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No Adventist Will Ever Be “Disfellowshiped” Again–and Other Church Business
July 2, 2000
Toronto, Canada .... [Andy Nash and Heather Osborn]
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delegates discuss church issues
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In today’s business sessions, delegates to the 57th General Conference Session:
* Voted to change the term “disfellowshiped” to “removed from membership.” The Church Manual committee intended to make the term “less loaded with negative implications,” said Lowell Cooper, General Conference vice president. The subheading was changed from “Queries Concerning Receiving and Dropping Members” to “Queries Concerning Receiving and Removing Members.”
* Voted to change the name of the Health and Temperance Department to the Health Ministries Department. The proposal came from a desire to highlight the “ministry” aspect of the department; further, in today’s language, the term “temperance” has come to mean “moderation,” a definition the Church wanted to avoid. Dr. Alan Handysides, department director, assured delegates that the Adventist message of temperance wouldn’t be watered down. “I pledge that our department will double our efforts toward temperance,” he said.
* Voted to intensify efforts to inform all church members, especially young members, about the gift of prophecy–which meant, and was later amended to say, “the gift of prophecy through the ministry of Ellen G. White.” Among other things, the resolution includes a call for every church to conduct an annual Spirit of Prophecy Day and every school an annual Adventist Heritage Week. Several delegates registered discomfort with the resolution, citing Ellen G. White’s own description of her work as “the lesser light.” “Is there any resolution with similar wording that deals with the Bible?” asked Jurrien den Hollander of the Dutch Union. Later Hollander’s motion for such a resolution was voted and referred to committee.
* Voted to allow believers living in close proximity to organize themselves as a “company” after approval from the conference/field/mission. The previous wording “conference or mission.”
* Referred agenda item 416 back to the Church Manual committee. The item concerned new requirements for being elected to church office. Church officers would be required to hold membership at the local church or be “a licensed employee of the conference/mission/field.” Ken Corkum, North American Division delegate, suggested that spouses of the employees be included in the list of exceptions. Andrea Luxton, Newbold College president, raised questions about how the new section would affect college campuses. Students often do not transfer their membership to the colleges at their churches although they participate as elected officers when they are attending their colleges. Andre Van Rensburg, South Pacific Division delegate, said the new section also excludes female pastors who are credentialed ministers, not licensed ministers.
Other resolutions were referred back to committee for fine-tuning. For the full text of all business, see The Adventist Review. |
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