Every five years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Michigan has a board meeting. The primary purpose of this meeting is to elect its leadership, review the past five years of ministry, and cast a vision for what the next five years will hold.
The Center for Adventist Ministry to Public University Students (CAMPUS) is a division of the the Public Campus Ministries Department for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Michigan. As such, CAMPUS is a church entity, with its leadership serving as pastors and church workers. On September 29, CAMPUS will have the opportunity to update the church on its work over the last five years and the church will be able to evaluate our ministry and hold us accountable for how our talents have been used.
Our system of church governance is brilliant. It adequately balances top down leadership while giving a voice to the members the church seeks to lead. For the most part, here is what is likely to happen over the upcoming weekend:
On Saturday night, September 28, the Organizing Committee will meet to do its work. The Organizing Committee is composed of at least one representative from every church in the state. The committee divides itself into 12 districts split by the geographical location of the churches. Each caucus will make suggestions to the committee regarding names to represent their districts in the Nominating Committee. Among other things, the Organizing Committee is responsible for recommending the Nominating Committee.
On Sunday, September 29, delegates to the Michigan Conference constituency will meet. The majority of the delegates fall into one of two categories: church employees, and representatives from the local churches. Each local church sends a minimum of one delegate. The size of the church determines how many additional delegates a church will send.
The Constituency Meeting will start with songs and a worship thought from Scripture. After that, the Conference Executive Secretary will lead out in prayer. After the prayer session, the meeting officially begins with the “Seating of the Delegates” — officially ensuring that there is quorum. A few motions will be brought for consideration regarding how business will be conducted for the day, and then one of the first items will be the report by the Organizing Committee.
The Organizing Committee will share their report and present a recommendation for the Nominating Committee. Once the Nominating Committee is selected, it will go to a separate room to do its work. Typically, its first item will be the selection of the president.
While the Nominating Committee does its work, the delegates review reports from the departments: the Secretary and Treasurer’s reports discuss church growth and finances. Other reports will very likely include Evangelism, Education, and Youth — the three largest departments of the conference. Should the Nominating Committee require more time in providing names for the various departments, reports will continue to take place from each of the conference leaders.
At the conclusion of the reports and the work of the Nominating Committee, when there is no further business to be discussed, the delegates will conclude by singing the Hymn We Have This Hope, followed by prayer.
To read the CAMPUS report submitted to the constituency, please click here.
