As our Adventist readers know, GC Session begins next week in Atlanta. For our non-Adventist readers, GC Session (short for General Conference Session) is an event that occurs once every five years in which delegates from every part of the world church assemble for 10 days of meetings in which they make decisions on issues affecting the entire church worldwide. These decisions include, among other things, approving any and all changes to the Church Manual that the world church deems advisable and electing new General Conference officers (most notably, the president of the world church).
There are a lot of things that happen in addition to the business meetings. Daily religious programs, workshops, and concerts are held. There is an exhibit hall where various Church organizations and independant ministries publicize their activities and businesses catering to the Adventist lifestyle advertise their wares. Each evening different divisions of the world church make formal reports on the evangelistic work in their areas. Attendance is estimated to be as high as 80,000 people over the course of a Session. With that many Adventists traveling to one place from around the world the event also takes on the atmosphere of a giant family reunion.
We expect that the eyes of the Adventist world will be focused on Session for its duration and we have decided not to try to compete. Therefore, this will be our last post until after Session concludes in early July. Rest assured, we will be back when Session is over.
In the meantime we invite all those who will be attending Session, or even just watching parts of it on TV, to observe how the business sessions are conducted. Particularly watch how the meeting chair conducts themselves in regard to the percentage of the meeting they spend talking and the sorts of things they do or do not say (administrative comments vs. issue-related comments). Then compare your observations to what you see in how your pastor chairs the meetings of your local church. The results may be quite interesting.
We are Religious and Liberty, long-time SDA members in good standing, who disagreed with our pastors when they took our congregation down a path antithetical to Adventism. The purpose of this blog is to openly speak the truth about this controversy. It is our hope that by telling the story of what happened at the Takoma Park SDA Church, we can warn others whose congregations may be considering breaking away from core beliefs and following the "Growing Healthy Churches Initiative." Welcome!
About Us
- RELIGIOUS AND LIBERTY
- Has your pastor brought in a consultant? Have you been told to leave your church because you wouldn't go along when your church abandoned denominational principles? Are you trying to educate your church as to why the "Church Growth Movement," or the "Purpose Driven Church Model," or the "Growing Healthy Churches Initiative," is antithetical to Protestantism? Tell us about it! religiousandliberty@hotmail.com
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