The Executive Committee Votes Church Planting

The Executive Committee met the weekend of October 31 - November 2 at Glacier View Ranch, for its annual retreat. Elder Ron Gladden, newly appointed Mid America Union Church Planting Consultant, challenged the committee to understand the importance of recognizing the difference between territorial church placement and targeted, market sensitive church planting.

COMMITTEE VOTES TO END EXPERIMENT AT CHRIST ADVENT FELLOWSHIP

With absolutely no joy, and a great deal of sorrow, the committee deliberated carefully for five hours on Sunday afternoon before finally deciding to end endorsement of the CAF experiment.

The action reads as follows:

CAF: Voted the recommendation of the Administrative Committee as follows: 1) CAF is no longer recognized and endorsed as a company of the RMC as of November 5, 1997, 2) The name CAF is the property of the Seventh-day Adventist Association of Colorado, and may be used only as authorized by the Executive Committee & Association Board. 3) The membership of CAF is encouraged to transfer their membership to a church within the RMC. Members of CAF who do not transfer their membership to a church will remain members of the conference church in regular standing.

The action taken by the committee is a complex one. It reflects administration's earnest desire to be careful to state as clearly and with as much grace as possible the intent of the committee.

The sad ending of this most important experiment was due to an insistence to continue to "push all the edges of the envelope." The edges of the envelope briefly stated are: (1), defining our beliefs or theology; (2), explaining and integrating Adventist life style or discipleship; (3), church process and governance; (4), worship style.

From the very beginning, before CAF ever began meeting for worship, conference administration stated very clearly to the leadership team, if they insisted on pushing all edges of the envelope without the consultation and approval of the Executive Committee, this experiment would not work.

Even then CAF leadership indicated they intended to do exactly that, push all the edges. They believed this was the only way to accomplish their mission. The Executive Committee never totally approved their plans. Meanwhile conference administration has tried to hang on to this experiment, pleading with leadership to be willing to back up from some of its more radical positions.

The straw that figuratively broke "the camels back" came when administration pled with CAF leadership not to follow in the foot steps of Richard Fredericks and the Damascus church. Elder Brauer met with Elder Peck and personally pleaded with him to differentiate himself from what was happening in the Potomac Conference, and show a good faith effort to the Executive Committee that CAF wanted to remain as an integral part of the Rocky Mountain Conference.

In this context, CAF's leadership team responded by outlining eight additional issues, (see below) which made further discussion impractical. It was abundantly clear CAF leadership intended to do as they pleased without consultation and or input from either conference administration or the Executive Committee.

Jim Greene, new Secretary/Treasurer, attempted repeatedly before the November 2 committee to see if there was any room for negotiations and/or a way to avoid the action taken. Unfortunately this attempt also met with no positive response.

The constituents of the Rocky Mountain Conference were made aware at the triennial constituency meeting in June, that administration was very much in favor of trying to find a way to keep the experiment alive.

Administration was strongly supportive of the targeted worship service. CAF did an outstanding job week by week maintaining excellence, creativity and gospel focused preaching in their services. The concerns have not been with worship. CAF has done a wonderful job in so many ways of winning the confidence of its target audience: the burned, bored and bypassed.

The theological concerns were enumerated at the session, but because Elder Peck indicated a willingness to continue a dialogue with Elders Miller and Fisher, Assistants to the President, administration was more than willing to allow the pastor latitude as long as it was a good faith effort to address the issues of concern. Andrews University Seminary professors found Elder Peck's position to be not a restatement of our beliefs, but a definition of a new denomination's theology. While there are very real theological issues dealing with his understanding of: last day events, role of the SDA church in prophecy, hermeneutical interpretation of the Spirit of Prophecy, investigative judgment, the Sabbath as the discipleship seal of God, and role of the Spirit of Prophecy in providing life style principles; it is fervently hoped that these concerns will disappear as time moves on. It is not our intention to belittle or condemn, yet we must also clearly state the theological concerns.

CAF RESPONSE TO ADMINISTRATION

Here are the main issues we presented for conversation as summary statements that had arisen as we looked at the list of issues dealt with at Damascus:

1. Christ Advent Ministries (CAM), our non-profit corporation is not going away.

2. CAM will be audited by an independent auditor. This will happen nex t week (as well as periodic, regular audits in the future) and the results will be shared with the donors and the conference.

3. CAM is now becoming more than an equipment holding company and being listed side-by-side CAF on our budget projections for the congregation.

4. CAM now pays our staff employees. This was done to reduce liability concerns for the conference and because, while we have never solicited donations to CAM, nevertheless, they have come in at such a significant rate that we have moved some of our operational expense over to CAM.

5. CAM will own any land or buildings that we purchase in the future. This is the clear will of our congregation.

6. There are now, and will continue to be, participating members of our Grace Place fellowship who are not SDAs.

7. We do not intend to teach that the conference is the "storehouse." Of course, that is one legitimate view and no one will be discouraged from giving to the conference.

