Pastor Folkenberg, tell us about your background, where you were raised, your schooling, and where you have worked.
I was born to missionary parents in Puerto Rico on January 1, 1941, the eldest of three children, beginning the fifth generation of Adventists in our family. After a few years we moved to Cuba, where we lived until my mother contracted a rare tropical disease and we had to return to the States for her recovery. I completed my primary and the first two years of my secondary education in Yuba City, in the Sacramento valley of northern California. After two years at Milo Academy, in southern Oregon, I graduated in 1958.
When my parents accepted a call to conduct evangelism in New York, I enrolled as a freshman in Atlantic Union College. I attended Newbold College in England my sophomore year, then continued my education at Andrews University, where in 1962 I graduated with a B.A. in theology. Later I completed an M.A. degree there.
Pastor N. C. Wilson (the father of our former General Conference president) called us to intern at the Battle Creek Tabernacle. Two years later his son, then president of the Columbia Union, called us to be the singing evangelist with the Roger Holley evangelistic team.
After my ordination, Christmas Eve 1966, Anita and I and our son Bob, Jr. (2 years old), began the long drive to Panama. Our first responsibility was pastoring a 10-church district. One of the churches had 600 members. Some of the churches were English speaking and some required the use of my long-since-forgotten Spanish. Anita helped me greatly as I worked at relearning Spanish. She took copious notes as I spoke, making long lists of my errors. Our daughter Kathi Lynne was born there in December of 1967, completing our family.
We served 19 years in the Inter- American Division as conference evangelist and stewardship director, union secretary, union president, and then division field secretary and assistant to the division president.
In February of 1985, a few months be fore the New Orleans General Conference session, we accepted the call to the presidency of the Carolina Conference and served there until July 6, 1990.
Mrs. Folkenberg, tell us briefly about your background.
I was born in Havana, Cuba, where my parents, Kenneth and Dorothy Emmerson, were missionaries. [Mrs. Folkenberg's father later served as General Conference treasurer.] I grew up in Mexico and attended academy in Uruguay and Argentina in South America. I spent my freshman year at La Sierra College in California and then completed a B.S. in nursing at Loma Linda University. Since I grew up in Spanish-speaking lands, I speak and think in Spanish just as well as in English.
Pastor Folkenberg, what does it feel like to be president of the General Conference?
This appointment brings a flood of mixed emotions. The challenges are so massive, varied, and complex, the re sources so limited, and the processes of governance so complicated, that finding solutions to each seems overwhelming. I feel totally inadequate for the task, but find peace in the fact that this is the Lord's church, and that we are all helping Him—not Him helping us!
Mrs. Folkenberg, how has your life changed with this appointment?
This change has been particularly stressful for me. I am a quiet person who enjoys privacy. I would have preferred not being thrust into the public eye. However, I am willing to make whatever sacrifice it takes. We are in this together.
Pastor Folkenberg, you wrote an article for Ministry on the mission and structure of the church (June 1989). Have any of your views changed since you became General Conference president? And if so, in what way?
In that article I attempted to set forth my convictions regarding the dangers we face when organization or structure takes primacy over the mission of the church. These concerns are just as valid today as they were then. It seems, at times, that even our definition of the mission of the church has altered. Reviewing our priorities and implementing changes will be more difficult and complex than I anticipated. The NIMBY (not in my back yard) self-preservation mind-set does not operate only in institutions. It is evident at every level of the church from the local congregation to the General Conference.
For example, not long ago three churches, located close together, decided that they should combine their re sources and build one school rather than have one school at each church. This would save valuable resources. But the idea died when they could not agree on where to build the school. Each congregation insisted on a location favorable to themselves. Today one church has a school, which is in financial difficulty, and the other two are without Adventist education. Their individual special interests took precedence over the good of the whole over their goal of providing an Adventist education for their children.
Almost all the conferences in the North American Division are facing serious financial difficulties. And most have large cities or towns in which they should plant new churches. How many members are willing to accept reduced levels of pastoral care in order to provide budgets for pastor-evangelists to open new work in these targeted areas? Yet this is the kind of thinking it will take, at every level of governance, to carry out these mission-driven objectives.
