The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as recently reformulated by the General Conference and adopted by the Trans-European Division is to call all people to become disciples of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the everlasting gospel embraced by the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12, and to prepare the world for His soon return.
All partner entities and believers of the Church in the Trans-European Division must be ever aware that they exist to fulfil the mission of the Church as understood on the basis of the Word of God and summarised in this mission statement. Every plan, programme, resource and training event must be focused on the fulfilment of mission. The question must be asked constantly, “How is this plan/ programme/ resource/ event contributing to the fulfilment of mission?” Accountability structures must be put in place which facilitate a positive answer to this question.
Motivated by what we believe is our God-given mandate and desire to fulfil our shared mission, the leaders of the Division in consultation with the Union/Field leaders have called for the Strategic Priority Focus Consultation meeting to be held in St Albans, UK during the week of 9-13 February 2015. The main purpose of this consultation is to pray, listen, “imagine” and learn from each other ways in which we can become more focused on our mission and effective in its fulfilment as we move into the new quinquennium 2015-2020 – basically, to be more responsive to the needs of those we serve.
The Church in the Trans-European Division is abundantly blessed to have a team of highly committed, qualified, experienced directors of departments and services. Our team has made an outstanding contribution to the mission of the Church throughout the Division. The proposed consultation is not to be read in any way as a comment on them, the sacrifices they have made for their Church, or the quality of the programmes, resources and events that they have/are providing for the Church. Indeed, the proposed consultation is intended to enhance even more the effectiveness of what is already one of the most outstanding groups of departmental and service directors in the world Church who contribute on a regular basis beyond the boundaries of the Trans-European Division.
The purpose of the February consultation is NOT to develop a new TED strategic plan or evaluate TED staff performance or “show-and-tell” models of ministry or promote programmes and initiatives. It is simply an important exercise in “sharpening the blade”, in unlearning and learning as we pray and share together to achieve a higher level of authenticity, relevance and impact in delivering God’s mission. To achieve this we need humility, honesty and a total focus on the mission – why we exist. It is my personal prayer for this meeting that we encourage an eco-culture of active participatory openness where we “place all the cards on the table”; unlock ourselves from the “prison of precedent” as we tackle existential issues affecting us in 21st century Europe; and encourage a communication tone where creativity, imagination and outside-the-box thinking are respected and can thrive. To achieve this, we need to pray for Holy-Spirit-driven-imagination to make sense of where we are and to charter the high seas as we head into the future. Please pray for this consultation, pray for every participant, pray for God’s will to be realised where He will excite our curiosity and provoke a sense of wonder and awe.
One of the outcomes of this meeting is to develop a draft strategic framework to be presented at the TED Executive Committee meeting in May 2015 for discussion and ratification. This strategic framework could be used as a tool to guide the new leadership of the TED at the upcoming GC Session in planning staff and programme allocation for the new quinquennium 2015- 2020. The group of 80 persons who will meet at the consultation meeting in February is not a decision-making body but rather a “think-tank” to guide the leadership of the TED and Unions/Fields in the way forward – basically to aim higher in fulfilling God’s missions.
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