8. Our statement of 10 points in our membership class is a sufficient summary of the essence of evangelical SDA theology, as we understand it. Members may hold various views on issues not addressed in the summary. That's O.K. But the ten points have served as a good summary and unifying statement.

CAF MEMBERS URGED TO REMAIN AS MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE CHURCH

The Executive Committee was careful to state that all former CAF members would be held in the conference church in regular standing. No attempt will be made to disfellowship anyone unless there is blatant public abandonment of church positions. Even then members will be dealt with individually and only after specific pastoral counseling will their names be taken to the Executive Committee for further action.

CAF was an experiment to the burned, bored and bypassed. It is not surprising therefore to find a someof the membership angry and openly hostile with the conference. The tragedy of the Executive Committee action is that it once again burns those who had already lost faith and confidence in the church. Honest people are openly wondering if it is possible to experiment within the church. "This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do," said Jim Brauer. "I don't want to do this!"

"I have taught over 20 seminars, attempting to create a more caring congregation, in which it might be safe for missing members to return, and then this." "I just wish CAF leadership was willing to work together on the same team. But they are committed to following every detail of their vision, built on a Willow Creek model, which is exclusively congregational in its decision making."

FUTURE CHURCH PLANTING GUIDELINES

The following guidelines will be followed before planting any new congregation:

1. Demographic investigation

2. Pastoral Candidate must pass NAD assessment process.

3. Development of a specific focused plan, led by the pastor and the leadership team

4. Executive Committee approval of guidelines.

5. Funding plan in place.

THEOLOGY

There are three distinct attributes of theology we Adventists affirm that make us unique, and provide safety and balance to our message and lives.

• They are:
• The gospel
• The Christian walk
• Preparation for the soon return of Jesus

These three are distinct yet interconnected issues. The three angels of Rev 14 fly, crying out a warning to all who will listen and understand. These three are simple, yet it takes a life time of gentle study and submission to God's Spirit for them to slowly work their magic upon us individually. These three continue to be the fodder over which Christians argue and fight as they seek to explain or counter balance others in the household of faith.

The Gospel

The good news is totally and completely about what God has done for us. It is all about Jesus and His gift of salvation He provides to us His wayward sons and daughters. Salvation is objective in that it has been worked out in heaven before the foundation of the earth, fought for and won for us years before we were ever born, and now provided freely to all who by faith can grasp the enormity of such a gracious gift. This good news is the focus of all of our preaching. All of our doctrines point back to and paint a picture of God as He patiently keeps calling us to understand the issues in the great controversy. All of our doctrines are filled with the objective reality of God's work in behalf of His children.

The Christian walk

While scripture spends most of its time gently trying to clarify the amazing good news of the gospel, our Father understands only too well, that we are depraved self centered spoiled children who need ongoing gentle correction. So scripture always calls us into lives of submission and discipleship. "When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die." This calling and dying is not the gospel nor the basis of our salvation. Jesus calls us to adopt the same principle that focused His life, Living For God's Glory! The Christian walk is the life long journey of faith we travel together as we seek to be used by God to live in such a manner, others can begin to recognize that we too have been with Jesus. In our gentle Godly lives, God's goodness, His mercy, His faithfulness are slowly demonstrated as we become more and more like our father. The only way this ever happens, Jesus explained, is when we are vitally attached to Jesus on a day by day connection. He is the vine we are the branches. He produces the fruit from our living in connection with Him. He is to get the glory, we never! He is our Lord and master. He wants to come and dwell in us enabling us to live quiet lives of continued obedience, so that we might have life, joy and peace in the midst of the storm.

Preparation for His soon return

Adventists were raised up by God to proclaim the soon return of our Saviour, friend and Lord. It is in the crucible of knowing the bridegroom is coming. Time is short. Eternity is about to begin! We forget the gentle balance of scripture, resort to methods of preaching, correcting, warning and living that God is not glorified and the world is confirmed in their disinterest in knowing God.

Parents are justifiably worried about their sons and daughters. Eternity only happens once, if you reject Jesus now, the pain of loss can not be described. Yet it is the very message of the gospel and the accurate picture of how God continually has worked behind the scenes to provide a way of escape that provides hope and must bring balance to how we preach in these last days.

The Three Angels of Rev 14 carry a message filled with hope, warning and emergency. They call us to a higher level of confidence and relationship with Jesus. In the midst of the final events we are privileged to reflect the same quiet confidence Jesus had as he slept in the boat in the midst of the storm. Because He knew His Father, and had allowed God to daily mold His life to reflect God's glory, never His own, Jesus could sleep. So we too are called to the privileged position to quietly point all to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It is those who have learned the lessons of faith and dependence on Jesus now, who will be used by God in the end of time to accurately reflect His character no matter what the devil throws at them.