Mission, Spirituality, Connecting  

One of the great joys of church administration is calling and developing pastors. The loss of one of those pastors was one of the most disheartening times of my administrative experience.

This particular young pastor was smart, gifted, a good connector and dedicated. I considered him one who would make an effective, long-term contribution to the mission of the Church. It was a severe shock when he came to me with a divergent theological view that was eroding his belief in the Advent message. We connected him with godly pastors and theologians in an attempt to bring him back to biblical truth. After some time, his opinions solidified. He chose no longer to be an Adventist minister, left the Adventist Church and moved away.

Some years ago, a young instructor at a university, in another part of the country, came to the conclusion he could no longer support a fundamental belief of the Adventist Church. Parents who send their children to our schools should expect their child's educational experience to deepen their walk with God and result in a commitment to engage in the mission of the Church. Adventist education is a sacred trust, and those who teach must be committed to Scripture and its message and mission for the Church. Read more.

The message in this section is the intro to President's Perspective, by Don Livesay, Lake Union president, reprinted from the current issue of the Lake Union Herald. It will be updated monthly.