Leaderboard

In my travels as a military chaplain, I have witnessed many SDA Congregations that struggled to exist. Often, they lacked essential resources for ministry in their community. They may have operated without a clear sensis of what the intended goal of the program was and never were evaluated to determine whether or not they were effective. As a military chaplain, a major commander once called my supervisor in and asked him to give the Commander, a document outlining how chaplains would contribute to the overall success of the organization. My boss gave me that task to me, and I wrote a 110-page document which he presented to the Commander. Unfortunately, he did not read which I had written prior to presenting it to the Commander. NOTE: The Commander read every word it. To illustrate my thinking on this, I have decided to illustrate with a a common SDA ministry of providing food to the needy in a community. * Mission is probably the first aspect of the congregation ministry that should be determined. In our example, that mission could be simply to provide food to the needy, or it could have the addition aspect of increasing congregational membership. This is a critical difference that impacts on every other aspect of the ministry. * Resources needed: An obvious response is that a source of food is needed. Will it be a free source, such as a food bank, or will food have to be purchased. Sometimes some food will need to be purchased. If so, are the finances needed available. People will be needed to operate the distribution. When the mission is simply to distribute food, the workers can come from outside the congregation. If the mission includes increasing the membership, whether the congregation can supply the needed member to operate the distribution is critically important. Will the congregation e able to supply any needed funding is also critical. NOTE: In my thinking the Church Board has the overall responsibility to provide all needed resources, not the person in charge. * Evaluation: Are the objectives being accomplished? If not, what is the needed correction that must be made to accomplish the objectives? In our example, if it is desired to increase membership and that is not happening, what needs to be done to correct that? Note: On a personal basis, I think that many struggling congregations have reached the point where they are unable to survive and accomplish ministry outside of help for a higher level such as the Conference. I also believe that in order to survive and do ministry each viable congregation must have the following, not listed in priority: * The finances needed to run a successful program. * A sufficient congregational size, which has been estimated by some to be abut 200. Yes, I believe that the Conference can be of help in this aspect. * Sufficient capable leadership. Let us face it, individual members are not capable of filling every needed position in the congregational life. Yes, I believe that the 'Conference will often be able to help in this. * Be a welcoming congregation. A congregation which holds high standards that few can meet, is not going to retain members. I have seen such. NOTE: Some reading this may wonder if I have any specific congregation/Conference in mind. I will simply say: If the shoe fits, put it on. My desire is to stimulate thought.

I would have to lean towards that, and going about and am telling everyone we are near...

How much time you spend in the hospital maybe determined by the reimbursement model. In some places [regions/countries], a person might spend 3 weeks in the hospital. In other places, they might go home the same day even though they both provided a similar or identical service. You can be sure that the reimbursement schedule for the three week stay allows the hospital et al., to be paid for every day. The one day service follows a schedule determined by insurance reimbursement. Insurance will pay, say, 15,000 dollars for a certain treatment. If the hospital/doctors want to keep the person in the hospital for one day or three weeks, the payment is the same. Hospitals may have a quality assurance team that reviews these matters. If one doctor is keeping a patient in the hospital for a week and another for one day, this disparity must be investigated. The insurance companies got wise to the downside of fee for service plans which cost them plenty. Managed care plans, they determine how much money should be spent. One good example was the use of heparin for IV access. Insurance companies were paying for unit dose heparin administered after every infusion. When they went to a managed care plan, the hospital had to absorb the cost of heparin; consequently, it was determined that heparin wasn't really necessary, saving the hospital x amount of money every year, depending on the size of the hospital.

I had a hip replaced over 12 years ago and was on my feet that same afternoon Another hip replacement coming in July. All goes well as most hip replacements usually do,I am expected to be released and walk out of the hospital the same day

I recommend this thread started by Gregory Mathews

In 2017, spectrum published an article on Denominational Authority, written by Dr. George Knight. It is long, but instructive for issues that we face today. https://spectrummagazine.org/views/catholic-or-adventist-ongoing-struggle-over-authority-95-theses/

Very, very interesting. It explains allot.

The only significant development in Adventist church structure since 1901/1903 took place in 1918 with the creation of world divisions of the General Conference. But it should be noted that the divisions are not conferences with their own constituencies but parts of the General Conference administration that represent the central body in various parts of the world.56 I never knew that. Very interesting.

John Loughborough took the lead in the discussion and laid out five progressive points that nicely express the attitude of most of his audience. “The first step of apostasy,” he noted, “is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. “The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. “The third is to try members by that creed. “The fourth to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. “And, fifth, to commence persecution against such. ”29 Very well said.

Wow, this is very good. Thank you for posting this.

The Seventh Day Adventist Clinic in Tamuning received a $134,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant, the Office of the Governor said in a media release. The clinic is a critical facility in the island's health care infrastructure and will get a long-term electrical upgrade to help keep it up and running in times of emergency, Adelup said. The Guam Recovery Office said the assessment and design work for the installation of a generator and air conditioning upgrades at the Seventh Day Adventist Clinic in Tamuning will be funded through a FEMA hazard mitigation grant of $134,000. These upgrades are designed to strengthen the clinic’s ability to remain operational during typhoons and other emergencies—when access to medical care is most critical, Adelup said. This project is the first in a series of mitigation investments to move into implementation, signaling continued progress in Guam’s long-term resilience strategy. Additional mitigation projects are currently in development, focused on protecting essential infrastructure and reducing future disaster risks, the governor's office said. “As we saw during Super Typhoon Sinlaku, strengthening our health care infrastructure is not optional, it is essential,” said Acting Governor Joshua Tenorio in a statement. “This first Hazard Mitigation award reflects our commitment to strengthening critical facilities and ensuring continuity of care when it matters most. Through our partnership with FEMA, we are making targeted investments that build a more resilient and prepared Guam.” This project is especially important because Adventist Medical Clinic serves as a critical medical facility for Guam. Following storms, typhoons, and other hazard events, the clinic helps provide additional post-disaster medical care and reduces pressure on the island’s hospitals when demand for health services is highest, Adelup said. FEMA is currently on-island conducting a series of technical assistance sessions with government of Guam agencies and sub-applicants. These working sessions are focused on accelerating project development, ensuring compliance with federal requirements, and advancing additional mitigation projects, Adelup said. https://www.guampdn.com/news/seventh-day-adventist-clinic-receives-134-000-fema-hazard-mitigation-grant/article_94cabeba-23f7-48d0-a2ba-cb4fcc073012.html

This is one of the top growth areas in PH. This is the largest populations of Muslims in PH. People in these ares are more religious in general than the northern richer areas.