Few ministers and fewer laypersons understand the structure and policies of the church. Furthermore, fewer than these few understand how policies and plans become a part of the church program. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an extremely complicated organization. Even in Paul's day the church was compared to the most complicated form of life—the human organism. After thirty-one years of service on the General Conference level, I am still learning how we operate.
In spite of efforts, such as the recent inauguration of the Church Ministries Department, to simplify our structure, numerous policies and plans cannot be simplified or dispensed with without serious consequences. A brief look at the 502-page book titled Constitution, Bylaws, and Working Policy of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists reveals hundreds of policies that if dispensed with could catapult our church into chaos. For instance, our church owns and operates a number of aircraft. The index of the GC Working Policy, under "Denominational Aviation," lists sixteen subentities that deal with everything from equipping the aircraft to pilot training programs. Some may think this is unnecessary, but the church must ensure that its aircraft are operated in a safe and responsible manner. Thus, recommendations and rules are made a part of our church policy at Annual Council. Add to the aircraft illustration hundreds of other items that through debate and discussion on committees, boards, and councils eventually become a part of our operating policy.
Nearly all church policies have the exclusive distinction of being ratified at an Annual Council (AC), which is generally held the first part of October. On page 36 of the GC Working Policy we are told that an AC is "a meeting of the Executive Committee of the General Conference, known as the Annual Council. It is to be held yearly for the purpose of considering budgets from the divisions and making appropriations, and for the transacting of business pertaining to the general policy of the worldwide field."
Some question why, if ACs are so important, we even need a General Conference session. Only at a world session can the General Conference constitution and its bylaws, as well as changes and additions to the Church Manual, be accomplished. The General Conference constitution and the bylaws make up approximately sixteen pages. They constitute Part I of the GC Working Policy. The other 485 pages constitute Part II, which deals with every aspect of church organization. These 485 pages contain the cumulative fruitage of years of AC actions. There are twenty-nine sections dealing with the nuts and bolts of general administrative policies, division policies, departmental policies, the ministry and ministerial training, terms of service and furloughs, general financial policies, use of the tithe, Ingathering, retirement plans, et cetera.
How to change a policy
Often individuals write to suggest some change in church policy or recommend a plan the church should put into effect. How do these ideas become a reality? To begin with, we should under stand that it is not easy to put any new plans into operation or to bring about changes in present policies. The church moves slowly; and the larger it becomes, the slower it moves! This is not all bad, but it can be most frustrating at times. Obviously, ideas must be screened care fully through various committees before they reach the floor. It is unfair to waste a world delegation's time unless a recommendation has been thought through thoroughly and carefully worded. Even the best thought through recommendations are often found wanting, and delegates point out weak spots or errors.
If any of our readers thinks that a policy should be changed or initiated, the first step is to formulate the recommendations on paper. Share it with some peers for evaluation. Then take it to the conference president and ask him to present it to the conference committee for evaluation. If it goes to the commit tee members and passes their scrutiny, they will take an action to recommend it to the union committee, which in turn can recommend it to the division officers. Through this screening process many of the "bugs" will be eliminated. The division officers then pass it along to the General Conference officers, who send it through the proper channels until it reaches the AC floor.
An illustration of a portion of the above procedure was seen at our recent 1985 Annual Council. At the New Orleans General Conference session an action was taken requesting the North American Division committee to "clarify the functions of ministerial workers who hold ministerial licenses, including how such functions relate to women who serve as pastors or associates in pastoral care, and to request that a complete proposal on roles and procedures be submitted by the North American Division [NAD] to the 1985 Annual Council for consideration."
On October 8 the North American Division committee met in response to this directive and gave study to a proposed policy dealing with associates in pastoral care that would exclude them from baptizing and solemnizing marriages.
This exclusion can be traced back to a recommendation by a committee that met prior to the General Conference session and dealt with the role of women in the church. Their recommendation, which was passed by the 1985 Spring Council, was accepted by the General Conference delegates. In that report it was voted "to take no definite action at this time regarding the ordination of women to the gospel ministry." Further study was to be given the subject, and a special representative committee would be scheduled to meet early in 1988 with its findings to be presented in a report to the 1988 Spring Meeting of the General Conference Committee and subsequently to the 1989 AC, at which time the entire issue would be reviewed.
One statement in this voted recommendation was "to maintain the church's present position on this matter."
