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“The Best Maranatha So Far!”

“I’ve been to many Maranathas,” said Deevin Festejo, local elder at Mississauga Filipino Seventh-day Adventist Church, “but this is the best Maranatha so far!  Everything about it was excellent – the place, the seminars, our speakers.  It was great!”

Festejo’s view was echoed by many of the 450 participants at Maranatha 2008, Together for a Finished Work, held at the Bank of Montreal Institute of Learning, Toronto, during March 28-29, 2008.

“If I knew that it was this good, I would have attended a long time ago,” said Pastor Travis Afflick. 

Maranatha is held each spring for the training of local church leaders and members in evangelism and community outreach.  Over the years it has grown to include other areas of ministry, such as family, health and worship since these can also be effective means of evangelism.   Many attendees return year after year, building expertise to strengthen the ministries in their local church.  They expect and receive the very best in training.  Maranatha 2008 was no exception.

Dr. Miroslav Pujic, Ron Halverson, Dr. James Zackrison, Faith Crumbly and John Tolman, are some of the presenters who shared their experience and expertise and left participants feeling that they had received something very valuable.

Dave Alconsel from Mississauga Filipino Adventist Church said that the training he received during the Lay Preaching was “amazing” and “Tremendous.”

Moreover, most people couldn’t stop talking about the messages by keynote speaker, Pastor Ian Sweeney, from England.

“I’ve never heard the Word spoken in that way before”, said Alrica Jones.

As Pastor Sweeney preached about ‘Desperate People’, ‘Men’ and ‘Last Words,’ it was easy for all to see why The Times Newspaper voted him the UK Preacher of the Year in 1998.

The satisfaction that many felt towards Maranatha was due in part to the excellent facilities provided at the BMO Institute of Learning and the equally excellent service provided by its staff. 

“It is very gratifying to know that people came.” he said.  “They appreciated the services, workshops, the overall atmosphere, the food and the fellowship.

“We want to thank our people for how they conducted themselves, giving consideration to others and displaying the true and admirable attitude of Seventh-day Adventist Christians.  The event coordinators at BMO were very pleased with our people.  They said that they have never had a group of people as nice as ours.  They spoke of our warmth, congeniality and appreciation towards their staff.  We are very thankful to our people.”

Given the success of Maranatha, it is expected that many more people will want to attend in 2009. Pastor Williams’s advice is “to register early.”

Registration for Maranatha 2009 will most probably begin in early November, 2008.

Halsey Peat

Recordings of the sermons and Prayer Workshops are available on CD and DVD from the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (905-571-1022 ext 201).

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NAD Youth Ministries Summit Tackles Problem of Young Adults Drain

The North American Division Youth Ministries Summit in Dallas, Texas,  February 14-16, squarely faced the issue of young adults leaving the Adventist Church in North America and its present day failure to attract significant numbers into its membership. 

Prior to the summit, discussion papers had been circulated to all conference and union youth directors. The papers addressed studies that showed the median age of Adventists in North America to be 57, compared to 37 for the rest of society. The discussion papers served as a reference for a number of presenters who sought to provide appropriate strategies and solutions to help prevent the loss of young adults in the Adventist Church in North America.

The focus of the 2008 Summit, as with previous ones, was intentional. Given the issues of the loss of young adults and an aging church, organisers focussed on young adults and their involvement in the life and outreach of the church.  The target participants were those involved in youth ministry, especially at the leadership level but welcomed anyone who simply attends church and has an interest in youth and young adults.

Several workshops dealt with how young adults are engaged in ministry and outreach to their peers.  Others were designed to help leaders who work in specific areas of youth ministry such as Pathfinders, Adventurers and Campus Ministries. 

Pastor Cyril Millett, Ontario Conference youth director, was among those who attended the workshops.  Earlier, he attended some pre-summit committee meetings and was cautious about the outcome of the summit.  

“Initially, I thought that  it was much of the same old thing,” he explained, “but once the actual summit began, I heard presentations by people, such as George Barna and other young adult presenters speak about what young adults are doing for Christ. I heard about young adults who recognise that we are living in the end time and who have real concern for their peers and are reaching out to them.  I recognised that our young adults, our young people are on fire for Christ.” 

