Elisabet Kirkland Page 46

Diane Harris – Denver, Colorado … The Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) K-12 Board of Education met to discuss the future of Adventist education within the conference on September 5.

The K-12 board meets twice a year and constitutes a group of committed members that include pastors, laity, school board chairs, elementary and secondary principals, and conference leadership. The goal is to create a positive impact that works in harmony with the mission and vision of RMC Administration.

At the heart of our mission is the commitment to grow our schools, not just in numbers but in the depth of learning experiences. This means working to provide opportunities to help students grow in mind, body, and spirit and build on the principles of Adventist education.

Professional development emerged as a vital focus during the meeting. The board believes that by investing in the educators, they invest in the future of the students. They are committed to nurturing the talents of the teachers and providing them with the tools and training they need to excel in their roles. This idea is based on the research that the most significant factor in influencing student achievement is whether students are given a clear purpose and can understand their learning journey.

The committee heard from RMC educators Jessica Gleason, a teacher from Mile High Academy, Rachel Fetroe, a teacher from Vista Ridge Academy, and Marsha Bartulec, principal at Vista Ridge Academy, about how professional development has influenced their leadership and teaching. Through collaboration and mentorship, the goal is to foster a sense of community among the teachers, strengthening schools and promoting collective excellence.

Diane Harris, RMC superintendent of education, remarked, “As we closed the meeting, we shared that 60% of our students do not identify as Seventh-day Adventists. What a wonderful opportunity to partner with our churches to reach these families to share the blessing of our message. Together, we can continue to work towards accomplishing the Three Angels Message as we build bridges within our communities.”

—Diane Harris is the RMC superintendent of education. Photo supplied.

Wayne Surls – Denver, Colorado … When we hear the three letters “T-L-C” together, we might think of “tender loving care.” These letters also translate into “True Life Community,” a Seventh-day Adventist Church in southwest Denver, Colorado. There may be some who have not heard of True-Life Community Church, but it has been in the area for about a decade.

It’s a contemporary Seventh-day Adventist fellowship that has several different ministries and is very involved in church and community activities. There are four zoom calls for prayer. One is called “Prayer and Text,” and anyone, not just members of TLC Church, can participate.

There is a ministry to help the homeless called “The Encouragement Basket” and another called “The Thanks Basket.” There’s a Women’s Ministry and a Men’s Ministry and Christmas for Kids. There is also a zoom Bible Study of which everyone is invited to join. And there is Jude’s Basinet Ministry, which has grown into a large community service, that provides items mothers need to care for a new baby.

But the ministry to highlight right now is the annual Seven Hours of Prayer. This will take place this year at the church on September 16 from 2:00-9:00 p.m. There will be a blessing for all who attend, and TLC Church extends an invitation to anyone who wishes to participate. No one is obligated to stay the entire length of time, and you may come and go at your convenience.

This year, there will be a change in the format of the program. Ten rooms will be set up for those with special prayer burdens. There will be one for those who have concerns for someone who is in the military, will have a certain dangerous deployment, or more. There will be rooms for those who have concerns about children or health issues or with the unity of in the church. Another will be reserved to learn lessons from the Garden of Gethsemane. There will also be space for those who want to pray about events surrounding the Second Coming of Christ or those with concerns for a revival in the church.

Please come and join us to share in the blessing of seven hours of prayer!

—Wayne Surls attends True Life Community Seventh-day Adventist Church. Photo by Unsplash.

By Dr. Bryant Taylor

When churches closed their physical doors in early 2020, churchgoers were understanding and appreciative of the forward-thinking, care, and concern of pastors and church administrators. After a few weeks, both groups became concerned about the decision to close the doors. Pastors and ministries became worried because they were not sure if there would be financial support for the church. In fact, according to Barna Group, there was a 58% increase in financial giving.

Churchgoers became concerned because they wondered if the doors would ever open again. Within a few weeks of closing, there was a loud outcry to open the church, and reasons ranged from if the Lord be with us what virus should we fear, to the separation of church and state has been eroded, and now the state is determining if the church will be open or not. Emotions were high, as evident by the fiery, opinionated post on social media. The overwhelming thought was that as soon as the doors opened, the church would fill with overjoyed members.

Church administrators and pastoral teams quickly formed Covid task forces to give insight and develop plans to re-enter the church. Church staff utilized RSVP systems, as well as check-in procedures. With the expectation of many people clamoring to go back into the sanctuary, many added another service. However, the anticipated mad rush was just a trickle. The expected numbers and people groups just were not there to substantiate the written and voiced desire to be physically present in the sanctuary. People didn’t show up, for various reasons: health & safety, crowd adverse, comfort of their own space. Interestingly, Barna Group also reports that there were 72% more viewers of the online services.

The pandemic enlightened the understanding of many to something that was always evident: the church is not the building; it is not restricted, defined, nor limited to its physical structure. It did not take long before people realized that they did not have to sit on a pew or in a chair inside of a building with others to receive the blessings of God. They did not have to physically be present to have a worship experience and to feel the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In large metropolitan areas where there are multiple churches, the idea of church-hopping is a known phenomenon. However, Covid expanded and magnified the notion of church hopping.

In this virtual space, a churchgoer could attend any number of services. They could experience multiple worship services in various cities simultaneously. Viewers would go to one church for the engaging children’s ministry, click to another tab, and wave their hands in response to the music from a different worship service. Click again, listen to the dramatic introduction, click to hear the profound social, theological implications of the scripture, click to hear the energetic close of the sermon, click to listen to the tear-inducing song that closed another service. There are many worship options: conservative, traditional, liberal, mundane, lively, anthems, spirituals, gospels, Christian hip hop, and more. The choice of teaching or preaching; doctrines, life situations, socially conscious, you name it, is available, and people gravitated to the various styles that ministered to their lives.

