals document was meant, by the still-living authors, to keep the door open for both literal and metaphorical readings of Genesis…” I am happy to report that both motions received over-whelming support from across the World field.

After the morning session, Jeanne and I spent some time in the Prayer room, praying and reading from Psalms for our own personal worship time. I am glad that the General Conference session has established this prayer room, for in all the meetings, rising early and getting back late to the hotel, trying to catch the shuttle buses back and forth, and with all the hordes of people always around, it is a quiet, welcome oasis for personal worship and quiet prayer.


From 1 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. I attended the Standing Committee on the Church Manual as they considered comments on items that had been referred back to Committee. I have a great respect for the individuals who serve on this Committee and especially Elder Home Trecartin, who is the principal director for the Committees work. There were several items that were enthusiastically discussed in this meeting in order to bring back to the delegates possible re-wording of proposed motions. One of the items that received a lot of time and attention, was the section under Deaconesses. Since the delegates earlier voted that when a church was organized, Elders, Deacons and Deaconesses were to be ordained, the Committee was then attempting to bring a later section of the Manual that more fully deals with Deaconesses into alignment with the voted statement from the section saying Deaconess should be ordained when organizing a new church. Some of those attending this Committee meeting where concerned about whether or not the delegates when they voted for Deaconesses to b e ordained at an earlier GC session meeting a few days ago, really understood what they were voting. Some felt that certain African delegates would not have really voted that if they had fully understood. So the suggestion was to bring back the original section and offer it up for re-consideration. Others said, the original section was voted. Everyone should have understood what they were voting on, when they were voting. If you bring it back for re-consideration, how many other things will you bring back for re-consideration at any time someone says they didn’t fully understand what they were voting for when they voted. Another suggestion/comment was that in the section dealing with the office of Deaconesses, we not put a statement there calling for Deaconesses to be ordained. Just leave the earlier statement, but do not bring this section into alignment. In other words, leave some ambiguity so various parts of the world church could practice ordaining or not ordaining Deaconesses, depending on which page of the Church Manual they were reading from. This was offered with the spirit of trying to be sensitive to those Divisions of the world field where the local culture would not be at all comfortable with ordaining Deaconesses. I suggested that perhaps the Church Manual could at this point include the statement from the Adventist Review where Ellen White calls for ladies to be set aside for the type of work of a Deaconess, with the laying on of hands. The Committee felt like they did not want to “load” the Manual up with Ellen White quotes, although there are already quite a few Ellen White quotes all through the Manual. In fact the sections dealing with Elders and Deacons have Ellen White quotes, while the section dealing with Deaconesses has no Ellen White quotes! In the end, the Standing Committee on the Church Manual decided to bring to the floor a revised statement on ordaining Deaconesses for the section dealing with Deaconesses, that would be in alignment with the earlier vote of a couple of days ago.


At the four o’clock session, Fred Kinsey, North American Division Communications Director introduced Martin Doblmeier, the writer and director of a new documentary about the Seventh-day Adventist Church, entitled, The Adventists. After interviewing Mr. Doblmeier for several minutes, Fred Kinsey shared with the session delegates that The Adventists was the best selling documentary on Amazon.com.


After the afternoon session, I met Mike Cauley, past president of the Pennsylvania Conference in the hallway of building C.

This evening, Dick Spotts and I spent 1 ½ hours discussing ways to seek additional industry potentials for Blue Mountain Academy. I really appreciate Dick’s dedication and willingness to work on behalf of BMA.

As the day ended, it was time to get on the bus and return to my hotel. As the sun set over the Western view of Atlanta and the Georgia Dome where the GC session meets, we take our rest and pray for God’s Holy Spirit to lead our World Church in the work of organizing the Church for service and mission across the world field.

GC Session Day 6, June 29, 2010

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 6
June 29, 2010

At each session of our work this GC session, our new General Conference President, Ted Wilson, has urged us to begin our working time with a season of prayer. Mark Finley has led us with either a Bible text or a Spirit of Prophecy quote and then a theme for prayer.
Then all the delegates group by 2s or 3s and lift up the work of the day in prayer. Elder Jay Gallimore, President of the Michigan Conference and I prayed together. Pictured in the lower left corner is Elder George Brown, retired president of the Inter-American Division, who was our Pennsylvania Conference camp meeting speaker a couple of years ago. Elder Brown currently lives in Avon Park, Florida, and is an outstanding adult Sabbath teacher in the church congregation I grew up in.


