2017 Triennial Report ADVENT CHRISTIAN VILLAGE

110 Pages·2017·0.73 MB·English

Table of Contents
Page
Report of President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Report of Executive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Report of Director of Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Report of Nominating Committee
• Sample Ballot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Report of Coordinator of Women’s Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Report of Director of World Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Report of Asia/Pacific & Global Training Initiative (p. 33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Report of Africa/Europe Area Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Report of Latin America Area Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Report of Director of Student & Family Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Report of Coordinator of Educational Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Report of Commission on Chaplains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Report of William Miller Chapel Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Report of Necrologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Reports of Associate Members:
• AC Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
• Advent Christian Retirement Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
• Aurora University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
• Berkshire Christian College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
• Berkshire Institute of Christian Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
• Cristo Salva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Articles and Bylaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Committees and Task Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Denominational Calendar for 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

2017 Triennial Report
PRESIDENT
I was appointed to the position of interim president at the conclusion of the Executive Coun-
cil meetings in September of 2015. That was a time of transition for ACGC with the hiring
of our former president as our new executive director. As is almost always the case, times of
transitions are times of change and I have found myself in the thick of those changes. With the
confidence of our Executive Council, the blessings of my church and the faith that Linda and
I have in God’s leading, I have been blessed to serve the Advent Christian General Conference
of America these past 22 months. It has been an encouragement and a blessing to see first-
hand the commitment and hard work that both the Council and the staff in Charlotte have
been giving to the work of the Lord through ACGC. Their hard work, engagement with seri-
ous issues and deep concerns about the actions and issues they address is an encouragement
to me. They have worked hard with me to remain engaged and current on what is happening
in our denominational ministries and in the greater world around us. Please continue to hold
up all of us who serve the Lord through ACGC in your prayers and be equally engaged and
thoughtful in regards to the work, reports, seminars, discussion times and business that we
will share together during our 13th Triennial and 58th Session this week. Thank you again for
the honor and privilege of serving you as your interim president.
Rev. Paul M. Dean
Interim President
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2017 Triennial Report
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the 13th Triennial Convention, the 58th session of the Advent Christian Denomi-
nation of America, Inc. in Charlotte, N.C., the home of the Advent Christian General Confer-
ence of America. As we come together for these meetings, we should embrace the opportunity
to unify our hearts, minds and voices, giving thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father for
his gracious blessings on our people, churches and leadership. During these last 18 months,
I have learned a great deal about our churches and how we interact with conferences and
regions. I must say, it has been challenging to grasp all the infrastructure and relationships of
our denomination. I want to thank former Executive Director Dr. Ronald Thomas for being
a great support and a constant source of information and counsel; it helps that he lives across
the street.
Since our last convention, the Executive Council has followed through on the creation of a
Focus Group Task Force consisting of eight members along with the president and execu-
tive director of ACGC serving as ex officio members. This Task Force has met twice a year to
discuss and develop recommendations to the Executive Council regarding issues that have
been raised by leadership from our conference and regions. Some of the business we will ad-
dress in these meetings comes from the action taken by the delegate body in 2014 to establish
this group. Their work and reports to the Executive Council have led us to consider and act on
some major issues we face during these end times.
Even though it has been a challenging three years since our last convention in that we have
experienced tragedies in a number of our conferences, including floods in West Virginia and
a tragic fire at Camp Washington in Maine, the response of our people to assist and rebuild
these ministries has been extraordinary. I want to applaud all of you and our churches for
your support and the love that has been poured out. There has also been a loving response to
international issues including our response to Oro Bible College in Philippines, orphans in
various fields and struggling families in Haiti living in caves. During these three years there
have been personnel changes in our ACGC offices that have created a learning curve for
leadership to overcome as we approached this convention. I want to thank the staff at ACGC
for their support and expertise in the preparation of this convention. You will quickly notice
major changes in our format for the convention and a lack of international attendees of the
convention. The change in format is directed at engaging the delegates in tackling some of the
issues we have addressed over the last three years. The Town Hall Meeting, Vision Forums
and Departmental Discussions are intended to give clear direction to the Executive Council
to develop a unifying vision for the Advent Christian denomination. The decision to limit
our international guests was a difficult decision, but one that had to be made based on limited
resources available to cover the expenses in bringing international partners to the convention.
These expenses are above and beyond what historically had been raised to offset the cost of
hosting these guests.
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We come to this convention with great confidence, knowing that God has brought us to this
point and trusting that he will be with us as we strive to be faithful until he returns to usher us
into his kingdom. Our message continues to be the proclamation of the imminent return of
our Lord Jesus Christ, striving to share this hope of Christ throughout the world.
