{"id":5617,"date":"2020-07-02T10:19:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T10:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/2020\/07\/02\/new-strategic-focus-reach-the-world-i-will-go-to-launch-this-weekend\/"},"modified":"2020-07-02T10:19:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T10:19:13","slug":"new-strategic-focus-reach-the-world-i-will-go-to-launch-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/new-strategic-focus-reach-the-world-i-will-go-to-launch-this-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"New Strategic Focus \u201cReach the World: I Will Go\u201d to launch this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>2 July 2020 | Silver Spring, USA [Beth Thomas \/ <em>ted<\/em>NEWS]&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a special live-streamed event, 3-4 July the Seventh-day Adventist Church will unveil its strategic focus for 2020-2025. Building on the <em>Reach the World<\/em> theme begun at the 2015 General Conference Session, the next five years will see a focus on mission through the <em>Reach the World: I Will Go<\/em> initiative.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/iwillgo2020.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Originally set to launch at the postponed 2020 General Conference Session in Indianapolis, USA, plans for presenting the initiative to the World Church had to be adjusted due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will now take place in a weekend celebration, broadcast on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopetv.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hope Channel<\/a> and the Seventh-day Adventist Church\u2019s official Facebook page, as well as other social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I Will Go: An Important Tool<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I Will Go<\/em> is \u201ca tool to help the Church be more focused and effective in performing critical tasks. This strategic plan is rooted in the Great Commission found in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=mathew+28&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matthew 28<\/a>, which calls Jesus\u2019 followers to go and make disciples of all nations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the World Church, says that through this focus, \u201cWe hope to see a worldwide, massive involvement of all our church members in their evangelistic and witnessing commitment during these last days of earth\u2019s history as they all become active in Total Member Involvement\u2014everyone staying close to Christ and doing something for Him through His power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <em>I Will Go<\/em> plan covers a broad spectrum of church life,\u201d Michael Ryan, former general vice-president of the World Church, says. \u201cWe have a biblical and Spirit of Prophecy mandate to move forward with: to read the scripture, to pray\u2026to be aware of mission, to go to the uttermost parts of the Earth, to have a message\u2014a proclamation, to take responsibility for our children, to provide them with education and instruction. Every aspect of what we do is in that plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plan was developed by the Future Plans Working Group strategic planning and research oversight committee, chaired by Ryan, after consulting with divisions and receiving approval from the Annual Council of the General Conference Executive Committee in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Gary Krause, director of the Office of Adventist Mission, offers a concise overview of the <em>Reach the World: I Will Go<\/em> focus:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe plan is summarised in ten key objectives\u2014four mission objectives, three spiritual growth objectives, and three leadership objectives. But another key objective has been added: \u2018Holy Spirit Objectives: To be defined as the Holy Spirit leads.\u2019 This is an acknowledgment that although as good stewards we have made plans, we need to be open to the Holy Spirit fine-tuning or adding to the mission priorities on our horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Krause emphasises that this is not another programme or event, but a map to help navigate some of the most important issues facing the Church, and to remain faithful in our mission.<\/p>\n<p>Issues facing the Church are identified through research. According to David Trim, director of Archives, Statistics and Research for the World Church, almost unprecedented research informed the direction for this new initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Of the surveys given to church members in all 13 divisions in 2018, there were 63,756 responses to questions dealing with personal spiritual practices, the local church environment, and a range of biblical beliefs\u2014from a literal six-day Creation to the understanding of the soul and death. This data enables Church leaders to get a finger on the pulse of the Church and know how to best encourage spiritual growth and commitment; research helped identify needs met through initiatives such as <em>10 Days of Prayer<\/em>, the <em>Believe His Prophets<\/em> Bible reading plan, and Total Member Involvement.<\/p>\n<p>Research efforts will continue through the next five years to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan and inform the focus for the next quinquennium.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on <em>I Will Go<\/em>, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/iwillgo2020.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iwillgo2020.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>How to watch the launch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I will go<\/em> launches this weekend with Friday and Sabbath programming from the General Conference. Watch on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAdventistChurch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Adventistsaboutlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a>. Here are times for European viewers:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Friday, 3 July \u2014 Opening programme<\/strong>: 3:00 Central European Time (2:00 UK)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sabbath Service, 4 July&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<em>Hope at Home: I Will Go<\/em><\/strong>: 15:00 Central European Time (14:00 UK) <br \/>Enjoy a Sabbath School programme with Pastor Mark Finley\u2014\u201cWhy Witness?\u201d. This will be followed by a worship service featuring Pastor Ted Wilson\u2014\u201cI Will Go\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first published on <a href=\"https:\/\/news.adventist.org\/en\/all-news\/news\/go\/2020-06-19\/new-strategic-focus-reach-the-world-i-will-go-rooted-in-the-great-commission\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ANN<\/a>, the General Conference News website.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>ted<\/em>NEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Deana Stojkovi\u0107, associate editor<br \/>119 St Peter&#8217;s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England<br \/>E-mail: <a href=\"mailto:tednews@ted.adventist.org\">tednews@ted.adventist.org<\/a><br \/>Website: www.ted.adventist.org<br \/><em>ted<\/em>NEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division. Readers are free to republish or share this article with appropriate credit including an active hyperlink to the original article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 July 2020 | Silver Spring, USA [Beth Thomas \/ <em>ted<\/em>NEWS]&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a special live-streamed event, 3-4 July the Seventh-day Adventist Church will unveil its strategic focus for 2020-2025. Building on the <em>Reach the World<\/em> theme begun at the 2015 General Conference Session, the next five years will see a focus on mission through the <em>Reach the World: I Will Go<\/em> initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1572,7],"tags":[673,671,674,672],"class_list":["post-5617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelism-mission","category-news","tag-gc-strategic-focus","tag-i-will-go","tag-reach-the-world","tag-strategic-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}