Today at General Conference Session, much of the time again was dedicated to Church Manual Revisions. At the close of the Session in the morning, Elder Gary Karst shared with the delegates the value of remembering the life and ministry of Elder Jim Cress, General Conference Ministerial Director, who passed away in November 2009 following complications of an undiagnosed illness, thought to have been contracted from international travel for the World Church. Elder Cress also advocated on behalf of the pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church all during his tenure in the General Conference. He always said of himself he was “a pastor on loan to the World Church.” Elder Cress had been a speaker for one of our Pastors’ meetings in the Pennsylvania Conference several years ago at Laurel Lake Camp. When he arrived, he jokingly complimented us on the location of our camp by saying, ‘When the time of trouble comes, I know where I am going to come. I will come here to LLC, because nobody will find you out here!”

This morning from 9-12 a.m. Jeanne volunteered to represent the North American Division in the exhibition hall at the NAD Family Life booth. She had a good time meeting people and sharing with them the Family Life resources available from our Division.

Next door was the section featuring the ministry that Dave Gimmell leads. I met with Dave and Dan Day who have recently developed a new discipleship curriculum for the NAD Church family with the tag-line iFollow. I had the opportunity to look through 4 of the books which are already developed and ready to use.


During lunch, Jeanne and I met Dr. and Mrs. Silas Gome. Dr. Gome is from Brazil and has been serving as a mission doctor for about 30 years. Currently he is a general surgeon serving in Rwanda, Africa, and as the hospital administrator/medical director. Previously they served 8 years in Nepal, other posts in Argentina, Brazil and Ethiopia. Mrs. Gome serves as a nurse and has assisted her husband in surgery among other responsibilities.

We had a chance to meet a friend and fellow classmate of ours from college days, Ken Rogers, who is serving as Dean of Students at Walla Walla college.

I have enjoyed meeting children who are attending GC with their parents, usually for the first time the child has come to GC. Sunday night, I gave a little girl from Russia a US dollar bill (see her picture on Sunday’s blog). Her parents later told me with a smile and halting English, “This is her first US dollar!”

Today, just next to a NAD Children’s Ministry booth display, I met a girl next to the gumball machine. I gave her $.25 to get some gum and she smiled up at me and said, could I have another quarter to get some for my brother? So of course I dug into my pocket and found a second quarter.


Every day, it is fascinating to see different delegates or family members in traditional dress from the country they represent.

In the session this afternoon, attention was brought to Voice of Prophecy radio ministry and Faith for Today television ministry by Fred Kinsey and Mike Tucker. VOP is celebrating 80 years of ministry and Faith is celebrating 60 years. The Odyssey Network formerly a co-owner of the Hallmark channel, is paying VOP and Faith to produce a spiritual application for mobile phone devices.

This evening as we were walking back from supper in the CNN center food court, we met Mr. and Mrs. Francis from the Stroudsburg Church. It is a joy to meet different members from Pennsylvania. Earlier we saw Charles and Barbara Rutt. Also I saw Ed and Josephine Varley from a distance.

GC Session Day 5 June 28, 2010

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 5
June 28, 2010

A historic step was taken today at the General Conference Session. Delegates were working through the proposed changes to the Church Manual, when a recommendation from a recent General Conference Annual Council was brought in to the floor pertaining to the section in Chapter 5 dealing with organizing a new Church. In that section was a proposal to add to the section dealing with nominations to fill various church offices, such as elders, deacons and deaconesses a new statement in relationship to deaconesses. The section says that elders should be ordained, and then it says: “A similar but shorter service should take place for ordination of deacons and induction for deaconesses.” The proposed addition was to say: “Deaconesses may be ordained in divisions where the process has been approved by its executive committee.” This was presented as the motion.
The basis presented by the General Conference officers to the delegates for this motion, is a quotation from Ellen White in the Review and Herald:
"Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. This is another means of strengthening and building up the church."--RH, July 9, 1895.{DG 249.2}

After much discussion from the floor, one delegate offered an amendment to motion to read: “A similar but shorter service should take place for ordination of deacons and deaconesses.”
This amendment did not limit ordination of deaconesses to the divisions where it was approved by the division executive committee, but would establish the practice for the entire world field. Again there was much discussion on this amendment. After nearly 2 hours on this one part of the Church Manual, the amendment passed with a significant majority. Thus, the Church Manual now calls for deaconesses across the world church to be ordained in the role, function and service as a deaconess.

