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Reach Up, Reach Out, Reach Across

Strategic Plan 2010-2015S e v e n t h - d a y A d v e n t i s t C h u r c h

T E L L T H E W O R L D

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Three Strategic Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Adventist Fast Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Tell the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Reach Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Reach Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Reach Across . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chart of Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Administrative Initiatives for Mission . . . . . . 14

A Church Family of Resources . . . . . . . . . . 15

Continuing the Legacy of Faith in Action . . . 16

My Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back cover

C O N T E N T S

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World Church President

Ellen White describes the church as the “theater of [God’s] grace;” the agency through which He “delights to reveal His power to transform hearts .”* The church, she is saying, occupies a unique position

between heaven and earth . Through His church, God displays both His infinite might and His infinite compassion . Through His church, God makes His presence in the world manifest . Through His church, God says to His created beings, “You aren’t alone . I’m here, among you .”

Tell the World is founded on one simple premise: without mission, the concept of church is meaningless . Without mission we are no longer participants in God’s grand theater of grace .

So often we hear calls for “renewal” and “revival” within our church . Do we need renewal? Do we need to feel anew the power of the Holy Spirit? Yes, of course! But this renewal most meaningfully takes place in the setting of mission when the church is busy doing what she was called to do and to be .

The goals and challenges of “Tell the World” are not new to us—they are woven into our identity and heritage; they outline our mission .

We “reach up”—connecting with the Divine Power beyond all imagining, Who tells us who we are and where we are going . We “reach across”—forming bonds of fellowship with those with whom we share our journey; ties of brotherhood and sisterhood that transcend differences of culture or language . And we “reach out”—a reflex driven by our own encounter with God, and by His command to go and make disciples . This is our mission .

As we rededicate ourselves to a life of mission, I pray we will experience a new sense of purpose; that our churches will thrive and grow as others are drawn to the warmth and acceptance they find there; and that, in all we do, we will constantly reveal God’s grace to the world .

Pastor Jan Paulsen, PresidentGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

* Ellen White, Acts of the Apostles (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1970), 12 .

F r o m t h e

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The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist

Church is to make disciples of all people,

communicating the everlasting gospel

in the context of the three angels’

messages of Revelation 14:6-12, leading

them to accept Jesus as personal Savior

and unite with His remnant Church,

discipling them to serve Him as Lord, and

preparing them for His soon return.

M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T

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Our mission statement leads the church to value as strategic issues quality of life, unity and growth.

Quality of Life is a multi-faceted concept that goes to the heart of what it means to be an Adventist believer . For an Adventist, quality of life means first and foremost being sure of belonging to the Lord, finding the rest and assurance of forgiveness; and finding contentment on our life’s journey .

Unity reflects the nature of the church as one family around the world, constantly communicating with one another, constantly sharing, and in that process learning to defer to one another for the good of the One Body of Christ .

Growth is expressed through evangelism, public witness, and nurturing the personal spiritual growth of believers .

T h r e e S t r a t e g i c Va l u e s

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A D V E N T I S T F a s t F a c t s

WORLD

Cities (>10 Million People) 19

Unentered Countries and Areas 29

Unentered People Groups (> 100,000) 118

MEMBERS

Regular Bible Study 51%

Regular Prayer 53%

Witnessing 55%

Involved in Community Service 31%

Returning Tithe 56%

Confident of Salvation 92%

Mission Offerings as a Percent of Tithe 3.5%

L o o k i n g B a c k“We have nothing to fear for the

future, except as we shall forget the

way the Lord has led us and his

teaching in our past history.”

—Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, 196

Sources:• http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/history/world-population-growth.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates• http://www.mongabay.com/cities_pop_01.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_by_population#cite_note-0• GlobalSurveyofPastors

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1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2010

1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2010

60,000

50.000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

14 million

13 million

12 million

11 million

10 million

9 million

8 million

7 million

6 million

5 million

4 million

3 million

2 million

1 million

64,000

17,000,000

11,687,229

3,480,518

1,245,125504,752

185,45075,76715,570

48,933

21,555

12,9758,924

4,5411,892

congregations

POPULATION PER MEMBER RATIO

MEMBERSHIP

2010

2000

1980

1960

1940

1920

1900

1880 89,768

21,222

9,889

4,390

2,387

1,268

519

405

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R E AC H O U T T O T H E 1 0 / 4 0 W I N D OW

181:1Population to Adventist Ratio outside the 10/40 Window

1,736:1Population to Adventist Ratio inside the 10/40 Window

1 0/ 4 0 W I N D O W

Global Mission Priorities:

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R E AC H O U T T O T H E B I G C I T I E S

953:1Population to Adventist Ratio in World’s Largest Cities

Beijing

buenos aires

cairo

delhi

Dhaka

Istanbul

Karachi

kolkata

los angeles

manila

mexico city

moscow

mumbai

new york

osaka-kobe

Rio de Janeiro

sÃo paulo

shanghai

tokyo

423:1Population to Adventist Ratio Outside World’s Largest Cities

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REACH out to others as

a friendly church that puts

Christ’s mission first, invites

all peoples to fellowship

and makes a difference daily

in the community.

REACH across the barriers

that threaten to divide us as a

family, endeavoring to disciple,

nurture, and involve every

individual in the life and mission

of the church.

REACH UP to God through

Bible study, prayer, Adventist

Bible study guides, and the

Spirit of Prophecy, resulting

in revival and faithfulness.

Inspiring every church member to:

Reach Up, Reach Out, Reach Across

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Calling Seventh-day Adventists to:

• Increase Bible study, prayer and reading the Spirit of Prophecy

• Increase the number of members who return a faithful tithe and support local and mission offerings

• Increase involvement in the witness of the church

• Increase the use of Adventist-produced Bible study materials

R e a c h U pto God through Bible study, prayer, Adventist Bible study guides, and the Spirit of Prophecy, resulting in revival and faithfulness.

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R e a c h O U Tto others as a friendly church that puts Christ’s mission first, invites all peoples to fellowship, and makes a difference daily in the community.

Calling Seventh-day Adventists to:

• Become involved in the mission of the church

• Become involved in community projects

• Increase the number of non-Seventh-day Adventists attending church each week

• Increase the number of members

• Support 600,000 evangelism events

• Establish 25,000 new worship groups

• Reach a goal of seven million church members each winning one person to Christ

• Increase the ratio of membership to population in urban areas

• Provide resources for the 10/40 Window (money, people, time)

• Increase membership and church plants in the 10/40 Window

• Increase the number of listeners, viewers, and readers reached by Adventist electronic media

• Support a large global strategy for literature distribution

• See that every church adopts a program for growth

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R e a c h a c r o s s

Calling Seventh-day Adventists to:

• Improve retention of members

• Nurture members

• Increase the percentage of young people involved in the work of the church

• Improve retention of young people

the barriers that threaten to divide us as a family, endeavoring to disciple, nurture, and involve every individual in the life and mission of the church.

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r e l at i o n s h i p sT E L L T H E W O R L D

Missionstatement

Quality of Life

Unity

Growth

resources for action

Prayer

Power of Holy Spirit

Tithe and Mission Offerings

Membership Involvement

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Tell the World

Administrative Initiatives for Mission

R e a c h U p

R e a c h a c r o s s

R e a c h o u t

Increase: • Number of people involved in Bible study, prayer, and

reading the Spirit of Prophecy• Percentage returning a faithful tithe and supporting local

and mission offerings• Percentage involved in the witness of the church

Increase: • Nurture of members • Retention of members• Percentage of young people involved in the work of the church• Percentage of young people retained within the church

• Hold 600,000 evangelism events• Establish 25,000 new worship groups• Encourage every church to adopt a program for growth

Increase:• The global strategy for literature distribution • To seven million the number of church members winning one

person to Christ • Percentage involved in the mission of the church• Percentage involved in community projects• Number of non-Seventh-day Adventists attending church each week• Number of members• Ratio of membership to population in urban areas• Resources for the 10/40 Window (money, people, time)• Membership and church plants in the 10/40 Window• Number of listeners, viewers, and readers reached by Adventist

electronic media

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Administration and pastors

Individual Members

pastors and congregations

CHURCH INSTITUTIONS

Administrative In it iat ives for Mis s ion• Develop and train leaders for the future• Create a culture of integrity• Model efficient and effective use of structure and resources• Cultivate the spiritual life and theological understanding of the

entire Church• Provide relevant witness and service to communities

Within the context of these global leadership tasks there are four opportunities for particular focus...