Over the last three years there have been a lot of changes of the staff in Charlotte. One of those
is the fact that I am writing this report rather than Dr. Ronald Thomas. As I began my role
of president of ACGC after the 2014 Triennial, Dr. Thomas shared with the Executive Coun-
cil his decision to retire near the end of 2015, this began the process of building a Transition
Committee and the work of searching for a new executive director. I want to thank the Transi-
tion Committee for their hard work in this process, which involved developing a profile for
the new executive director, collecting résumés, interviews and, finally, a recommendation to
the Executive Council. As I prepare this report, I believe that God had his hand in the process,
that he helped me overcome a sense of uncertainty of my ability and that he opened doors and
set me where he wanted me to be.
Changes in Departments:
Department of Student and Family Ministries: Rev. Matt Larkin had served under the
Department of Nurture in the area of Student and Kids Ministry since 2013. His work in this
area revealed a real need in our churches and conferences. In 2015 the decision was made to
create the Department of Student and Family Ministry with Rev. Larkin as the director. The
work through this department has exploded in new areas of services to churches, conferences
and camps throughout the denomination. Matt will share further details in his report. Dur-
ing this time the decision was made to close the Venture Bookstore and to create the ACGC
Resource Center to continue providing services and begin consulting with our churches and
leaders on quality materials. During this time Beth Larkin made the decision to reduce her
hours from full-time to 20 hours per week focusing on event planning, assistance to women’s
ministry and helping with the Resource Center.
Through this department, Matt has been working with a group of pastors to produce a new
version of the “Advent Christian Catechism.” This new version will be a great asset not only
to our churches and leaders, but to families to use with their children to understand the core
doctrines of Christianity.
Early in 2016, Matt realized the growing need in children’s ministry for a resource person in
our churches. We made the decision to create a coordinator position dealing with children’s
ministry and working with the Resource Center. Meredith Broadway was brought on in April
to fill the part-time position. This department has continued to expand with resources, train-
ing and consulting for our ministries related to college students, Christian education, Chris-
tian camping, children and youth safety, youth ministry and children’s ministry needs.
Department of Communication: Justin Nash continues to wear many hats as he serves in
this position by editing the periodic materials, overseeing IT systems, to supervising the staff
of the Communication Department, and much more. Justin is also the key person working
with Natural Church Development as we begin to work with our regions and conferences to
help our churches become healthier in their ministries.
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In 2014, ACGC received a generous gift from Rev. Clint Taber of his Adventual Collection of
AC resource materials including charts, books, hymnals and literature, some dating back to
1762. Justin Nash and Ron Thomas have worked together to create a protective environment
and a resource room for these materials at our offices here in Charlotte. Rev. Taber hopes this
will only be the beginning of the materials in this resource center, and that others will contrib-
ute to broaden the availability of resource materials at ACGC.
At the end of 2016, Jan Thomas retired from serving as assistant editor after over 12 years of
service. Jan did a great job working in this department editing, managing resources and writ-
ers and being creative in the publishing of our Advent Christian printing. Cara Brock came on
to replace Jan, starting full-time in January of 2017. She has already been a great asset to the
publication of our materials.
Through the Department of Communication, our weekly E-News, “Advent Christian Wit-
ness,” appeal letters and other printed and online materials are readily available. I encourage
all of our pastors, leaders and laypeople to subscribe to the Witness and the E-News and to
take advantage of these opportunities, not only to hear about what is going on, but to partici-
pate and engage in conversation about the needs and issues within our denomination. You are
missing a blessing and opportunity if you are not receiving these and all of our resources.
Department of World Outreach: Director Jeff Walsh has faced some difficult decisions and
changes over the last few years in his department. Jeff and I began this year with a trip to India
and then to New Zealand. This was my first international trip and I was excited to have the
opportunity to visit India, a mission field I have heard about all of my life. Ernie Schache, a
former missionary to India, joined us and was a great help as we met with Mission Manager
Immanuel, conference leaders, pastors and our attorney Ravi Paul to discuss issues related
to the ministry and changing atmosphere in India. Following our time in India, we traveled
to New Zealand and met with leaders of our various churches there, a long-standing mission
prayer group and the Vanns. During this time, we shared with Jeff and Penny the difficult
decision to bring them home and the restructuring of the Global Training Initiative. Please
keep the Vanns in your prayers as they work through this transition back to the states and
where God is leading them in ministry. Not long after we returned home, Ernie Schache and
Jeff Walsh made a mutual decision that Ernie would no longer serve as Asia Team Leader. We
greatly appreciate the wisdom and experience that Br. Schache has given to the leadership of
the work in Asia. He will continue to be a source of support and an advisor for us as we move
forward.
