President of the North Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Silton Browne, was in Anguilla this week to conduct a seminar aimed at strengthening the role of the church in evangelism, and conserving the members it attracts in a nurturing environment. He was accompanied, from the St. Croix-based regional office, by Director of Evangelism, Dr. Henry Peters, who assisted with leadership training.
The participants in the seminar were members of the four established Seventh-day Adventists congregations who met at Mount Fortune Church. The local coordinators and hosts were resident Pastors Virgil Sams and Sylvester Williams.
“In this seminar, I am trying to make our members aware of the fact that, as Christians, it is our responsibility to be strong in personal relationships so that in telling people about the Gospel, those individuals will be growing,” Pastor Browne explained to The Anguillian newspaper. “That’s what we mean by bearing fruit. By growing in Christ, they will be strengthened spiritually and be able to reach out to others in an on-going cycle of caring, nurturing and witnessing that would keep the church growing for the glory of God.
“The motivating factor in doing this is that we recognise the Gospel is clear. We have a powerful message yet sometimes we can be rather careless in our inter-personal relationships and thus can turn off some individuals. Those are persons who believe the truth and want to keep on growing, but who do not find our inter-personal relationships sufficiently supportive. We therefore want to motivate that caring relationship.”
In summing up the objectives of the seminar, the Conference President told the church members: “In consideration of the nature of the Gospel, the demands for discipleship, the nature of humankind, the method of Jesus and the mind set of this post-modern generation, conserving our gains in evangelism requires an intentional, sustained, courageous, imperishable commitment to effective personal relationships in the context of Christ’s love and an atmosphere of Christian nurture.”
He further stated: “If we understand the thrust of the above statement, it could be said that conserving our gains is most effectively achieved by a caring Christian community. That is, a community that intentionally engages a small group approach…or an intentional combination of methods that mobilises the congregation in a loving, caring, studying and witnessing community of believers.”
Pastor Browne emphasised that witnessing and evangelism must be a never-ending undertaking of the church. “It is God’s plan to save as many people as possible,” he stated. “Meanwhile, those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour are called upon to work with God in this soul-saving work. No matter who we are, where we are, and in what situations we find ourselves, if our hearts are tuned to Christ, if we have a deep-seated appreciation for what He has done for us, and what he asks us to do in response, we will have the opportunity for witness and ministry.”
Quoting from a church source, he continued: “A vital part of evangelism takes place in church every week. This aspect of evangelism is called ‘nurture and incorporation’. We have been very good at inviting people to our churches, but we have not always done so well in the creation of an environment that will encourage them to return and settle into the fellowship. If we are to make disciples, we must give attention to the establishment and nurture of every new Christian.
“To nurture is usually explained by concepts such as to rear, to bring up, to care for, to foster, to train and to educate. When someone accepts the Lord Jesus as his or her personal Saviour, all of these areas of establishment and nurture must be applied spiritually and socially within the Christian fellowship. In other words, a new Christian needs to be brought up, cared for, fostered, trained, and educated in the ways of the Lord.
“Fellowship is the key. This is how lives touch and affect one another. People who join a church must be cared for through spiritual fellowship.”
The SDA North Caribbean Conference President is conducting similar sessions of the seminar in the various islands for which he has responsibility.