Dwight Nelson had an excellent sermon/presentation on the role and ministry of the Pastor at the 11 a.m. hour. If they can be obtained, I would like to get a copy for each of our pastors in the Pennsylvania Conference.

Before the session ended for the lunch hour, the Nominating Committee brought in the names for each of the Division presidents. A surprising name for the North American Division president, was Elder Dan Jackson, president of the Adventist Churches in Canada. Tami Horst, Pennsylvania Conference Communication Director has already sent out a press release and the Columbia Union Visitor News Bulletin will have additional information on Elder Jackson. 3 different names had been discussed as highly likely to be considered. It is interesting to see the leading of God through the nominating process to lead individuals to be considered, even though through the eyes of man, they may not have been the supposed candidate. Sometimes, I think of the prophet Samuel, who was sent by God to anoint one of the sons of Jesse. Some of the older sons looked attractive to the prophet Samuel, but God said about one after the other, this was not the one. Finally, Samuel had to ask if there were any other sons, and Jesse said, there is only the youngest who is out herding sheep. When David came, God said, this is the one. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Another election to a General Conference position involves familiar faces to the Columbia Union. Willie Oliver, NAD Family Life Director was elected GC Family Life Department Director and his wife, Elaine Oliver was elected Associate Director. Elaine is a key member of the Washington Adventist University staff. Willie and Elaine have been to the Pennsylvania Conference just a few years ago and conducted the February Marriage retreat, coordinated by Pennsylvania Conference Family Life Director, Jeanne Hartwell.


A name that is familiar to Pennsylvania is Tom Kapusta who served as Pennsylvania Conference Trust Services officer and Association Secretary. Today Tom was elected to be the General Conference Trust Director. Currently he is serving as a trust officer for Florida Hospital.

GC Session Day 4

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 4
June 27, 2010

Most of the today’s session business dealt with revision and new additions to the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual. This work is significant since it is only at a General Conference that the Church Manual can be revised or added to. Also, the World Church members have a great interest in the Church Manual, since across the World Church, each Division, Union, Conference and local church all use and look to the same Church Manual. So even when simple things are being proposed, frequent discussion will come to the microphone from all different Divisions, to be sure we understand how this or that point in the Manual will affect the work in that local area.
Then, finally, the delegates are able to come to a vote in the issue and we proceed to the next suggested revision.

Before lunch, I had some extra time as the business session ended a little early. This gave a good opportunity for me to spend some time in the NAD prayer room, which Ruthie Jacobson has prepared. What a blessing to sit in a quiet corner and spend some significant time in prayer.

Today at lunch, Jeanne and I found ourselves sitting at the lunch table where we had the privilege to meet Pastor Frederick Paul from the southern area of India, near Bangalor. We are likely inviting him to speak in the Philadelphia Boulevard Church, or some other church in Philadelphia on August 7 in the evening. He will have much to share about the Seventh-day Adventist work in India. Also, he will share how Christians are being severally persecuted, injured and even killed by Hindus.

After lunch, Jeanne and I happened to meet Don and Marti Schneider on our way out. Marti and I discussed the possibility of having the next NAD SEEDS Church Planting Conference take place during our Pennsylvania Conference Camp Meeting. It is way too early to know whether that might be a possibility, but it is something we can all pray about and seek God’s leading.

Tonight, the 2 Divisions that gave their mission reports were the East Central Africa Division and the Euo-Asia Division. Both Divisions reported wonderful growth. Across Russia and wonderful amount of growth is taking place.

I also got a chance to visit with some Pennsylvania Conference Church members. One of the members and I had a chance to talk about the Capital Campaign for the BMA Dorm Bathrooms. This member is considering making a gift to the BMA project before the end of the year. Please keep our committed and dedicated members and donors in your prayers.