The General Conference is providing leadership by example. It has responded to the worldwide evaluation of its services revealed in the survey conducted by Dr. Duane McBride of Andrews University by cutting about $2.5 million worth of personnel and services from its staff operations. Though these cuts constitute a significant portion of the cost of operating the General Conference office, they are small compared to the financial demands of the church. The General Conference employs most of the funds it receives to operate the world church, not the Washington office. Cutting only the General Conference budget will not ease the financial pressures the church faces in North America, in its institutions, and in carrying out its global mission. Every office and institution worldwide needs to consider similar efficiency actions.
Together we must face these difficult issues, and many more like them. Every level of the church must become more efficient in the use of the resources. We must also do everything possible to build the trust of our laity so that they will have no reason to withhold their support from the Lord's church.
On a positive note, the recently concluded Annual Council voted that the General Conference and North American Division return to the local conferences of that division an extra 1 percent of local conference gross tithe. Beginning on January 1, 1992, this additional reversion will be phased in during four years at. 25 percent per year.
Over the four-year period this additional reversion will return at least $10 million more in tithe. Another $5 mil lion will be returned through the Church Growth Fund in addition to funds reverted by each union.
Mrs. Folkenberg, what do you see as your role?
I want to provide an atmosphere of emotional support, peace, and quiet for the rare moments when Bob and I can relax together. I will assist him in study and research projects. And I will give counsel now and then—whether or not it's requested!
Pastor Folkenberg, what would you say are the five biggest challenges facing your administration?
1. To reaffirm our fundamental beliefs, including that of the nearness of the end of time. Reaffirming our beliefs with our members leads to a practical under standing of the plan of salvation. They need to enjoy the peace that comes from the assurance of salvation in the unconditional love of Jesus. This experience will result in a victorious Christian experience and is fundamental to revival.
2. To make the evangelistic mission of the church a passionate commitment rather than merely a matter of inspirational rhetoric.
3. To build unity and trust in the church and its leadership (indispensable for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) by removing any legitimate basis for distrust and disunity. I pray that this will in turn isolate those who are undermining unity and trust by taking upon themselves the task of judging others and purifying the church, a task Jesus reserved to Himself.
4. To educate our members in the biblical principles of stewardship so each of us can become unrestricted channels through which God can pour His blessings on His church.
5. To portray a vision of Global Mission. This envisions the planting of an Adventist church in each of the world's 1,800 population areas of 1 million or more in which there is currently no Adventist presence. Most of these areas are found in China, India, and the Middle East.
Describe for us your leadership style.
I hope to be open and forthright. I plan to delegate responsibility and authority to others, trusting in their skills until I see evidence to the contrary. I also believe in the committee system of governance.
Tell us a little about your devotional life. How does a busy leader find time to be alone with the Lord?
I am very project-oriented, and this influences even my devotional life. I underline the Bible with color codes: blue for promises, green for truth or doctrines, red for warnings, yellow for exhortations, and brown for significant narrative events. I just completed reading and underlining the nine volumes of Testimonies for the Church. Now I am in the process of entering each of the underlined quotations in my computer with a system of topical cross-referencing. Anita helps me with this part of the project. She also helps me greatly in my devotional life. She reads voraciously, completing several books a week, and also screens and recommends books for me to read.
It seems that regardless of the time I spend in devotions I always crave more. Facing the new challenges of these past months has caused me to spend significantly more time in prayer than I ever have before.
Mrs. Folkenberg, how will you man age the time when your husband is traveling? There is some bitterness and cynicism here at headquarters among many of the families because one or the other of the spouses is gone so much. How do you balance the needs of your family with the needs of the church?
This issue causes me more difficulty than any other. My husband was absent for 70 percent of the time during some of the years we lived in Inter-America. I had hoped that somehow these ex tended periods of solitude were behind me. If I see growth in the church and increased credibility toward leadership, it will be easier to bear. I feel sure that when my husband is in Washington we will spend some quality time together. Sometimes I'd like to go with him on a trip if we can manage it. This will make it easier for me to understand the necessity of his time away from home.
Pastor Folkenberg, what are your dreams for Global Mission?
Global Mission is not something that happens only in the farthest extremes of the globe; it is equally applicable to my neighbor. We must raise the priority of the gospel commission in the mind of every member, pastor, and institutional leader. The Lord and His church should be our passion, not our secondary inter est. We need to direct more human and financial resources from every level and institution of the church toward the preaching of the gospel.
There is much talk today about a loss of credibility in church leaders. Why do you think that is the case, and how can the leaders restore that credibility?
