Making God Known - Irish Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist

76 Pages·2013·3.39 MB·English

by  Marci Neal

Irish Mission

Making God Known

Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people.
The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good.
He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs,
and won their confidence. Then He bade them, "Follow Me."
(Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 143)
IRISH MISSION SESSION

SATURDAY 2nd - SUNDAY 3rd NOVEMBER 2013

On behalf of the Irish Mission Executive, the Mission Secretary, Pastor Paul
Lockham and Mission Treasurer Mr. Victor Pilmoor and myself, may I extend a
very warm welcome to all gathered for this Session of the Irish Mission of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.

We extend grateful thanks to the Belfast Church for hosting the session. We are
also pleased to welcome Pastor Ian Sweeney, the British Union President.

This booklet contains reports from the Officers and Departmental Sponsors. It
also contains the Irish Mission Constitution, the Minutes of the previous
Session and a section on Guidelines.

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Saturday Evening, November 2nd

18:00 - 19:00 Registration

19:00 – Opening of Session

19:15 – Devotional, Pastor Ian Sweeney

19:30 – Report, President

19:45 – Report, Secretary

20:00 – Questions to Secretary

20:30 – Report, Treasurer

20:45 – Questions to Treasurer

21:15 – End

(Recommendations Committee)

Sunday November 3rd

09:30 Devotional & Prayer

09:45 Recommendations Committee Report

10:00 Women’s, Children & Family Ministries (proposal)

10:15 Report, Youth

10:45 Questions to Youth Sponsors

11:00 Break (Committees Commence Work)

11:15 Report, Health Sponsor

11:30 Questions to Health Sponsor

11:45 Report, Communication Sponsor

12:00 Questions to Communication Sponsor

12:15 Trust Services Report (including questions)

12:30 Adventist Discovery Centre Report (including questions)

12:45 Administration Matters

1pm Lunch

2:00 Sub-Committee Reports

2:30 Dublin City of Hope & Irish Mission Cities of Hope

3:30 Dublin Church Building Project

3:45 Mission Priorities 2014 – 2016

4:30 Closing Activity

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Contents

President’s Report 5

Secretary 13

Treasurer 16

Youth 20

Communication 27

Adventist Discovery Centre - Ireland 32

Health Ministries 37

Trust Services 41

Appendices

Constitution of the Irish Mission
Triennial Session Minutes 2010
Session Guidelines
Procedural Guidelines

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2011-2013

Introduction
The theme of the October 2010 Irish Mission session was “press together, press
together, press together… Press together; in unity there is strength’. It’s easy
enough talk about and promote unity, but much more difficult to keep. A challenge
we continually face in a diverse church is how to understand the meaning of unity.
When worldviews meet in the Sabbath School class, at the Church Board, and at
Camp Meeting / Youth Camp, it’s natural for us to recite the mantra ‘this is how
we do things here’, or even ‘this is how we did things back home’. Further, some
maintain that ‘really true Adventists believe and practise like this…’. Our ability to
truly ‘listen’ to ‘the other’ for his/her perspective frequently takes second place.
Among some, there is a belief that theological unity equates to uniformity.

We’ll consider the membership statistics later in this report, but for the moment, I
want to continue to reflect on who we are as a people, and our growing spiritual
maturity. We will report at this Session that we have experienced both significant
demographic and baptism growth, for which we praise the Lord. At the same time
we also need to consider how we are growing in our relationship with the Lord, with
each other, and with the community.

Growth with the Lord, with each other and with the community

As we left the last Session, we made a commitment to make ‘Revival, Reformation,
Discipleship, and Evangelism our priority for the triennium (see Irish Mission
priorities document 2011-2013 in appendix). With the election of General
Conference President, Elder Ted Wilson in June 2011, the plan gained significant
momentum with supporting resources available in abundance. For example,

 ‘Revive us Again’ – booklet distributed to every Irish Mission worshipper.
 ‘Revived by His Word’ – a daily bible reading plan for the world church.
 ‘Revival and Reformation’ - Adult bible study theme - third quarter 2013.
And yet, how do we determine the level of spiritual growth among us over the last
three years? Numbers on a chart can count the number of members. Numbers on
an accounts sheet demonstrate financial health, but using numbers to assess
spiritual growth do not help. Instead we need to find another measure.

