First festival of religious freedom in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Israel—The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Israel held its fi rst festival of religious freedom in Jerusalem, July 25–26, 2009.
On Saturday, July 25, approximately 1,000 people gathered to listen to Dr. John Graz (general secretary from the world office of the IRLA, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States), Dr. Eugene Hsu, (vice president of the IRLA), Pastor Harald Wollan (Trans-European director of the IRLA), and local director, Pastor Richard Elofer.
Two hundred seventy people were present for the official day of the festival on Sunday, July 26. They heard speeches from the special guests mentioned above, as well as Rabbi Ya’acov Lebeau, director of the Fushberg Center for Conservative Judaism in Israel. He drew people’s attention to what he saw as an anomaly—that Christians (including Seventh-day Adventists) have the right to baptize and marry people— while this right is not extended to non-Orthodox Jewish rabbis.
These meetings were held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights in Israel. [Richard Elofer/Harald Wollan/ TED News]
Conference on ministerial and theological education
Seoul, South Korea—The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church sponsored a conference on ministerial and theological education on the campus of Sahmyook University, August 9–13, 2009.
The conference was attended by more than 70 university professors, administrators, and others interested in discussing theological issues that affect the church throughout Asia. Attendees came from China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan. Papers read during the conference addressed topics such as hermeneutics, revelation and inspiration, the role of the Adventist theologian, and the integration of faith and learning.
Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, director of the Biblical Research Institute, and Miguel Luna, ministerial secretary of NSD, led out in the planning and implementation of this event. Reflecting upon the event, Luna said, “The quality of presentations and participation of our church theologians, internationally and locally, made this event relevant. I think NSD is moving in the right direction integrating professors of theology from all regions of its territories.” Many of the participants hope that another such conference will transpire in the near future. [Willie E. Hucks II]
Year of Evangelism update
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States—The increase in baptisms and professions of faith for the 2009 Year of Evangelism has seen a 16 percent increase over the same period last year. While this reported increase is in North America, other world divisions are also experiencing increases in baptisms. This records the largest increase in accessions of any year in recent memory.
Conferences, churches, pastors, and laypeople are making evangelism an increased priority during this time of special outreach emphasis, with focal points of ministry featuring lifestyle training as well as traditional forms of evangelism. [Bernadine Delafield]