He went on to express the need for youth leaders, and the church on a whole, to do as much as they are able “to encourage youth and young adults who are involved in ministry to keep on doing what they are doing and to harness the energy of other young people as well.

Apple Creek’s Naudia Larrow was equally happy.

“It was amazing to hear young people say that they don't want to be entertained, they just want to be led to Christ through applicable and life-changing method,”  she said.  “Dallas, brought a real sense of direction which sent a reminder that the only way is through Christ.”

The summit also helped leaders become aware of the changing attitudes of youth and young adults in North America. Participants learned that youth and young adults are not content with simply maintaining traditional ways of doing church and evangelism. Young people are very much involved in conversation evangelism. That is, evangelism that occurs through friendship, dialogue and conversation. For example, in Europe and some places in the USA, young adults are using Christian cafes to engage other young people in conversation. These are intentional Christian cafes that are set up by Adventists.  

Participants also learned that young adults are looking for transparency and authenticity in their peers, seniors and leaders. Young people are leaving the church or choosing not to become members of the Adventist Church or even to delay baptism because they see hypocrisy in the church. They see a disconnection between what members in the church and individuals in leadership say and actually do. While this is not a new argument, it is not simply stated as an excuse. There is a real desire for transparency. They have high expectations of adults and those in leadership and will not sit by and simply watch hypocritical behaviour. Since they are often financially independent from their parents, they vote with their feet and walk away from church.

Millett is of the opinion that youth and young adults are more concerned with practical Christian living and not so much with theology. He sees young adults as having problems with the church’s approach to life-style practices and worship rather than to fundamental beliefs. The questions young adults are asking are: “How are we going to do church differently?” and “How are we going to cut out the fat in our worship?”

“Our young people today are into worship,” says Millet, “they want to praise God. They are also into feelings and expressing their senses regarding our Holy God. If the church is going to engage these young people and turn them lose for service then one of the areas we will have to look at is our worship services.  We will need to ask ourselves, ‘What is essential? What is worship? And ‘How are we going to express ourselves before God?’”

Millett returned from Dallas convinced that what young adults want is to see truth lived out in the lives of God’s people.

For those who wish they could have attended, Greg Rampersad from Immanuel sums up the experience:

“The Youth Leadership summit in Dallas was spiritually uplifting, groundbreaking and fun. The summit was a great opportunity to learn, share and experience the power of God.”

Kherian Kirton Wins North American Distinguished Youth Award

Kherian Kirton, 15, is the Ontario recipient of the North American Division’s Distinguished Youth Award for 2008.

Kheri, as she is commonly known, received the award during on an all-expenses paid trip to the North American Division Youth Ministries Summit in Dallas, Texas, during February 14-16.

She was among six winners nominated from conferences across North America.

Each conference is able to select one candidate for the award of outstanding leadership in one of four categories: Youth evangelism, Pathfinders, Community Services and Academics. Although Kheri was nominated for her leadership in Pathfinders, she displayed leadership in all four categories. However, she did not expect to win.

“I was shocked when I heard that I was chosen,” she said, “I couldn’t believe that I’d won it! However, once I arrived in Dallas, I was very excited.”

Conference youth director, Pastor Cyril Millett, was very pleased with the outstanding quality of the nominees and noted that Kheri is a worthy recipient.

“I was elated that she was the recipient,” he said, “she is an outstanding young woman who is going to go on to do amazing things for the Lord.”

When Elder Derrick Nichols, Ontario Conference president, heard of Kheri’s success, he said,

“We are so proud of Kherian. She demonstrates the qualities of Christian virtues that all parents want to see in their children. She is a credit to her parents, her church family and the entire conference.”

Kheri comes from a strong Adventist family and accepted Jesus as her personal saviour at age nine. She was baptized shortly after. Since then she has been very involved in her home church, Philadelphia Adventist Church in Scarborough as a Sabbath School secretary and an assistant in the Cradle Roll division. When the Philadelphia Patriots Pathfinder Club began in 2002, she immediately joined and embraced the principles and values of the association. Presently, she is the Drill Master for the Philadelphia Patriots Club .

Being involved in church life is important to Kheri. She is a member of a signing group called Hands of Blessings and sings with a group called Lifted Up Voices.