Director Walsh’s work throughout the world is a challenge as the needs and desires in different
parts of the world vary greatly. The international training that the Vanns worked on is one that
requires many different levels of involvement from trainers and strong relationships with the
leadership and pastors. The desire to meet these needs is great, but to accomplish this we will
need the help of many pastors and educators along with the support of individuals to partner
in this ministry. As our history has always been to reach out around the world, we continue
to partner and engage in touching lives and strengthening leaders. The methods of minister-
ing around the world continue to change and we are striving to be good stewards in using our
resources effectively for sharing the gospel. During this convention, Jeff and his area directors
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will be sharing in a Departmental Discussion and a Vision Form to share in detail what is
happening on our mission fields, but to also seek your input on the future of World Outreach
in the ever-changing world.
Department of Finance: Director Dawn Rutan continues to do a great job of managing our
accounts and reporting the current financial situations. This past year we have moved from a
hardware-based data program to a cloud-based system out of necessity, as our hardware sys-
tem was failing. This has added a lot of work for Dawn, as much of our data had to be re-en-
tered and new systems set up for the cloud. This new system has many advantages in how we
manage and use our data. The need to keep us all aware of the finances available for ministry
and service is a daily effort, and we all appreciate Dawn’s expertise and heart for the ministries
of ACGC in all our departments.
Women’s Ministries: Pam Buchanan has served as Coordinator of Women’s Ministries for
the last 12 years and done a great job of working with WHFMS regional, conference and local
groups as well as reaching out to churches that have other types of women’s ministries. The work
and support of the WHFMS continues to be a valuable part of the ministry of Advent Chris-
tian churches around the denomination. The strong interest and support of the WHFMS with
World Outreach has brought many positive ministry aids to the mission field. Their programs of
Bicycles for Pastors, Christmas in October, Treasures (mp3 media Bibles) and their current work
“Bread of Life” met vital needs for pastors, leaders and church members around the world.
Women’s Ministries is a new and ever changing ministry that is different in almost every
church. Pam has had many conversations with leaders and those involved in women’s Lead
Teams on how both she and ACGC can help support and provide for these groups.
Just this month I have received news that Pam Buchanan has decided to resign as Coordinator
of Women’s Ministries. During her 12 years, Pam has worked closely with ACGC Administra-
tive Assistant Beth Larkin both in the Department of Nurture and recently in the Department
of Administration. Beth has been involved with WHFMS in local churches and assisted Pam
in planning conferences and retreats and launching Lead Teams. After discussing the needs
for the future of Women’s Ministries with both Pam and Karen Hall, national WHMS presi-
dent, I have decided to name Beth Larkin as Coordinator of Women’s Ministries for ACGC
beginning July 1, 2017.
In 2016, the Executive Council, Focus Group, superintendents and ACGC senior staff went
through a number of discussions and exercises seeking to define our vision for the future of
the Advent Christian General Conference. Through these discussions, an earnest desire to
bring a unifying sense of purpose and mission for our churches, conferences, regions and
ACGC was felt. This desire has brought us to the point of this Triennial and its structure to
engage Advent Christian leadership in purposeful vision-casting. The desire is to come out of
our time with a sense of direction and purpose that we can all work toward, serving together
for the kingdom of God.
During these discussions, a mandate to the directors of ACGC was passed, directing us to
develop a program to help our churches evaluate their health and assist them in becoming
healthier. ACGC senior staff began to evaluate this mandate and the resources and partner-
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ships we could form to make this a possibility for our staff, regions and conferences to help
our churches through this process. A partnership with Natural Church Development (NCD)
has been formed and we have already begun to work with churches with the diagnostic part
of this ministry. Justin Nash has gone through one stage of training to work as a coach with
our churches and the Western Region has already gone through training with a number of
their pastors as coaches. Currently, we have churches that have completed the first phase and
are using this information to become healthier in all areas of their ministries. We also have
other churches beginning to work through this process. During this convention there will be
a seminar about NCD and how your churches can join in this movement to become healthier
thriving churches.
Finally, as I come to this convention, my prayer is that all of us will come seeking for God to
reveal himself to us powerfully through the Word of God. Our hearts must be humbled before
the Holy Spirit to ask him to enlighten us and unify us in Christ as revealed in Christ’s High
Priestly prayer in John 17. I am humbled and my heart is hungry to see God’s work through-
out our time together. Please join me in praying for God’s perfect unity to be seen in our unity
in Christ!
Respectfully Submitted,
Rev. Steve D. Lawson
Executive Director
Advent Christian General Conference
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