NewsNuggets

Jill Harlow – Lincoln, Nebraska … Nine Campion Academy student leaders trained with other student leaders from across the Mid-America Union during Leadership Experience at Union College, September 8.

A highlight of the workshop was the chance to get to know student leaders from other schools. “I really enjoyed being able to see all the other schools and know that we are all on a similar journey of being a leader,” reflected Ariel Patterson, junior and resident assistant at Campion.

The event kicked off with an emphasis on service, with the leaders working in community projects around Lincoln for Union College’s Project Impact Day. Over the course of four days, the students participated in leadership simulation activities and listened to advice from experienced leaders, including the Union College SA officers.

Melody Mambo, Campion senior and SA president expressed, “The thing I enjoyed most about the retreat was that we were able to understand our different strengths and weaknesses as leaders. We were able to show our abilities in activities provided by Union, and it was interesting to see how different people from each group stepped up to show their leadership qualities.”

Patterson further explained, “The weekend was full of really fun activities and challenges, and I was able to learn some valuable lessons for leadership in just a couple of days!”

–Jill Harlow is Campion Academy communication director. Photo courtesy of Union College

Carol Bolden with Ted Williams – Arkansas Valley, Colorado … Sabbath, August 13, dawned bright and clear with the promise of a wonderful and blessed Sabbath at the Arkansas Valley church. It was the day that the family of Forrestine Odell would pick her up at her care facility and take her to church. A wonderful pianist, she was looking forward to playing the upstairs piano one more time, a long-time dream. Having turned 100 on May 20, she wanted to play Happy Birthday on the church piano.

Forrestine Odell was born and raised in Las Animas and is a charter member of the Arkansas Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church. She lives at Bent County HealthCare Center and gets around using a wheelchair. Pastor Ted Williams, having called on her several times, coordinated with the family for her special day at church.

After the church service, she took the elevator upstairs where she played the piano while other members sang happy birthday for the August birthdays. They all had a good time celebrating, but when it was time to leave, she discovered that someone else had tried to use the elevator and got stuck on the way up, making it no longer operable. Now she was stuck. What was to be done? While most others could exit using the stairs, taking a wheelchair down the stairs was not possible.

So, they called 911. The rescue volunteers who arrived were extremely helpful, lifting her into a special chair to carry her down the stairs. She handled it with aplomb, grinning all the way. Her dream came true with a very unexpected twist. All in all, it was a wonderful and blessed Sabbath. And, no worries, the person stuck in the elevator was also rescued.

–Carol Bolden with Ted Williams. Photo supplied

By Brandon Westgate … The more I work with young people, the more impressed I become with their desire to know God. Many are trying to figure out how God fits in their lives, and how that translates to their involvement in the local church. As I dialogue with older adults in local churches, I am also impressed that they acknowledge the challenges of being a young person today. They tell me how they pray for the youth and how they desire for our young people to grow in their walk with God. Yet, I have noticed that the ones who are the most encouraging and supportive of our youth can sometimes say things that, while on the surface can sound helpful, are in fact, not so helpful.

One of those statements is, “The youth are the future of our church.” While this statement seems super supportive of our young people, often the youth do not hear what I am sure the well-intentioned speaker intended. You see, when you say that the youth are “the future…” what our youth sometimes hear is that you see them, but they are not important right now. They may feel seen in the present, but they do not feel presently engaged, because as was said, they are the future. So, what they are hearing you say to them is:

“Hey, we see you, but you are not important yet.”

“We see you, but we are not going to mentor you right now.”

“We want to give you a shout-out, but we are not ready to give you a seat at the table.”

Yes, I know that is not what they intend to say, but that is often what is heard.

The other negative about using this particular statement is that it can have a pacifying effect on the corporate church. When the church body hears, “The youth are the future…” it can cause the brethren to think, “The youth are here, and at some future point in time, we will need to engage them.” This is perhaps one of the culprits in the loss of our youth in local church settings. When youth are present, that is the time to engage them, mentor them, equip them, and empower them. If we do not do these things, the youth will find somewhere else to go where someone will invest in their lives. So, what does that look like?

Engaging a young person can look like taking an intentional few minutes every time you see them and engaging them in conversation. Build that relationship by engaging with them outside of the church as well. Get to know them and their friends. As that friendship develops, mentor them into a church ministry position, or connect them with another person who can mentor them into a ministry position. Equip them with the information and encouragement they need to do the particular ministry in which they have an interest. Empower them by acknowledging their ministry and its impact in your church. Give them a seat at the church board where they can have a voice and a vote (By the way, If you think that your board meetings are no place for a young person to be, then I would strongly suggest that you reconsider the format of your board meetings!). Let them plan and execute the worship service. Encourage them to do a service project outside the walls of the church building.

The thrust of what I am trying to say is simply this: The young people in your church are the church of today. They are the present-day church. If we do not interact with them in positive ways today, they will not be part of any future church scenario because they will not continue to desire to be in a place where their presence may be acknowledged, but their skills, talents, and abilities are not being utilized. Remember, this church was started by young adults. For reference, in 1844, James White was 23 years old, Ellen White was 17 years old, and J.N. Andrews was just 15 years old!

Young people can and will accomplish amazing things if we will engage them today.