It certainly appears that there is a reduced level of credibility in the church and its leaders. Interestingly, however, some studies show that this loss of trust is greater among church employees than other members. Several reasons for this loss of credibility come to mind:
First, we (in the United States) are a nation of individualists who naturally tend to distrust or dislike organizations, especially those that represent authority.
Second, we in church leadership have made serious mistakes in the past. Nevertheless, I believe we have learned from our mistakes and we now have policies that reduce the likelihood of our repeating these mistakes. Sadly, it appears that our gifts of forgiving and forgetting are underdeveloped.
Third, some self-appointed critics have taken it upon themselves to pro claim constantly to the members that the church is unworthy of their trust.
Unfortunately, some members impute personal piety to these self-appointed critics. These members apply a dual standard of accountability. They distrust church leadership whom they elect, whose remuneration is carefully con trolled, and whose records are independently audited and reported to the constituency. Yet they blindly support these critics of whom far less and sometimes no accountability is required.
Pastor Folkenberg, the church faces many social issues: abortion, the environment, nuclear war, racial and sexual discrimination, holding political office, noncombatancy, AIDS, ordination of women, liberation theology, etc. How should it relate to these concerns? Should the church develop positions, or should it leave these matters to individual choice?
It is tempting for the church to take positions on social issues. Some of the issues you have mentioned certainly do carry a moral imperative that demand attention. Some, such as abortion, affect the operating policies of our institutions and as such must be resolved. Others are clearly humanitarian, and as Christians we need to be involved. Our commitment is evidenced in organizations such as ADRA.
On the other hand, it is possible to debate and promote these causes to such an extent that they become our "gospel." The experience of other Christian churches shows that to the degree that they became excessively involved in social issues they lost sight of their biblical imperative and began to decline. So it might be better to leave some of the debate over social issues to our individual response as world citizens rather than to make responding an official function of the church.
Does the denominational pay scale need to be revised so that pastors and other church workers receive the same percentages? Why should an associate professor in one of our colleges receive 3 percent more in salary than the pastor of the Loma Linda University church? Why should the public relations director of a publishing house receive 3 percent more than the public relations director of a local conference?
We may need to rethink our salary structure. However, this side of the kingdom it may not be possible for us to establish a coordinated benefit program that is fully rational. Let's look at a few of the factors. We are trying to reconcile commitment and personal sacrifice on the one hand with the pressures of the marketplace (and in some instances even greed) on the other hand and do it consistently. This is an extremely complex problem.
Here is an example of the pressures we face: Our colleges offer degrees for which the public and professional workplace demands accreditation. The accrediting associations severely criticize the wages of our college faculty we pay our college staff wages that are significantly be low those of the marketplace. What they consider to be low wages and high work loads jeopardize the accreditation in some of our institutions.
But to raise the wages of our college staff would cause two major problems. First, it would widen the chasm that you pointed out between the categories of workers. Second, it would increase the costs of operating our colleges. They then would seek increased appropriations, which in turn reduces our ability to provide balanced increases to the rest of the work force.
It is not difficult to find and point out the inequities. It is far more difficult to change them in a manner that is just, consistent, and not destructive of the mission of the church.
Mrs. Folkenberg, years ago Ellen White said that pastors' wives who engage in church work should be paid out of the tithe. Yet church leaders have been most reluctant to follow this counsel, pleading all sorts of poverty. How do you view this issue?
I fervently believe that pastors' wives who are interested in working beside their husbands in a team approach to ministry and who are not otherwise employed should be paid for this service. On the other hand, in some conferences poverty is not simply an excuse it is very real! Office staffs have been cut back, and travel and services severely reduced. It is very difficult for a conference in such straits to fund these expenses. The answer will undoubtedly be found in gradually increasing the number of wives on the team ministry payroll each year. It is important to start.
Pastor Folkenberg, what do you see as the greatest need of the Adventist Church today?
Members who understand that the good news is really just that assurance and peace in Christ as well as victory over sin. Members who are students of prophecy and understand that Jesus is coming soon, who consequently have a sense of urgency about the gospel commission. Members who are students of the Word.
In one short paragraph, please give us your vision for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
I dream of members who practice what they preach; who focus more on the life of Christ than on the lives of others; who never utter a critical, judgmental word of another sinner; who demonstrate by their witness that they believe Jesus is coming soon; who manifest and share a spirit of confidence in their church and Christ its leader; and who radiate peace, assurance, and victory in their Lord—in summary, a church ready to go home!
