In the Seventh-day Adventist Church we hold various annual gatherings, but the closest equivalent to the ancient feasts would have to be our quinquennial General Conference sessions, for it is then that delegates and believers from all over the world come together.
The 1985 General Conference session will be held in the Louisiana Superdome—the world's largest auditorium—beginning June 27. In keeping with a long tradition, the Ministerial/Steward ship Association of the General Conference is planning a major meeting especially for leaders in the church just prior to the General Conference session. This World Ministers Council will begin Sunday evening, June 23, and will conclude on Wednesday evening, June 26.
Hundreds of hours and numerous prayer sessions have been invested in planning for this General Conference presession, and now each piece of the planning puzzle is rapidly falling into place. And we are so excited about developments that we want to alert you to this powerful, important meeting far in advance so that you can begin to plan to attend. Not only delegates but all pastors, pastors' wives, evangelists, administrators, and departmental directors from the world field are invited.
It is not our intention to plan for some dazzling, sparkling personality popularity contest. Far from it! We are pleading with the Lord to pour out His Holy Spirit on this entire council and General Conference session in a most marked manner. We urge you to join us in prayer for the outpouring of His Spirit during the entire convocation.
The presession will feature ten plenary sessions, plus thirty-two seminars from which attendees can choose several to attend. The plenary sessions will focus in the early morning on The Minister: The Person. Late-morning sessions will explore doctrinal and prophetic issues under the heading The Minister: The Message, and the evening sessions, The Minister: The Mission, will ring with the evangelistic mission of the great Advent Movement.
Overall coordinator for the council is W. B. Quigley. I know that his sense of the urgency of the times we live in will ring through every aspect of the meetings.
Under Floyd Bresee's leadership, thirty-two afternoon seminars will be held in various rooms of the Superdome and Hyatt Regency Hotel. These seminars have been designed to meet world wide needs, not just those of any particular division. Our staff has actively sought and received guidance from every division in the world as we planned seminar topics and presenters. Running translation will be available where needed, and some instruction will be given in Spanish.
Seminar topics will range from Evangelizing Non-Christian Religions to Pastor-Spouse Team Ministry, from Health Evangelism to Computers in the Church, and from Ecclesiology to The Role of the Minister's Wife. Watch coming issues of MINISTRY for further information regarding seminar topics and registration procedures. Continuing education units (CEUs) will be offered for all seminars.
We especially hope that many ministers and administrators will bring their wives with them. Shepherdess International, a fledgling organization under the leadership of Marie Spangler and Ellen Bresee, has helped plan seminars and will be holding four ladies' meetings during the General Conference session.
Why are we expending so much time and energy in planning for this World Ministers Council?
We hope to see five thousand or more of our pastoral, administrative, and departmental workers and their spouses in attendance. But the real reason for all this is our great need of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will bring a new spirit of unity of belief and mission. The world lies in fearful darkness. The only answer to the needs of the human race now and forever is in a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ within the context of the three angels' messages. —J.R.S.