GC Session Day 3

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 3
JUNE 26, 2010

This morning on the way to Sabbath School in the Georgia Dome, we were dropped off from our Shuttle Bus at the exhibition hall. While walking from the exhibition hall over to the Georgia Dome, we passed a display by ASI depicting a “1 Day School.” ASI has provided the materials for a simple steel building that can be put together with a screw driver and pliers in just about 1 day. They have also designed desks and benches constructed out of simple metal for this school. The cost is somewhere around $1,000.00. I think it would be wonderful if some of our church schools for the next school year planned to concentrate on a “Hope for Humanity” project, or a “1 Day School.”

For the GC Church session, several musical numbers were offered by our sister Conference and sister academy, Pine Forge Academy. Their music offerings were outstanding and I was proud of each of the young people who participated.

The crowd packed the Georgia Dome for the Divine service. Delegates, family and guests were seated on the floor while Seventh-day Adventist Church members from across Atlanta, neighboring regions, southern states and across the United States filled the seats, usually filled by rapid football and other sports fans. How wonderful to see so many people dedicated to the worship of the Creator God and soon coming Savior on this Sabbath day, instead of glorifying sports and entertainment.

After the Church service, I stopped for just a minute and visited with a pastor who is the Adventist World Radio speaker in the Masi language. He is from Tanzanika.

On Sabbath, I am amazed at how well the staff has planned to feed the thousands of delegates, family members, and guests in a section of the large exhibition hall. It is an adventure in discovering members of the Adventist Church family from around the world that we have never met before.

On the way into the lunch room, we caught up with Pastor Matthew Bediako, retiring General Conference Secretary and his lovely wife. Pastor Bediako is from the country of Ghana, which is also the home country of Bill Oblity, a delegate to this GC session from the Pennsylvania Conference.

During the afternoon, Jeanne and I visited several of the exhibits of ministries in the exhibition hall. One of those we spent several minutes at was the Ellen White Estate, where we spoke with Dr. Merlin Burt and Dr. Jim Nix for some time. One of the ideas we discussed was the possibility of taking our Pennsylvania Conference pastors and teachers on an Adventist Heritage tour from Pennsylvania to New England, then across New York State to the William Miller farm, then to Michigan to several sites. If God makes it possible, I believe it would be a tremendous learning experience for our staff, well worth the investment.

We visited several of the College and University exhibits, such as Washington Adventist University, Oakwood College, Andrews University, Union College, Montemorelos University and Southern Adventist University. Southern had an attractive display solidly presenting its stand on a literal, Divine Creation.


Tonight, the Southern Africa - Indian Ocean Division and the North American Division reports were shared with all the delegates and guests attending GC session. At the end of the Southern Africa – Indian Ocean Division video report was a quick memory picture and slide that tugged at my heart. It read, “In loving memory of Paul Mawela, April 2010.” Paul “Pappa” Mawela and his wife established the Nhengelo community outreach work for AIDS orphans and organized home health workers in South Africa that we visited on the Hope for Humanity trip that 4 of us from Pennsylvania Conference participated on. When we were in South Africa, they were feeding 700 orphans every day, and would be feeding over 1,000 within a month after we left. They also had 20-40 caregivers going out every week to visit seriously ill and terminally ill people in their homes, often walking up to 10 miles each way to bring this care. This was the first I had heard of his death. Pastor Mawela and his wife retired and moved to that area, since there was no Adventist work, and in their retirement, they prayed and by faith started this work from scratch. He and “Momma” Mawela are an inspiration to all of us of what God can do, with a person that is fully dedicated to God and pray with faith that God will do great things, and do them through us.

General Conference Session Day 2

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 2
June 25, 2010

Friday morning General Conference session began with Pennsylvania Conference Pastor Tara VinCross presenting the devotional message, focusing in the incarnation of Christ as an expression of God proclaiming His grace. Tara was asked by the General Conference Ministerial Department to be the speaker for the Friday morning message, back in the Fall of 2009. I am sure that our workforce in Pennsylvania feels honored that one of our team was asked to speak to the delegates of the entire world church. The Columbia Union Website will have more details and video selections.