“There can be no growth or fruitfulness in the life that is centred in self. If you have accepted
Christ as a personal Saviour, you are to forget yourself, and try to help others. Talk of the love
of Christ, tell of His goodness. Do every duty that presents itself. Carry the burden of souls
upon your heart, and by every means in your power seek to save the lost. As you receive the
Spirit of Christ – the Spirit of unselfish love and labour for others – you will grow and bring
forth fruit. The graces of the Spirit will ripen in your character. Your faith will increase, your
convictions deepen, your love be made perfect. More and more you will reflect the likeness of
Christ in all that is pure, noble and lovely… Christ is waiting with longing desire for the
manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly
reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”

(Ellen White, Christ’s Object Lessons p. 68-69)

The Adventist community has spent much time considering the meaning of the
word ‘perfectly’ in the last sentence. In the context of the surrounding paragraph,
it’s significant that the word ‘love’ occurs three times. Is not the chief characteristic
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of Christ - love? And then surely the chief measure of ‘Revival and Reformation’ is
about our love God, love for each other, and love the world.

At times over the last three years, along with my administrative colleagues and the
executive committee, I admit that we found some of the historic conflict in certain
parts of the Irish Mission difficult to manage. Elders in a few places have reported
that ‘while all is quiet at present’, the rumblings continue in the background. In
some places embedded conflict continues because neither party has had the
opportunity to experience closure. In other places, as relationships mature and
trust increases, conflicts do find resolution.

The bible recognises that there are times when Christians are unable to live and
work together, and as a result go their separate ways (Paul and Barnabas for
example). When that happens in a small community of faith such as the Irish
Mission, administrative decisions become very complex indeed, as members of the
outgoing Executive Committee will testify.

This is not to say that conflict needs to necessarily be negative. In the history of the
church there has always been conflict. It is often through conflict that we grow.
Belonging to a faith-community with a strong conviction of the nearness of the
impending end time, we are motivated by a strong sense of urgency. We are shaped
by a clear sense of identity and mission. With such passions, how can we avoid
trouble? A challenge for us is to keep our conflict healthy, to agree to disagree with
respect and civility, to burn rather than bend on issues of life importance, not the
colour of the church curtains! Even when the Holy Spirit convicts of the ‘rightness
of one’s cause’, the Spirit at the same time says… ‘But the greatest of these is love’.
One strategy we have introduced is training for Elders to support them with conflict
management.

The other side of the story of Irish Mission members over the last three years is one
of commitment and dedication to Him. We have many reasons to thank the Lord
and Praise Him for his work in and through us.

 The gifts and talents of godly leaders
 The return of a faithful tithe by our members
 The thousands of volunteer service hours for the Lord and His church
 The 89 new members who have joined the church as a result of baptism
 The numerous acts of Christian grace and kindness shown to each other.
Three examples of kindness I’ve witnessed:

 A visitor from China regularly attends an Irish Mission church for a number
of weeks. He cannot speak a word of English. He brings with him his bible to
church – in Mandarin. During the adult bible study, a class member sits
beside him and ‘google translates’, so that our friend may find the
appropriate text as directed.
 A member supports another in financial difficulty, expecting no return.
 Local members in numerous places, and on many occasions, providing
significant financial support to bereaved family members needing to return
to their homeland unexpectedly.
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‘See how they love one another’ is a sign, not only of our obedience to Christ, but to
each other, and to the world. "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

Growth with the community

Our primary means of connecting with the community continues to be through
conducting ‘Health Expo’s. Very few Irish Mission churches over the last three
years have not held an expo in one form or another. This tremendous programme
to connect with the community is now legendary, and is probably the most relevant
and effective outreach tool we have. The challenge with the Health Expo is to utilise
tried and tested follow-on programmes, as further bridge-building opportunities for
the community to connect with the church.

Such a positive follow-on for example, is the monthly Sunday morning Banbridge
breakfast club attended by both members and friends. The ‘can do’ mind-set of the
local outreach team successfully connected with members of the Banbridge
community, who until recently regarded the presence of Adventists in the town as
insignificant. From the breakfast club, a further bridge was built with the formation
of a Saturday evening health club led by Health Ministries Sponsor Edith
Samambwa. Whatever the seminar, whatever the approach, the real story of these
outreach events is that friendships are formed and continue to deepen with each
event. When it comes to further seminars and evangelistic meetings in Banbridge in
2014, it’s more than likely that community friends will already have ‘listening ears’,
prompted and prepared by the Holy Spirit.

