This Month's Issue

Pastor Jennifer Deans speaks at Transformational Evangelism. Photo by Brian Tagalog

At the recent Transformational Evangelism conference, pastors from across the Columbia Union Conference gathered to grapple with several questions: What are the best methods to share the message? Whose job is it to evangelize? What is the missing element in many evangelism efforts? And is it really evangelism if you don’t make an appeal?

Read more here and watch presentations from the conference below:

Pastors from the Mountain View Conference pray during the Columbia Union Conference's Transformational Evangelism event. Photograph by Brian Tagalog

Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos by Brian Tagalog

Historically, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has relied heavily on old-style revival efforts, prophecy seminars in public spaces and other traditional forms of evangelism. In the last 20 years, popular speakers have transmitted their sermons to local churches via satellite—all to share the unique Seventh-day Adventist message.

Editorial by Frank Bondurant

First Chronicles 12:32 mentions the tribe of Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (NIV). We need Issacharian pastors today who understand the trends and changes in our culture, and who will reach out to and engage people for Christ in relevant ways. Evangelism isn’t a set of skills you learn once and then are universally and always applicable. Evangelism isn’t static because people aren’t static. Our culture and communities aren’t static. They are constantly changing.

Images by Muriel Bello

In December Columbia Union Conference leaders held a luncheon to affirm and express appreciation to the women clergy who serve in the Columbia Union. About 40 attendees (pictured above), including 20 women pastors, several conference presidents and ministerial directors and union officers gathered to talk about the outcome and implications of the vote at the 2018 Annual Council meetings, how women pastors are being treated at their home churches, what questions they have and receive and how the union can help.