The pandemic also taught us that the Sabbath truly is a day of rest, as the Sabbath was made “FOR” humanity. Families began to go to state parks, the beach, the mountains. They discovered hiking and started to fall in love with nature. Some spent the sabbath hours in service to others: delivering meals, volunteering at community outreach organizations, or closing the Sabbath by just sitting in the front yard singing to a member who was in the house listening through the window.

This peaceful, easy-going Sabbath became a highlight in the lives of many churchgoers. The most successful ministries adapted and adopted their service to accommodate their online audience.

The program was sometimes shortened to as little as 45 minutes; the children’s ministry section was enhanced and targeted to children; it was not an adult story told to children; the best musical groups were selected. The combination of rest and relaxation Church/worship on demand, the discovery, exploration, and love of nature caused many not to rush back to the building when the doors opened. From this we can see another shocking realization: “41% of Black churchgoers favor a hybrid church future.”

The older members will still dress in their Sabbath best, sit in the family room and join the service for the comfort of their home; young families will continue to attend, just not weekly, they may attend two weeks, and the other two weeks they will spend in service to others and nature outings with the family.

The church doors are open, the pews and chairs may not be filled, but the church is not empty.

—Dr. Bryant Taylor serves as communication director of the Southern Union Conference. Republished by permission from North American Division ministerial department newsletter.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God.
(1 Peter 4:10, NASB)

Stewarding or managing God’s economy and the Household of God is way more than returning the Tithe or ensuring an organization is financially afloat.

Observing the present state of the Christian church, Bloomberg remarked, “I often wondered why Christian ministries that are raising money do not stress the central biblical truth that giving is part of the whole-life transformation, that Stewardship and Sanctification go together as signs of Christian obedience and maturity.”[1]

Hall argued that the stewardship concept had been truncated in the Christian church today: “What we have by way of stewardship in our churches is, in fact, a drastically reduced version of the biblical concept … a purely functional appropriation of the biblical metaphor.”[2] He also observed that, based on this truncated concept of Stewardship, churchgoers rationalize that Stewardship is “about the acquisition and management of ecclesiastical monies and properties,”[3] meaning that Stewardship is reduced to a narrow business model in its not-for-profit management of church organization.

Speaking in an even more tangible way, Rodin and Hoag illustrated the difference between being a steward and doing Stewardship:

“More than any other area of ministry today, we are measured in this work by what we do. The development department makes its reports by using charts and graphs. We talk about our work in terms of dollar goals, percentages of participation, average gifts, and pledge totals. From thermometers in lobbies to annual reports mailed to our entire databases, everybody knows exactly if we are successful or not. Ours is a highly measurable profession where we are evaluated almost solely on what we do and how much we raise. There is something fundamentally wrong with this picture.”[4]

Hence, there is a need to have a wholistic approach to Stewardship where all aspects of the “Manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10) are interconnected and are part of one whole, unbroken unit. As Froom explained: “Stewardship in its larger aspects is the all-inclusive principle of the whole of life. It is not a theory nor a philosophy but a working program. It is in verity the Christian law of living. It forms the Christian appraisal of privilege, opportunity, power, and talent.”[5]

An indebted investigation of Ellen G. White’s writings revealed a long list of over fifty different areas of life that include spiritual, emotional, relational, material, temperamental, and other areas of life we are “stewards of,” acknowledging both the individual or group engagement of the Christian.

The analysis indicates that beyond White’s comprehensive, wholistic view of a steward’s engagement, the overwhelming emphasis in her writings was on being stewards of “grace.” Some examples are “stewards of God’s or His grace,” “stewards of the manifold grace of God,” “stewards of the grace of Christ,” “stewards of the manifold grace of Christ,” “stewards of the mysteries of God,” and “stewards of the mysteries of the grace of God.”

It is safe to say that out of 535 references, over two-thirds are grace-related, and half of the remaining third are relational, describing the steward’s direct dependent relation to God and the Lord Jesus. The references to grace emphasize generosity with all the gifts, including the gospel, grace and mercy, hospitality, tithing, love, and many other received gifts. She referred to “time and means, talents and influence” as “temporal gifts.”[6]

While she considered them important and worthy of the faithful management of the stewards of God, her emphasis was over and over on stewards who “must be partakers of the self-denial and self-sacrifice of Christ for the good of others.”[7] She emphasized the stewards’ identification with the Owner or their Lord and their work of channeling and dispensing the received manifold gifts of grace through their lives.

Just as Apostle Peter taught, we received many gifts for building up the fellowship of believers, caring for each other, and growing the kingdom of God. In other words, we received all the gifts to generously share with others for the glory of the Giver and for the salvation of many. Jesus commissioned his stewards: And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8). This is genuine STEWARDSHIP!

—Anton Kapusi was lead pastor at First Pueblo Seventh-day Adventist Church until August 31, 2023. Photo by Pexels.

[1]  Willmer, W. K. (Ed.). (2008). Revolution in Generosity: Transforming Stewards to be Rich Toward God. Chicago, IL: Moody. p. 45.

[2]  Hall, D. J. (1990). The Steward: A Biblical Symbol Come of Age. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. p. 12.

[3]  Ibid.

[4]  Rodin, R. S., & Hoag, G. G. (2010). The Sower: Redefining the Ministry of Raising Kingdom Resources. Winchester, VA: ECFA. pp. 7-8.

[5]  Froom, L. E. (2012). Stewardship in its Larger Aspects. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press.

[6]  White, E. G. (1973). God’s Amazing Grace. Washington, DC: Review and Herald. p. 62.

[7]  Ibid.