We will consider plans for the Dublin City of Hope / Irish Mission Cities of Hope
project in another report (see appendix). But it’s worth repeating here that if our
evangelistic efforts are ever to be successful with the community, we need to do
three things:

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to place in our heart the desire to see others saved in
God’s Kingdom.
2. Connect with the community first through felt-need /outreach events to
build up trust and confidence.
3. Demonstrate both in word and deed that Seventh-day Adventists have
something relevant and attractive to offer.
The Changing Church – stabilises

At the last Session we reported how the ‘diversity story’ was the story. The
Executive Secretary reports that over 150 people transferred in to the Irish Mission
or were voted in by profession of faith. This is due to ‘New Irish’ who arrived in
Dublin 2007-2010, and their desire to regularise their membership status with the
local church where they worship. There is clear evidence that the increase of ‘New
Irish’ worshippers has slowed down significantly, a reflection no doubt of the
current economic conditions in Ireland. At present, including children there are
approximately 1,000 Irish Mission worshippers.

 250 - Northern Ireland
 500 - Dublin
 250 - West and South-East Ireland

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Openings and Closures

Ballinasloe - The dramatic change of economic circumstances saw the demise of
the Ballinasloe Company. As the jobs disappeared in the West of Ireland, the
members understandably left to return to their homeland.

Ennsikillen - While still formally recognised as company, none of the few active
members meet together. This is primarily due to members leaving the area. The
administration is in discussion with Adventist Frontier Missions about the
possibility of sending a Missionary couple to help revive the work in the area. There
is a provisional plan for them to arrive at the end of 2014.

Sligo - Forty miles west of Enniskillen in the city of Sligo a new group has formed.
Ten worshippers meet together in the Sligo Presbyterian church hall. It is nothing
short of the leading of the Lord that our small group of ‘New Irish’ members found a
place to worship after many months of searching in the city. Recently, I received
the following letter from the minster, the Rev. G. Alan Mitchell:

“I am happy to say that among the users of our hall and facilities Shupai Matewa and her
friends show the greatest respect for the property and always leave everything neat and tidy
when they are finished. It is a joy to work with them and I trust that those who are seeking
refuge in this country will have their positions sorted out quickly so that they can become an
active part of the community and seek work etc. These things are very very slow and it is not
easy for those living in such circumstances to cope with the tension and difficulties of this
kind of living.”

His letter is a reminder that there are 50 Irish Mission worshippers (and possibly
more we are not aware of) who reside in Ireland with refugee status, living in
centres run by the government, awaiting a decision on their status.

Drumcondra - The Dublin Drumcondra church plant is led by Holy Spirit-filled
people, who’ve caught hold of the biblical command to “go”. Located just north of
Dublin City Centre, the core group is seeking to create a new kind of church,
specifically for the benefit of ‘others’, to help Dublin people once again connect with
God. Community, friendship, conversation and discipleship are among the core
characteristics of this new plant.

Grianach House School - At the last Session I reported that the ability of the
Grianach House Board of Governors and staff to turn the school from ‘survive’ to
‘thrive’ mode was a pressing challenge. A few months later a vote was taken by the
board to close the school and operations ceased at the end of the 2011 academic
year. Cash assets have been transferred to the Irish Mission. The process of
transferring capital assets is ongoing.

ADRA Ireland
The long-term viability of ADRA Ireland was considered by its board in September
2012. Board members were presented with a viability report outlining reasons why
the charity was difficult to sustain:

 ADRA Ireland’s internal donor base in the Republic of Ireland is too small for purpose.
 The charity is not currently supported financially by business or government, nor is it
likely to do so in the foreseeable future, particularly with the absence of full-time staff.
 Administration of charity is lead almost entirely on a volunteer basis, with little or no
professional support for day-to-day running of operation.
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 The absence of a legal unitary authority in the Republic of Ireland permitting door-to-
door / street collection for the charity is administratively challenging and time
consuming.
 Irish Mission members and donors residing in Northern Ireland are inclined to support
ADRA UK.

After full consideration, the board voted to suspend the charitable activity of ADRA
Ireland from December 31st 2012. Remaining financial obligations of the charity are
currently being determined, to which assets will be transferred.