• Enable members to understand and celebrate both the local and global identity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

• Ensure that local church planning and programming incorporates local, regional, and global mission priorities.

• Inform and engage local church membership in local, regional, and global mission priorities.

• Provide effective advocacy for and involvement in community service.

• Continue synergy and alignment of institutions with mission of the church.

• Foster mutual understanding among church and institutional leaders regard-ing the mission and roles of institutions.

• Create/sustain synergy and alignment of administrative and pastoral initiatives in mission.

• Integrate local, regional, and global priorities in mission.

• Facilitate effective networking among church infrastructure, institutions, and lay organizations.

• Demonstrate commitment to understanding, living, and communicating the gospel.

• Participate in local church fellowship, worship, and service.

• Support local, regional, and global mission priorities.

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PASTORs“We cannot do this without a connection with God. We are not sharing about God with people, we are sharing HIM, and that means we need a living connection with God.”—Scott Manly, pastor, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.

HEALTH WORKERS“Medical workers have the privileged oportunity to reach people in extreme necessity, like when facing death, and point them to Jesus as the Physician of physicians and the only Saviour of our bodies and souls.”—Elmer Ribeyro, missionary doctor, Atoifi Hospital

INST ITUT IONS “There are thousands of students from non-Adventist and non-Christian families studying in our schools and colleges, and we teach them moral education and the children in turn tell their parents and other family members about Jesus.” —Justus Devadas, president, Spicer Memorial College, Pune, India

MEDIA“You need a means to communicate the gospel to people in this world, and media is often that means: radio, television, publishing, and Internet.”—Ben Schoun, president, Adventist World Radio

SUPPORT ING M IN I STR I E S / LAYPEOPLE“Supporting ministries play a vital role in “Telling the World” about our soon-coming Savior. Ellen White says that “the work” won’t finish until lay members “rally to the work, and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” It’s a privilege for supporting ministries, sharing Christ in their marketplace, to be part of this wonderful calling.—Donna McNeilus, past-president, Adventist Laymen’s Services and Industries

COMMUNITY S ERV ICES“Community Services is the tangible, visual partnership between God and His church in giving all the opportunity to touch, taste, smell, see, and fully experience a small part of the Kingdom of Heaven.”—Andrew Clark, executive director, Adventist Community Services-Greater Pittsburgh

A Church Family of Resources

Mem

bers

Pastors

teachers

Literature Evangelists

Health Workers

InstitutionsMEDIA

Departments

Supporting ministries

Community services

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CONTINUING THE LEGACY OF FA ITH IN ACTION

1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2015

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“We have

nothing to fear

for the future,

except as we

shall forget the

way the Lord

has led us and

his teaching in

our past history.”

—Ellen G. White,

Life Sketches, 196To find out more about the timeline images visit www.AdventistMission.org

Photography courtesy of Adventist Mission/Global Mission, Adventist World Radio, British Union Conference Historical Archive, Ellen G . White Estate, General Conference Archives and Statistics, Rajmund Dabrowski/General Conference Communication, Todd Gessele/North Pacific Union, It is Written .

1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2015

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I join my brothers and sisters in a commitment to Tell the World:• By reaching up and renewing my own faith

• By reaching out and communicating hope to all within my sphere of influence

• By reaching across to embrace and protect the unity of the family of faith

SIGNATURE

My Commitment TO CONTINUE THE LEGACY

To get an electronic version of this document visit TellTheWorld.AdventistMission.org

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