GC President Talks Politics and Race-based Conferences

[CGMedley]

General Conference president Jan Paulsen recently talked with young adults and discussed politics, church involvement, and race-based conferences.

http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=2922

[Woody]

Yes. It's interesting to note that even our president couldn't do anything about the racism structure in our church. See below what he had to say:

Paulsen urged the group not to wait for change. “Tell leaders you think the reasoning behind regional conferences is no longer valid. I also tell them, but it is good if they hear it from you as well.”

[olger]

Sam Pipim and others have been outspoken about the need to dismantle conference differences. I agree.

[Woody]

Yes. The racial conferences only promote division. If our country can elect a black president ... surely we as a church can unite rather than divide.

[Guest]

I like Sam Pipim.

[Woody]

No surprise to me. I figured you would. I had you pegged. You are definately a Pipim man.

[Gerr]

So which conferences should/would be dismantled? The black or the white conferences?

[Woody]

Gerry ... the answer is simple. Both. We need to unite them. We will then have a new product.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I'd like to have Conferences for German Americans, Irish Americans, and Scottish Americans. Then I can pick and choose the one that suits me best.

[Woody]

Excellent point there Rudywoofs.

But for some reason ...

Click to reveal..

blacks

African Americans think they are special.

[Guest]

Hey that's neat.

[olger]

So which conferences should/would be dismantled? The black or the white conferences?

Yes.

:)

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Maybe there shouldn't be Conferences. Maybe just Unions.

[Woody]

Well ... we do need to get rid of one or the other Pam.

[nuff sed]

IMO there will be no "Uniting" of conferences. There must be a dismantling of both conferences when there are two in the same territory. Then there would have to be a totally new conference composed of the members of the disbanded conferences. Sorry.... there are those of us who think that the Unions should be disbanded as it has been questioned as to why they exist and whether or not they serve a legitimate purpose.

[Woody]

IMO there will be no "Uniting" of conferences. There must be a dismantling of both conferences when there are two in the same territory. Then there would have to be a totally new conference composed of the members of the disbanded conferences. Sorry.... there are those of us who think that the Unions should be disbanded as it has been questioned as to why they exist and whether or not they serve a legitimate purpose.

Very Well Said. Excellent.

[lazarus]

Excellent point there Rudywoofs.

But for some reason ...

Click to reveal..

blacks

African Americans think they are special.

Why do you persist on being obtuse?

[John317]

I'd be very interested in know what you think about the way the conferences are organized. If you like you could send me a PM about it. :-)

I'm off to bed now. It is 4: 30 in the morning here. I should have been in bed hours ago.

[lazarus]

I'd be very interested in know what you think about the way the conferences are organized. If you like you could send me a PM about it. :-)

I don't like the black/white conferences arrangement. I understand why it came about. Other churches split into two spearate churches but we split the structure. There are a number of questions that come to my mind when we discuss this issue:

Why did this split occur ?

Have the reasons for the spit been resolved?

Does the Church have to do any work as regards healing past hurts on both sides?

Is dissolving the old structure enough? Does there have to be new structure altogether like as was mentioned.

Are we willing to do the work that it take to bring true harmony to the SDA church?

[The Searcher]

In answer to your questions.

Why did this split occur? It was a necessity for our work in the south. These were the days leading up to the Civil War and after. At the time, it was decided that to reach the most people it would require working in two separate organizations. It would have been very hard to work with both blacks and whites in the south; there were some deep wounds. It has taken time to reach a place where this was no longer necessary, and it should be discontinued. There will be no black and white conferences in heaven.

Have the reasons for the split been resolved? Yes they have with the civil right movements. The reason for continued existence is politics. It is a matter of power; some feel that the blacks would loose too much power. We have not reached a level where each should consider the other better than themselves as Paul indicates in Romans.

Does the Church have to do any work as regards healing past hurts on both sides? No, this is not the responsibility of the church; it is the responsibility of each individual in the church. Let us remember the church is a community of believers who share a common bond and goal: To serve Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Christ declares that we are to forgive 70 x 7. We need to realize that Christ is the head of the church, and each of us marches under His orders. The individual agendas need to be forgotten, and the work of Christ must once more be at the forefront.

Is dissolving the old structure enough? Does there have to be new structure altogether like as was mentioned. I am afraid that this will require a re-ordering of the Structure, but it will be based upon the old. In order to accomplish this, the church must meet in business session at the conference level. Delegates from all the churches from both previous structures must meet and re-elect a new conference president, ministerial secretary, treasurer and etc.

Are we willing to do the work that it take to bring true harmony to the SDA church? I believe that for this to happen there needs to be a mass prayer session in order to humble all those who will be involved because some people will need to release the power which they had. Black churches and white churches will need to accept that their pastor may not be the color of the dominant members of the church. Some churches will need to merge in areas where it would be more economically to do so. The Spanish churches need also to be a part of this process. There will need to be an outreach by the church for all nations, tribes, tongues, and peoples to enter, not to a select group. There will need to be true brotherhood and sisterhood and acceptance and forgiveness. If this does not happen, those who block the process must expect to be left behind when Christ comes. In heaven there is no discrimination; There is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female; we are all one in Christ as according to Christ's priestly prayer in John 17.

Sincerely,

The searcher

[abelisle]

When I spoke privately with local conference leaders and even a GC Vice-President, the responses for the most part centered on finances, both from the personal side (losing one's job) to corporate (losing proportional/representative funding from the GC)

So, sad to say, I don't think we'll see any changes unless they are mandated from above and as you can see, both the NAD leadership and the GC leadership are seemingly afraid to tackle this issue.

Doesn't the Bible say the (love of) money is at the core of most problems? I'm not implying that this is an "evil" situation but rather a blemish on the public image we present to the world.

Alex

[phkrause]

When I spoke privately with local conference leaders and even a GC Vice-President, the responses for the most part centered on finances, both from the personal side (losing one's job) to corporate (losing proportional/representative funding from the GC)

So, sad to say, I don't think we'll see any changes unless they are mandated from above and as you can see, both the NAD leadership and the GC leadership are seemingly afraid to tackle this issue.

Doesn't the Bible say the (love of) money is at the core of most problems? I'm not implying that this is an "evil" situation but rather a blemish on the public image we present to the world.

Alex

Interesting thoughts Alex.

pk

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

What I don't like is all the politicking that goes on in the church as far as jobs go. If you know the right person or if you are related to the right person, then you're almost guaranteed to have a job. I've seen that happen over and over again on the Conference and Union levels.

[phkrause]

What I don't like is all the politicking that goes on in the church as far as jobs go. If you know the right person or if you are related to the right person, then you're almost guaranteed to have a job. I've seen that happen over and over again on the Conference and Union levels.

I agree whole heartedly with that rudywoofs. I've tried numerous times to apply for a job to get back in but to no avail.

pk