–Brandon Westgate is RMC youth director. Photo by Zac Durant on Unspash.

RMCNews – Denver, Colorado …  Ten days after the 2022 Constituency Session, RMC Executive Committee met for its orientation meeting, August 30.

At the outset of the business meeting, Mic Thurber, RMC president, who was reelected by the session, welcomed new members placed on the committee during the constituency meeting.

Thurber gave an orientation to the new members explaining how the committee functions and how to relate to actions the committee takes, as well as how to share what was voted without identifying committee members’ specific comments. Members of the committee “always feel free to have a thorough discussion,” he said. He also spoke about Executive Session and what type of items we will process there and the need for strict confidentiality.

Since it was the first meeting of the newly elected committee, he took time to review the constituency meeting itself. “As this was meant to be a brief time to review it [the Constituency], I told the committee that we’d take more time in future meetings to discuss ways we can suggest to the by-laws committee how to improve things for the next constituency meeting,” Thurber explained.

With this being the first meeting with newly appointed committee members, considerable time was spent on Conference finances. The focus was more on “how we have gotten to where we are, how funds are used and can be used, and how we work within North American Division Policy to best fund ministry in the Rocky Mountain Conference,” Darin Gottfried, RMC vice president for finance, presented.

He commented after the meeting, “it was an interactive time where members were able to ask a lot of questions, which was enjoyable for me as the treasurer. It is great to see members interested in the finances and where we are going as a church and it makes me excited to see what this committee can do over the next five years.”

Gottfried gave updates on how conference income and expenses are doing in relation to our budget for the first six months of 2022.  More than nine million dollars in tithe has come into the conference for half of the year with gross tithe being up 2.36% over 2021.

Base tithe, which excludes any one-time windfall tithes and is used as a basis for the following year’s budget, is down by 1.84% from last year. With inflation being at a 40-year high, time was spent discussing what this means as the Conference builds a budget for 2023 and tries to keep up with fast-growing expenses.

Giving to RMC Advance has decreased by about 8% from last year. “I am hoping that this offering can grow as it goes to help in many needed areas.”

“At present, the Conference is sitting in a very good financial position,” Gottfried said. “We have a gain through the month of June due to several positions not being filled. Our gain is expanded by receiving over 600k in donations that were not anticipated through our budget. This Conference has been blessed and I continue to thank God for our members’ amazing commitment and support as we move forward,” he concluded.

The committee considered suggestions for improving the Constituency Session. These suggestions included education for pastors on the meeting’s process, providing methods for delegates to add motions or agenda items before the meeting is called to order, and expanding the representation of Hispanic members.

The committee voted to fill its existing vacancies by inviting Randy Fuelly (lay person SW Region) and Anton Kapusi (pastor SE Region).  An additional opening was presented because of the resignation of Stephanie Melendez, a lay representative from Fairplay, Colorado, and the committee gave an enabling action to the administration to ask Ana Alvarez from the Colorado Springs Hispanic Church. She accepted the position.

Doug Inglish, RMC vice-president for administration stated that “those names are being withheld until we can communicate with them to determine which is able to accept the position.” This supports the action of the Constituency Session to bring another member from a Hispanic church onto the committee. During the meeting, Linda Kelly’s resignation was announced. The RMC administration will research suggestions for another lay person to serve on the committee from Wyoming.

As is required after a constituency session, all employee credentials were voted, with a correction for Lisa Cardinal, whose credential was changed from ‘commissioned’ to ‘ordained’. The committee also approved recommendation to the Mid-America Union Conference for the ordination of Pastor Nathaniel Gamble.

The Administrative Committee and the K-12 Board were given a delegated authority for the next quinquennium, and the Campion Academy Board was named and delegated authority for the next quinquennium.

The appointment of Departmental Directors for the quinquennium will take place after the administration has had time to research and make recommendations.

A subcommittee was appointed to craft a policy for recommendation to the committee regarding the treatment of employees who personally disagree with the new RMC policy regarding the ordination of women. Until such policy is adopted the committee approved the administrations suggestions for how it will relate to such employees:

• No worker will lose his or her job because of their personal view on women’s ordination.
• No pressure will be brought to bear from administration for a worker to change his or her view on women’s ordination.
• No worker will be kept from any normal advancement opportunities because of their personal view on women’s ordination
• No potential worker who is otherwise appropriate for a given position when coming into our conference will be denied it by conference administration based on their view on women’s ordination
• Attendance and participation in fellow pastors’ ordinations has always been voluntary in Rocky Mountain Conference. That practice will continue.

Diane Harris, RMC director of education, shared an encouraging report about the state of education in the Conference. She said that all 17 teacher openings, including six at Mile High Academy, have been filled. Presently, 80 teachers are serving 836 students in RMC’s 18 schools.

Following the committee deliberations which ended in mid-afternoon, Vanessa Alarcon, a committee member from Boulder since February 2022, shared her reflection: “As a millennial in our church, it’s been an incredible opportunity to represent part of our lay membership in complex decision-making.  No matter the amount of questions or comments the committee has, I have appreciated the administration’s commitment to address it all.

I wish more of our constituency could see how much prayer and careful consideration goes on behind-the-scenes,” she commented.

The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for October 11.

–RMCNews