What A Fellowship!

When asked about leadership into the unknown tomorrow, the visionary business guru Peter Drucker observed: "The future? The thing that got us here will not get us there." He was referencing the managment systems used by business leaders over the past 50 years. It occurs to me that the church doens't get a "pass" regarding this axiom.

I'm not talking about our theology. The Biblical truths that have emerged from the Seventh-day Adventist commitment to "the Bible as our only rule of faith and practice" are timeless in their revelation of the character and direction of God for life.

It is our methodology, our management systems, our approaches to bringing the eternal Good News to each new generation that ought to be periodically evaluated for its effectiveness, quality, and value. And there is little doubt that the 20-something generation is doing just that. How shall we respond?

This formed the backdrop for the time I spent with the dedicated people who carry the elected title of "Executive Secretary" in the 7 Conferences of the Pacific Union. We gathered for the morning-to-early-afternoon session in the board room of the Southeastern California Conference office in Riverside, California. The delightful staff of Southeastern prepared this comfortable space with snacks, water, wireless internet connections, and a delicious lunch at noon.

Our devotional, given by Sandy Roberts, focused our attention on the healing by Jesus of blind Bartemeus in Jericho. From there we continued with reports on the Year of Evangelism in our fields, how each conference was uniquely coping with the financial challenges of 2009, and what particular needs each secretary felt that we could address together.

Joy and comraderie seasoned our hearts as we prayed together for each other and departed to our fields of labor refreshed and refocused on the object of our service--Jesus and His soon return! We are already anticipating our next session together on June 1, hosted by Northern California Conference.