Just before noon, the GC Nominating Committee brought the name of Ted N.C. Wilson, son of former GC President Neal Wilson for President of the GC. The delegates approved Elder Wilson’s name and voted him to serve. Elder Wilson’s father, Neal Wilson served in the Egypt mission when my Uncle Raymond Hartwell served in the Middle East Union office, located in Beirut, Lebanon and Neal spent part of his childhood there.

During the noon meal today, Jeanne and I enjoyed a lunch visit with Mike Hamilton and his wife, who are living and serving in Great Britain. Mike is the Trans-European Division Department Director for Personal Ministries, Sabbath School and Publishing (Literature Evangelism). I was intrigued with the scope of his responsibilities, since the Trans-European Division covers such a large geographical territory and a widely divergent ethnic, cultural and religious variety of peoples. The territory stretches from Greenland, just off the coast of North American, to portions of North and Eastern Europe, Poland, the Baltics, to the Middle East, Sudan and Pakistan! His wife is a home health nurse in the British Government Health system, visiting homes to specifically focus on young children, ages 0-5.

In the afternoon, Jeanne and I took a few minutes to walk through a few of the SDA ministry exhibits in the exhibition hall. One of the few we were able to visit included the ADRA exhibit which showcased many of the practical and substantial ways ADRA ministers to the physical needs of peoples around the world. We also visited the Washington Adventist University booth, Oakwood University, and Andrews University. Right next to Andrews University, I went to the Andrews Press book store and purchased the brand new Andrews Study Bible, which has just now come off the press. I highly recommend this study Bible (NKJV) for our ministry team and all of our members. All of the study notes have been prepared by Seventh-day Adventist Bible scholars and are much more reliable and accurate that many current popular study Bibles on the market today.

In the afternoon, the Nominating Committee brought the names of Elder G.T. Ng as GC Secretary and Robert Lemon, current GC Treasurer, to continue to serve as GC Treasurer. Elder Ng speaks both Chinese and English. Elder Bob Lemon is a member of the Pennsylvania Conference and attends the Needmore Church.

Every day, delegates residing in the various hotels in the center of downtown Atlanta board motor coach shuttle buses to ride the 1 mile to the Georgia Dome where the GC session is held. The shuttle buses run continually between specific hotels and the facility. We are making friends with one of the drivers.

We are reminded continually of the world-wide work and mission of the Adventist Church. God has entrusted us with a great message that is needed across this world, for every man, woman, boy and girl, of our soon coming Savior and His call for holy living as a joyful part of being a member of the family of heaven.

PRESIDENT’S BLOG GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION DAY 1
June 24, 2010

We arrived in Atlanta Wednesday evening. Our hotel room was 31 floors above the city streets of Atlanta and faced West, toward the Georgia Dome, where the GC session meets every day.

In the morning, as we ate breakfast, we meet Dennis Austin and his family. Dennis is serving as a delegate from the Columbia Union Committee and the Pennsylvania Conference.


As you enter the Georgia World Conference Center adjacent to the Georgia Dome where the Atlanta Falcons football team plays, there were a long row of registration booths for the delegates from all across the world to sign in and receive their badges and materials.


The Georgia Dome has seating on the floor for all the delegates from across the world. Each Division of the World Field, sits in a section marked out for the delegates from that Division.
At lunch, Jeanne and I enjoy sitting down at a table with perfect strangers and getting acquainted. Thursday’s lunch, we met the Union President and his wife from the Northern region of the Republic of the Congo. Often you see delegates from foreign countries wearing colorful dress from their home country.


In the afternoon, all the Divisions of the World field went to separate meetings rooms to caucus and nominate delegates to serve on the General Conference Nominating Committee. The North American Division is able to select 24 members of the Nominating Committee and the General Conference another 4, with a total of 28 of the Nominating Committee members. Over 200 individuals serve on the General Conference Session Nominating Committee. Our Columbia Union members met during the NAD Caucus and selected 3 individuals to join the 24 from the NAD. Bill Oblity of the Indiana, Pennsylvania Church is in the top center.


Our official church membership is now over 16,000,000 with about 25,000.000 attending or connected to the Seventh-day Adventist Church when you include children and those not yet baptized.