Bern, November 11, 2012. [CD-EUDNews]. The Executive Committee of the Inter-European Region (EUD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, situated in Bern, Switzerland, got together for their yearly meeting in the first week of November, from the 2nd to the 6th.
Even though the business sessions started on Sunday, a spiritual program filled the whole Sabbath day, introducing the task at hand. Time for prayer and sharing of the God’s Word were considered a worthy introduction to the discussion during the whole Committee meeting.
Special guest for this spiritual session was Pastor Arthur Stele, Adventist General Conference (GC) vice president. Focusing on Jesus’ mandate of Acts 1, Pastor Stele highlighted the nature of the Christian to be a witness. “What is important,” said Pastor Stele, “is not the number, but to be witnesses of Jesus allowing the Holy Spirit to empower the mission we are endorsing.”
This message was enhanced by the presentations of outreach projects presented by some members of the Executive Committee during Sabbath afternoon and evening. “Europe is not an easy territory,” stated Bruno Vertallier, EUD president, “secularism, materialism and consumerism are continuing to attack the Christian values of our land, but because of the evangelism experiences, we are still alive. Thanks to dedicated Adventist members, we hope to achieve our mandate.”
“We appreciated the good atmosphere,” said Friedbert Hartmann, Executive Secretary of North German Union, “and the good Sabbath worship.”
President’s report Evangelism was the highlight of the President’s report. A video was presented showing projects, experiences and outreach campaigns carried out by different local groups. “My report is your report. Thank you for the focus you put on evangelism,” said Pastor Vertallier, “I believe we will do more to motivate our members to be outreach-oriented.”
In his report, the president mentioned the great issue the church is facing at the moment, regarding women’s ordination. Three unions in the world, including the North German Union, in their constituency assemblies took a vote “to ordain pas
tors without gender regard” going against the official Adventist position. Quoting the statement voted by the General Conference Executive Committee two weeks ago, Bruno Vertallier affirmed “The Seventh-day Adventist Church seeks to preserve its identity as a united global family while addressing mission opportunities and challenges in widely differing cultural, political and economic environments.” “My perception is that if we accept the process that has been voted at the GC, we will achieve much more than if we would decide differently. We need the world church to be flexible on this issue and respect the needs of all regions. I believe that the study which is currently running will facilitate a positive decision.” The report was voted unanimously.