At school, Grade 10 Kheri has been volunteering since her elementary years. She is an honour student who also involves herself in athletics and other sports. Basketball and Volleyball are among her favourite activities.

Kheri is the second young person in two successive years from the Philadelphia Adventist Church in Scarborough to receive this award. Last year’s winner, Simone Samuels, was beaming with joy when she learned that the 2008 winner is from her own church and pathfinder club.

“Kherian has always shown the characteristics of dedication and leadership that this award seeks to honour,” said Simone, “we’re all proud of her.”

Kheri’s advice to other young people: “Even though you do little things that you don’t think people recognise, keep doing them because you never know what will happe

Adventist Recognized by Toronto Police Service for a “Job Well Done”

On February 24, 2008, Pauline Christian, a member of the Apple Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church, was honoured with the Police and Community Award of Excellence by the Toronto Police Service in partnership with the British Methodist Episcopal Church.  

Pauline was given the award for “being a positive role model; for enriching the lives of those in need; and for her invaluable commitment and tireless efforts in giving back to various people and organizations throughout the City of Toronto”.

The award was specifically designed to recognize police officers, firefighters, members of the Emergency Medical Services, National Defence, correction officers, School Boards and community members for “Heroism” or “Job Well Done”.

When Pauline was asked how it felt to receive an award, she replied, “I’m really honoured and feel humbled by it, but giving back to the community is a natural occurrence that represents something that I love to do. To some degree, it’s a reason for my existence. Therefore, it is great being awarded for things that are naturally a part of you, in helping others to occupy a better place in this life, and ultimately the life to come.”

The Police and Community Award of Excellence, is one among other Black History Month community awards that celebrate the value and achievements of Canadians of African heritage. It was held at the British Methodist Episcopal Church in Toronto.

Judith Cooper

The Ontario Conference is set to renew its effort to reach young adults in Ontario with the Gospel and to increase the retention of those within the church.

The renewed effort is a response to the news that the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is failing, along with many Protestant denominations, to retain a greater proportion of its young adults.

The news came in the form of a document sent to members of the the North American Division Young Adult Ministries Advisory (YAMA) in preparation for the YAMA’s meeting at the Youth Summit in Dallas, February 14 -16. 

The document, first presented at the Fall Annual Council, was sent by Dr. Allan Martin, associate professor at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Michigan, USA, and associate to James Black, NAD Youth Ministries Director. It presents a brief, but unflattering, analysis of current statistics regarding the state of Young Adult Ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America.  Martin highlights the haemorrhage of young adults leaving the Adventist church and the consequently, aging church.  He notes Paul Richardson’s report that the “median age for the Seventh-day Adventist community in North America, including the un-baptized children in church families, is 58...Among native-born White and Black members the median age is even higher.”  In society, the median age is 36 and 37 in the United States and Canada, respectively.

Ontario Conference Youth Ministries Director, Pastor Cyril Millett, was shocked by the information.

“When I first saw the figures,” he said, “I was floored.  My biggest concern was that we have to look at what we are doing in Ontario. Although we have strategies in place, I think we need to re-double our efforts to reach and retain young people.”

He expressed concern about the evangelistic and nurturing strategies that the church has traditionally used and argued that these need to be seriously evaluated.

“I think that we need to look at what we are doing,” he said. “The AY society.  Maybe it’s antiquated. I’m hearing these words coming from my mouth and as for the older folks, I’m concerned but as far as the younger generation is concerned, is the AY society meeting their needs? Is it dealing with the issues that are truly of concern to them and their peers outside of church?” 

Millett is still confident that youth and young adults will once again make a significant impact on the life of the church. He is hopeful they will be led to see the need to become active and “on the front line for Christ.”

Church Growth Coordinator, Dr. Errol Lawrence, is disappointed by the trend but shares Millett’s confidence in both youth and young adults.  He recognised the need for church leaders to play an active role in helping youth to remain in the church by creating a church that is very relevant to them.

“We need to involve them in all aspects of church life,” he said. “How many of them are in positions of authority?  In leadership? In decision-making?  We need to involve them in a very meaningful way.”

Both Millett and Lawrence are committed to helping churches win youth and young adults to their congregations and maintain those who are already there.

Halsey Peat/OCN