AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND.
*** REVELATION 14:9
Members of the International Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity inaugurate their sixth phase of dialogue after a lengthy preparation period.
The gathering will be hosted by the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia and will be focusing, in its first stage, on drafting a joint statement to mark the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030.
The document, originally designed to reconcile differences within the 16th century church, has important implications for both Lutherans and Catholics today.
Cardinal Kurt Koch led a delegation from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity to the LWF Communion Office in Geneva on 14 January for a joint staff meeting with the two dialogue partners. Photo: LWF/A. Danielsson
Aug. 31, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
ANN staff
Seventh-day Adventist pastors in Europe say a renewed emphasis on relevant, relational outreach will connect with communities there, despite the region’s growing secularism.
The enthusiasm for simple, creative approaches to evangelism came during the European Pastors Conference last week in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia. Sponsored by the Adventist Church’s Trans-European Division, the conference is held every five years and highlights spiritual growth, continuing education and fellowship.
Some 1,200 pastors, their spouses and lay workers rallied around the theme, “Making God Known in Europe” during four days of lectures, workshops and worship. Thousands more followed the conference via livestream and social media.
In his keynote address, Trans-European Division President Bertil Wiklander told attendees that while many Europeans deny their need for God, such a lifestyle is ultimately “dysfunctional.”
“To make God known in Europe is our great challenge and calling,” he said.
Other presenters urged pastors not to confine their ministry to the pews. Dennis Meier, a pastor from Hamburg, Germany, referenced metaphors from Matthew 5 in his presentation. “As Adventists, we tend to be more comfortable with the metaphor of the light on the hill than the salt of the Earth,” Meier said.
“With our established buildings and our structured worship times there is a danger of us becoming isolated,” he added.
When pastors minister outside church walls, they need to be aware that their efforts and motivation will likely face scrutiny, said Adventist world church Vice President Lowell Cooper.
“A trustworthy God will never be made known by untrustworthy people,” Cooper said in a presentation that highlighted the significance of humility, integrity, respect and accountability in pastoral ministry.
Derek Morris, editor of the church’s Ministry Magazine, said he found a lecture by Biblical Research Institute Director Artur Stele particularly compelling.
“I grew up in Europe, so I am aware of some of the challenges they are facing with postmodern, post-Christian people,” Morris said.
“[Stele] talked about how the New Testament uses more than forty words to describe sharing the good news about Jesus and mentions fifteen different places, such as the market place, cafe, temple, by the river, someone’s house. So the message is to share Jesus in every way and in every place,” he said.
Secular Europe is not unlike the environment the Apostle Paul faced ministering to Greco-Roman culture in the 1st Century, said Adventist recording artist and Pastor Wintley Phipps.
“I think Paul left us a theological heritage that we have lost sight of – that revealing Christ to the world around us, in us, is the true purpose of the church,” Phipps said.
Veteran Adventist evangelist Mark Finley challenged church members not to let fear of failure hinder efforts to share Jesus. “I’d rather try and do something great for God and fail, than do nothing for God and succeed,” he said.
European Adventists launched at least two new pilot outreach projects this year. In February, Bible stories came alive for community members who visited a three-dimensional exhibit in Reykjavik, Iceland. The church’s display traced Biblical history from Creation to Jesus’ resurrection.
Later, in Hungary, Adventists launched a health club and Bible university to respond to basic physical and spiritual needs. Leaders in the country also hosted “Jesus7,” an outreach series broadcast on television nationwide that they say offered lasting answers amid financial instability in the country.
Now, pastors in the region are calling for increased support for more such innovative approaches to evangelism.
“Those who try new methods need confidence and trust and a platform where they can share their experiences,” said Janos Kovacs-Biro, Trans-European Division Ministerial Association director.
“We need a lot of encouragement from church leadership,” Kovacs-Biro said, adding that health, the Sabbath rest and social justice issues such as human trafficking and domestic violence can be effective ways of connecting with a secular audience.
Training seminars for pastors to learn these new methods of outreach and service should be among church administrators’ top priorities, he said.
Father General visited Slovenia from the 6th to the 8th of November. After courtesy visits to the Archbishop and the Apostolic Nuncio, he has met the Jesuits of the Slovenian Province at Saint Joseph Spirituality Center. During the afternoon a Eucharistic celebration has taken place at Dravlje church to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Province.
Father General will visit Slovenia from the 6th to the 8th of November. He will arrive in Ljubljana on the evening of 6 November and meet with the Dravlje community for dinner. The next day, after courtesy visits to the Archbishop and the Apostolic Nuncio, he will meet the Jesuits of the Slovenian Province at Saint Joseph Spirituality Center. During the afternoon a Eucharistic celebration will take place at Dravlje church to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Province. At that Eucharist, several Jesuits will make solemn profession. Later there will be meetings with Christian Life Communities and the Association of Slovenian Catholic Professors as well as a brief interview with the catholic radio program Ognjisce. He will have dinner that evening with the Province Consultors. To mark this visit the catholic weekly Druzina will publish an interview with Father General. He returns to Rome on Sunday 8 November. .
With a comfortable majority of over 57 percent, voters have decided that most shops will be closed on Sundays. Storeowners have already hinted they might launch legal action against the decision.
According to unofficial results released after 99.9 percent of the votes were counted, 57.5 percent of the voters that turned up for Sunday's referendum on the opening hours of stores voted for the closure of shops, while 41.7 percent were against. Keeping in line with past referendums, except those on EU and NATO entry, turnout was at a lacklustre 27.4 percent.
According to law, lawmakers must now pass regulations only allowing shops offering basic goods to be open up to ten Sundays a year. The only outlets exempt would be smaller petrol stations and stores in hospitals, hotels, airports, border crossings, and bus and train stations. The results are legally binding and MPs cannot pass any act that would not be in line with the referendum outcome, nor hold another referendum on the same issue, within a year.
The referendum proponents, the Trade Union of Retail Workers, was glad about the outcome, and its president, Franci LavraÄ, welcomed the decision reached by "consumers who today were also voters". "We believe we convinced them with the arguments that too many people work Sundays," he said.
Quite predictably, employers were not as happy, and hinted that the referendum is not the last chapter of the story. Zoran JankoviÄ, CEO of Slovenia's largest retailer Mercator, cannot imagine how legislators will amend the trade act governing opening hours to comply with the referendum. "I believe that when the act is drafted, it will face numerous challenges at the constitutional court," he told STA. Mercator predicts it will have to fire about 500 workers as a result of the vote. Lay-offs have also been announced by another major retailer, Interspar Slovenija.
The referendum was initiated by retail workers after they failed to push through with their proposal for opening hours. Although backed by conservative and leftwing parties, the proponents faced stiff opposition from corporate circles, the ruling Liberal Democrats and the Consumers Association in the run-up to the vote.
Not everybody was happy to go to the polls on Sunday: the vote has once again sparked criticism targeted against the referendum as such, since many people feel, according to public opinion surveys, that issues like that should not be decided by voters, but left up to legislators and experts. STA