In the October 8 NAD meeting a proposal was introduced to delete the portion of the policy that excludes associates in pastoral care from baptizing and solemnizing marriages. After a lengthy and heated discussion, it was voted "to refer to the General Conference officers for further study and counsel the proposal that associates in pastoral care be permitted to baptize and solemnize marriages."
Following this, the General Conference, division officers, and union presidents considered the request of the North American Division committee for counsel. Again there was a healthy discussion, and the final vote rejected the request that associates in pastoral care be permitted to baptize and solemnize marriages.
When the request was brought to the floor, more discussion took place, and the position stated above was sustained by a narrow margin.
We will deal more in depth with this particular subject in a future issue, but we wanted to share with you how recommendations are dealt with.
It would be well for every minister to have his own General Conference division policybook. Some may think that these policies do not affect them, but in the final analysis the way our policies go, so goes the church!
In view of our extensive report in this issue of the World Council of Ministers and the General Conference session in New Orleans, space will not be used for in-depth reports of the AC. It is not our objective to give a detailed report on all the AC actions, since the Adventist Review covers most of them. If you are not a subscriber to the Adventist Review, become one! MINISTRY will report only on those actions that are of special interest to our readership. We hope that this type of reporting will increase your interest in church activities and help you under stand our organizational operations.
At times negative remarks are aimed at church leadership. Some feel that the General Conference constitutes a dictatorship and that there is no latitude for disagreement. This is untrue. Hours are spent in discussion and debate on various subjects. The delegates have total freedom to express themselves as they wish. Some of the best oratory in the form of fiery speeches and impassioned pleas will be heard on the council floor. The Lord has blessed many of our leaders with sharp minds and an excellent ability for communication.
I'm not saying a better or a more efficient way to enact policies can't be found, but I confess I don't see how the church can do it differently without establishing a dictatorship! To maintain democracy, secret ballots are used on certain crucial issues. This is a step ahead of most secular democratic governing bodies.
Actions of special interest to ministers
Following are some of the AC actions to which we will give full treatment in later issues. The action dealing with the use of tithe has a long history of study by a number of groups. First there was a committee on the use of tithe, which included representatives from various parts of the North American Division, including laypersons. It spent days dis cussing how the church handles tithe funds. This committee sent a proposed action to the General Conference officers, North American Division officers, and union presidents. Those officers passed it on to the AC, where it was passed after discussion on the floor.
Under the title "Ministerial Ordination—Reform of Practices" it was voted "to institute reform in the church's ordination practices for the purpose of limiting ministerial ordination only to those who perform direct pastoral, evangelistic, ecclesiastical, or other clearly ministerial-type duties."
Other actions included a recommendation dealing with a Jerusalem center for archeological and Biblical studies, life insurance, Christian Leadership Seminars, expanded circulation of the Adventist Review, use of Ingathering funds, pastoral support for Christian education, auditing of church employees' tithe records, and remuneration rates and allowances.
Our pastors will be especially interested in a recommendation that was referred back to the General Conference officers for further study. One paragraph of the recommendation read: "To grant a stipend, not exceeding 20 percent of the spouse's salary, to the wives of pastors who carry specific responsibility in connection with their spouse's pastoral work." Here is an instance of a recommendation finally reaching the floor of a church legislative body. For years there has been talk about paying pastors' wives who are willing to be accountable for the work they perform in connection with their pastor-husbands in soul-winning outreach. As far as I know, this is the first time an action of this type has been discussed on the floor.
One of the major actions of an AC is to vote the budgets for the coming year. Please underscore the fact in your thinking that salvation is by faith through Christ alone, and that our world budget is more than 91 percent by faith alone! This year's budget is $151,867,- 000. More than 91 percent of that amount is expected to come in during the coming year through tithes, Sabbath school offerings, and other donations. The budget itself, twenty pages long, is composed of various categories of funds, some of which have been earmarked for specific projects.
One outstanding event that made recent history was the voting of a budget of more than $31 million for the North American Division. Although a part of the total world budget, it is now for the first time entirely separated from the General Conference and is in the hands of the North American Division leader ship for dispersal. Charles E. Bradford, NAD president, said, "We are grateful for this recognition of our work for Harvest '90, and the challenge of moving the Caring Church into action."
We hope that sharing these actions and policies with you will stimulate your interest in the entire church program. Remember, this is your church. It is not a General Conference church. You, as a member and pastoral-evangelistic leader, are a part of this church structure. "People are down on what they are not up on." We want you to be "up" on all of the important actions that affect your work in the field.
