Every delegate attending the Adventist World Session received a business-style bag filled with Session information. While the majority of delegates use these bags to carry their papers and pens to and from every meeting, many of them are unaware of the corporation that provided the bags, and what this corporation does.
Adventist Risk Management is a major insurance provider to the Seventh-day Adventist church, However, it does more than just provide insurance. “We help the church to fulfill its mission by reducing the amount of money the church spends on claims,” said Paula Webber, Director of Corporate Communication. “By avoiding unnecessary claims, the church then has more money to further the gospel.”
From William Benjamin’s development of a risk management plan in 1935, Adventist Risk Management expanded to four offices throughout the United States alone, and today has over 130 staff. Risk Management manages the resources of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as well as other companies associated with the church. “Our client is the Seventh-day Adventist Church–its conferences, unions, and institutions,” said David Rawson, Director of Field Services. “We understand the church and its needs, and those of its participants and workers.”
The General Conference Session has provided Adventist Risk Management with a unique opportunity–to interact with many of its clients simultaneously. “We have some groups of clients with similar needs,” said Rawson. “To gather them together at the General Conference has been a real blessing.”
Education is particularly important to Adventist Risk Management. “While we provide an insurance service, we are also educating people about minimizing risk, and using money wisely in situations,” said Webber. “Risk Management is about safety, education, and doing ‘preventative medicine.’ We want to avoid getting cut, rather than having to use band-aids.”
Adventist Risk Management holds annual conferences to increase awareness and knowledge about this important issue. “People who are involved in Risk Management programs become more safety conscious,” said Webber. “This means that they lower risk, educate their own constituents such as church members, and so have fewer problems associated with negligence.”
Cartoons and a “safety owl” mascot are used by Risk Management to make children aware of the importance of safety. “The safety owl educates and increases children’s awareness of safety,” said Rawson. “It has become a really ‘neat’ icon here during the session.” |