The Pastoral Team

By the time of the Irish Mission Session all of the salaried pastoral team will have
their call to ministry recognised, either through ordination or commissioning. All
have become ‘senior pastors’ (not in age, but experience) which is a new day for the
Irish Mission. The current deployment of each is as follows:

Northern Ireland

Derry / Londonderry & Coleraine Weiers Coetser
Belfast & Youth Sponsor Adam Keough
Banbridge & Larne currently vacant

Republic of Ireland

Dublin Ranelagh Gavin Anthony
Dublin Castleknock & Youth Pastor Ben Pontanar
Dublin Drumcondra & Ranelagh Associate Stephen Wilson
Dublin Romanian & Ballinacrow Dan Serb
Kilkenny & Portlaise Evelyn Wilson*
Waterford Brad Bushey*
Cork Jeff Freeman*
Newmarket, Galway & Longford Tony O’ Rourke
Sligo Mart de Groot*

 Evelyn Wilson serves as a volunteer lay-pastor overseeing the Kilkenny group, but is
supported by the Irish Mission with a travel budget. Brad Bushey serves as a missionary /
minister to the Waterford Company, and is employed by Adventist Frontier Missions. Jeff
Freeman is employed by Adventist Frontier Missions, but is seconded to the Irish Mission to
provide pastoral care for the Cork church. The cost to the Irish Mission is the equivalent of a
½ salary. After serving the Coleraine church ‘full-time’ in retirement, Mart de Groot continues
to support the Irish Mission overseeing the work in Sligo. Pastoral care for the Drogheda
group is shared between the Dublin pastors.
Gavin Anthony and Weiers Coetser currently use a portion of their working time to
pursue graduate studies.

The evaluation of each pastor and his effectiveness is to ensure that Irish Mission
members receive a ‘ministry of excellence’. This year in particular the
administration experienced a higher than usual level of ‘non response’ from board
members refusing to carry out the process of evaluating their pastor as is the usual
practise. ‘It’s not the right thing to do, he’s a man of God and it’s not our place to
evaluate his ministry’, came the response. The sincerity of this position is without
question, but I would graciously submit – misguided. The purpose of the evaluation
process is to help congregation and pastor engage in an honest conversation about
the relationship between the two. Accountability and open communication should
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lead to a maturity in the relationship that enables the pastor and his congregation
to grow together.

I am forever grateful to the pastoral team for their energy, passion and enthusiasm
for ministry. I enjoy the honest and transparent conversation between us, enabling
us to grow together. We learn from each other, mingle together with several
different worldviews and still share a healthy respect for each other. We try hard to
listen to the perspective of ‘the other’ as well as promote our own. Each is
dedicated and committed to a life-long service of gospel ministry. Each supported
by a spouse, some in the foreground, others in the background with both styles
equally valid. Each have children who watch dad at home, at work and at play.
Each child watches dad in the pulpit, ‘their dad’ – but also a servant of the Lord.
Keep in prayer our ministerial families.

The work of the Elder and Lay Leadership

During 2011 and 2012 quarterly, I worked with the regional ministerial team
training Elders in their leadership role, with the Elder’s manual as the core
curriculum. For some the training was new. For others, it was continuing
education. During 2013 this vital training role has fallen into the background
somewhat, with preparation and training for the City of Hope project, and apologies
for that. The Irish Mission has Elders who serve with excellence. I am grateful for
your ministry. Thank you in particular, for the ‘quiet word’ in my ear, and in the
ear of your local pastor. We appreciate your experience and wisdom and would be
lesser leaders without it.

Departments and Ministries

I am going to comment little on the departments and ministries. The reports speak
for themselves, although I want express appreciation on your behalf to the
Sponsors, Weiers Coetser, Adam Keough, Ben Pontanar, Jeff Freeman, Mart de
Groot, and Edith Samambwa for their ministry of distinction in their respective
disciplines and going the ‘extra mile’ to make them function.

I do however need to comment about the ability of the Mission to provide Sponsors
for ministries. In our context a Mission Sponsor fulfills the role in addition to his
role as the pastor of a particular district. As the membership of the Mission has
grown, there has been a call for various ministries to be promoted by means of a
Sponsor. In particular over the last three years the administration has struggled, in
particular, to find a sponsor for Family, Women’s, Men’s and Prayer Ministries. At
the time of writing this report I have been approached to see if we are able to
consider appointing a Children’s Ministries Sponsor at this Session.

From the perspective of the administration, we struggle to expand these roles, even
though we recognise the need. Every Sponsor requires a budget, even a lay-
sponsor. Our view on this matter is to suggest the appointment of one Sponsor
(under the umbrella of ‘Family Ministries’), to promote the work of a number of
linked ministries. This is something delegates to the Session may wish to consider
and recommend to the nominating committee.

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