Editor's Note: The following letter was written by pastor Jerry Holt to Don Schneider, president of the North American Division, in response to a letter Elder Schneider sent to church leaders across North America after Ron Gladden announced the launch of Mission Catalyst. The letter has been slightly edited for publication.

August 17, 2004

Don C. Schneider, President

North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

1251 Old Columbia Pike

Silver Spring, Maryland 20904

Mr. President:

I read with profound interest your letter addressed to conference

presidents of the North American Division (NAD) that is being widely circulated on the internet. Although I am not an intended recipient I want to share with you some observations.

Your Letter Did Not Reassure Me

Your letter leads me to conclude that you believe all is well with the way things are going in North America. I, and thousands of other loyal denominational employees, are very uncomfortable with this stance. Your letter and the responses I have received via e-mail cause me to conclude our leadership is either out of touch or in deep denial.

I was hoping, after decades of discussion and debate, that the NAD leadership would have a meaningful response to the announcement by Ron Gladden and others that they have created an alternative system of governance to carry out our mission and doctrinal message. Unfortunately, it appears you and others in leadership are reacting to Ron as a person, not to the structural issues in our system that this new organization is providing a thoughtful, albeit experimental, solution to.

I appreciate that you provided in your letter the web address to the new organization (www.mission catalyst.org) so I could learn firsthand what Mission Catalyst is proposing. This will help minimize wild rumors.

Annual Membership Growth in North America is Meager and Expensive

In 1863, when our denomination was founded in North America, the ratio of Seventh-day Adventists to non-Seventh-day Adventists in the world was 1 to 373,143.1 Since our incorporation there has been explosive worldwide growth in membership and as of 2002 North America accounts for only 7.5 percent of the worldwide membership. However, it continues to provide more than 60 percent of the financial support for the world church's activities.

Our understanding of the gospel, as is summarized in the 27 Fundamental Doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination, is embraced with extraordinary vigor in many geographic regions of the world. In many regions, membership in the denomination is rapidly increasing. But there is an entirely different rate of acceptance in regions and/or in people groups that are on the leading edge of materialism, secularism, and the postmodern worldview.

This is illustrated in the following table that shows the ratio of Seventh-day Adventists to non-Adventists in different geographic regions (2002 data).

Communist Cuba has a ratio of 1 to 490; Bulgaria and Romania, which were both recently communist, have ratios of 1 to 1,012 and 1 to 309, respectively. African countries such as Kenya and Zambia have ratios of 1 to 50 and 1 to 24, respectively. These membership ratios stand in sharp contrast to the north-central suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul, where I am a pastor. Based upon membership ratios, where in our world is the mission field?

In the Mid-America Union Conference, annual growth in membership hovers around 2 percent. In 2003, there was a net increase in membership of only 465 people.3 To put this into perspective, there were 58,546 members who assemble in 519 different churches and companies.4 This means it took the collective labor of 126 members to increase membership by one. Or, expressed another way, each congregation only added 0.89 people to their membership.

Or, stated another way, in the Mid-America Union Conference, during 2002, there were 303 pastors employed on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis.5 Assume for a moment each pastor earned $65,000 annually (which includes a fully loaded benefits package). This represents an annual investment of $19.7 million dollars. If these pastors were single-handedly responsible for the increase of the 465 members-and no other funds for evangelism were expended-the cost for each person added to Mid-American Union's membership would be approximately $42,355.

Education, not Evangelism, is our Primary Focus

In North America, the majority of all baptisms are children born to parents who are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. This is biologic growth - not growth from new converts to Adventism or more importantly to Christianity (kingdom growth). Many members believe if we do not educate our children in Seventh-day Adventists schools they will leave the church. To this end, for more than 40 years in North American, we have collectively invested more in educating the children of our members than we have invested in public evangelism or in pastors who are not involved in administration and education.

For example, in the Mid-America Union, during 2002 in addition to the 303 FTEs employed as pastors (employed at the local, conference and union levels) there were 630 FTEs employed at primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools operated by the conferences[6]. These FTEs do not include people employed in the four non-conference operated day academies. This ratio of people employed in the pastorate and educational system is consistent throughout the North American Division.

Based on financial reports and actual practice, a person may fairly ask if the North American Division is in reality an educational system that employs some pastors-or an assembly of believers who is commissioned by the incarnate God to passionately proclaim the Good News to people who are going to hell unless they reconnect to the Author of Life? Another important question: does the allocation of financial and time resources demonstrate the denomination is primarily focused inwardly toward our needs and the needs of our children-or primarily focused outwardly toward others and their eternal redemption?

We must also consider that the total enrollment in conference-operated schools in Mid-America is 4,031 students, which represents only 14 percent of total membership. This equates to an educational employee to student ratio of 1 to 6.[7] Yet, in spite of this impressive ratio and massive financial investment we have failed to retain the majority of at least two generations of children who were born to Seventh-day Adventist parents. In addition, we have made little numerical impact on non-Adventist youth.

Jesus said, we can tell where our heart is by looking to see where our treasure is.[8] When I follow the money in our Annual Statistical Reports it certainly appears to me our treasure is in our educational system and institutions, not in evangelism.

Conclusion

The above referenced examples are not the sum total of what is not going well in the North American Division. But, they are two very major issues and concerns among thousands of employees-and more importantly among a very significant number of members who return an honest tithe. Mission Catalyst, which is best characterized as a network of like-minded independent congregations, is merely suggesting a solution. It may be a disastrous solution, but for many people who have waited decades for reform, they are ready to experiment with any alternative.

Our failure to honestly address the underlying issues and to rapidly implement change will only provide a breeding ground for numerous congregations to move beyond our present system of governance and to explore other alternatives. Those who do so are only trying to find something that is more effective than what they believe presently exists.

Most respectfully,

Pastor, Jerry Lee Holt

The Edge Christian Worship Center

Minnesota Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

[1] The ratio is calculated by dividing total population by total membership. Source:

www.adventistarchives.org/doc/stats/ratiosofsdatoworldpop.pdf

[2] Source: 140th Annual Statistical Report--2002, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Office of Archives and

Statistics. www.adventistarchives.org/docs/asr/asr2002.pdf

[3] Source: 2003 First and Fourth Quarter Secretary's Statistical Report By Division, Office of Archives, General Conference of

Seventh-Day Adventists

[4] Ibid., 2003 Secretary's Statistical Report

[5] This includes all non-retired: ordained, credentialed commissioned, licensed, and licensed commissioned ministers. Source:

140th Annual Statistical Report-2002, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Office of Archives and Statistics,

page 44. www.adventistarchives.org/docs/asr/asr2002.pdf

[6] The written data contained in this paragraph was orally reviewed and confirmed by Kathleen Jones

(301-680- 5028) who is responsible for preparing the statistics in the 140th Annual Statistical Report-2002. Included in the pastors' FTEs are people who serve full time as youth pastors, Bible teachers, college chaplains, and some school principals. Many pastors also invest time on school governing boards. Employees who work in secondary schools that are not conference operated are not included in the education FTEs. The Mid-America Union has four day academies: SDA Schools of Lincoln; Midland Adventist Academy; Minnetonka Christian Academy; Mile High Adventist Academy. www.adventistarchives.org/docs/asr/asr2002.pdf

[7] Source: 140th Annual Statistical Report-2002, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Office of Archives and Statistics. www.adventistarchives.org/docs/asr/asr2002.pdf

[8] Matthew 6:21