In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, every faithful member is a worker for God.
The very nature of his belief and hope in Christ impels him to pass the gospel tidings on to others. Whether in the home or shop, on the farm, or in professional or business pursuits, the chief concern of the true Christian is his own heart preparation for better living and his anxiety to share this experience with those who are less fortunate.
The organized work of the denomination requires that some members give their entire time and effort to specific duties, with little or no opportunity for providing a livelihood. Persons with special qualifications and gifts are called by responsible committees and boards to conference or institutional employ, and allowance is made from the organization's funds for their living requirements. At the present time, many of the workers are taken from training schools where they have received the necessary preparation, and are sent wherever their services are most needed. Some are assigned to evangelistic or institutional work in the homelands where strong bases must be maintained, while others are placed in overseas mission territories for various classes of service.
Laborers in the organized work of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination may be divided generally into two classes: (1) unordained church members who are needed for business and institutional duties;and (2) members ordained to the gospel ministry, or in preparation for that sacred calling. A recent advance step in the strengthening of the latter group is the ministerial-internship plan which provides two years of support for youth who have been trained in the theological departments of our colleges. Under this plan the young men prove their gifts for ministerial responsibility, and the young women try out their Bible-work talents. In regard to the support of the ministerial-internship plan, two thirds of the salary is paid from the General Conference "comeback." One third of the salary, and traveling and other expenses, comes from the union and local conference to which the prospective worker is assigned. It is understood that if qualifications for successful service are shown during the internship period, the prospective laborer will find a permanent place in the organized work.
Credentials and licenses are issued at the time of the conference session, or by the controlling committee of the local conference, union, or General Conference, in whichever the worker is employed. Those laborers who have received ordination to the gospel ministry and have been granted ministerial credentials, are recognized as being qualified to administer all the sacred ceremonies of the church, wherever they may be located. Workers preparing for the ministry, or unordained laborers who may be called to serve in our work, are usually granted license to preach; but this does not carry with it the power to perform any of the church rites, such as baptism or marriage, or to administer the ordinances. Other responsible, unordained employees engaged in institutional or general work are granted missionary credentials. Colporteurs and certain other classes of self-supporting workers are given suitable papers from their local conference showing their connection with its missionary endeavor.
Although the Seventh-day Adventist denomination recognizes that it cannot pay its employees what many of them could secure in service outside its organized work, yet it undertakes to provide a living wage with enough in addition for tithe and proper offerings. A wage scale, with minimum limits for those who are starting in any branch of labor or in minor positions, and maximum limits for workers of longer service and mature experience, has been adopted for the denominational work, and is being generally adhered to throughout the world field. In some foreign countries where costs or standards of living are different, it is necessary to modify the wage scale to correspond to local conditions and classes of workers.
Wages of laborers are reviewed each year by auditing committees appointed for that purpose. In North America, the local conference auditing committee usually consists of the executive committee and enough lay members who have not been in the employ of the conference during the year to exceed the executive membership by one, together with administrative representatives from the union conference or General Conference. This removes the necessity for a group of conference workers to set their own salaries, and provides opportunity for lay church representatives to have a voice in setting wage rates.
The auditing committee for the General Conference consists of the General Conference officers, at least seven presidents of union conferences, and eight other persons who have not been in its employ during the year. This committee usually meets in connection with the Autumn Council, audits the laborers' expenses for the year, and sets wages for the General Conference workers for the year to come. In overseas divisions, the division committees, with suitable other representation, audit the accounts of the workers of the mission organizations which they control. Quite generally the wages of office and minor routine workers are set by the respective controlling committee or board.
Traveling and certain other expenses pertaining to their work are paid for laborers while they are engaged in their regular duties away from home. That their living expense may not be unduly increased at such times, hotel and reasonable sleeper bills, and a small traveling allowance to apply on the extra cost of meals, clothing, laundry, and special expenses is paid. It is reckoned that a worker cannot usually afford to pay more than 20 per cent of his monthly salary for rent. In some foreign divisions the maximum is placed at 15 per cent or below. When workers have to live in places where rent costs are more than these maximum ratios, rent subsidies are allowed in most cases. Sickness and other emergencies are sometimes provided for by the governing committees.
Persons accepting employment in any branch of work of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination must do so with the understanding that they will submit to the properly constituted authority of the church in the adjustment of all personal relations between themselves and the employing bodies. They will not rightfully appeal to court of law for redress or adjustments to be made by the denomination concerning any personal claims.
Transfers of workers from one place of labor to another are made through the controlling committees or boards of the organizations concerned. In a local conference the executive committee places its workers wherever it sees fit in its territory, or where they can best serve its interests. If a worker is to be changed from one conference to another in the same union, the transfer must be made by permission and action of the union committee. When the transfer is between two unions in a division field, the division committee must accept the request and authorize the move. Transfers of workers between division fields or between unions in the North American territory are made by General Conference Committee action at its headquarters office. Exchanges of laborers between institutions follow the same general procedure.
One of the most difficult branches of service in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and probably the most alluring to those not directly engaged in it, is the foreign-mission endeavor. Such service requires a courage and fortitude from which many shrink. In its provision for this important phase of its work, the General Conference has endeavored to lay wise and broad plans which will meet all consistent requirements. In its selection of the personnel for mission service, it takes every reasonable precaution to safeguard both the individual and the field he is to serve. It is no small undertaking for a person accustomed to one standard or mode of living to move into an environment altogether different, and often extremely trying in climate and poor in accommodations. The necessity for physical and mental vigor, initiative, and personal adaptation to all situations, and the difficulty of acquiring foreign languages, all favor the choice of younger people to dedicate their lives to this branch of the Lord's service. Except for the more responsible administrative positions, the general mission committees have preferred well-trained young people of not more than thirty or thirty-five years of age, especially where a difficult language is to be mastered.
The secretarial department of the General Conference, to whom has been assigned the task of initial search for mission recruits, is continually on the lookout for prospective workers among the students finishing our colleges, sanitarium training schools, and medical school, and among the ministerial interns and young laborers who are maturing in the local conferences and institutions. In the effort to fill the frequent calls for replacements or new workers in the mission fields, no detail of training or temperament is overlooked. Reports of personal attitudes and aptitudes are secured from teachers in the schools and from those with whom the individuals have been associated in labor. Educational and physical qualifications are carefully checked, and many interviews are held with promising young people who have expressed their willingness to be used wherever needed. Essential records of all these findings are filed for future reference in the secretarial office at headquarters.
______ To be continued in June
