On Aug. 7, 2004, Ron Gladden announced publicly the launch of a para-church ministry called Mission Catalyst (MC). Mission Catalyst is a ministry devoted solely to planting congregations that will be focused on evangelism and growth. According to documents available on their web site, missioncatalyst.org, in addition to their evangelistic orientation, these congregations will be required to certify annually their adherence to a statement of beliefs which reads like a popularized, condensed version of the official Adventist 27 fundamental beliefs. Congregations will be required to send 10 percent of their regular income to the Mission Catalyst headquarters. Mission Catalyst pledges to use a majority of these funds to help fund future church plants. Congregations will be required to participate in a mission project at least 100 miles from their primary location.

Gladden met with Don Schneider, president of the North American Division (NAD), on Aug. 7 to inform him of the launch of the ministry and to explore the possibility of forming a working relationship with the denomination. So far no mutually acceptable protocol has been developed.

In a letter sent to conference presidents in North America, Elder Schneider wrote that he was saddened that Gladden could not work within the church system. He said he appealed again to Gladden on Monday after their Saturday night meeting, asking him to reconsider and to take down his web site announcing the new ministry. Gladden declined.

Gladden has been promoting church planting within the Adventist church for more than 10 years. Before his position was terminated in the spring of this year, the cost of his salary was shared by the Mid-America and North Pacific unions with some additional support from the NAD. When the unions decided to cut funding for Gladden's position, the North Pacific Union initially offered Gladden free office space if he would raise his own salary and expenses.

According to Gladden, his decision to launch Mission Catalyst is driven by his passion for lost souls. He sees the church as being hopelessly weighed down with an antiquated system that consumes far too much of the available resources. He argues that in North America, at least, the church is not structured for growth. We do not staff congregations for growth. And Gladden is passionate about church growth.

In contrast, Elder Schneider writes that since the NAD began the SEEDS conferences to promote church planting and growth, the denomination has "planted about 1,000 congregations, most of which are still healthy and growing." Elder Schneider wrote further that the Adventist church is growing in North America, having reached approximately one million members. He offered the following information.

Year Tithe Members Churches

1984 $303,981,068 676,204 4,241

2004 $748,996,026 998,450 5,652

*2004 figures may include an estimate for the final six months of the year.

These numbers are incontrovertible evidence of a measure of success. Measured in terms of membership, number of congregations and income, the church in North America has grown over the past 20 years. The apparent growth in number of congregations, however, is inflated. According to official statistics, there were 4,609 churches in NAD in 1993 (10 years ago), 4,706 in 1996 (when SEEDS started), and 5,024 today. (The number cited in the chart above, 5,652, includes companies that were not included in the figures for 1993 or 1996.) That means there has been a net increase of 318 churches in the NAD since SEEDS began and a net increase of 415 in 10 years.

During that time some long-established congregations have gone extinct. The exact number is not known, but is probably very small. Of the 318 net increase in congregations in North America many observers believe that most can be accounted for in the number of new congregations composed of first-generation immigrants.

Another question in connection with the apparent church growth described in the chart is the difference between membership and attendance or active participation in church. Very few Adventist congregations experience sustained growth in attendance over time. Some pastors are known for their ability to increase attendance in the churches they pastor. But most of these pastors leave their congregations after a few years, and the attendance returns to what it was before they came. There is some evidence that this decline would happen even if the pastor stayed in the congregation. There are hardly any Anglo Adventist congregations in North America that have sustained growth in attendance over the past 10 years. And in many places, they have experienced dramatic decreases in attendance.

Gladden's project has yet to demonstrate it can do any better at growing congregations that embrace Adventist theology. But according to most observers, the Anglo church in North America is not keeping up with population growth, and many who study church life believe that if growth among immigrant populations is factored out, the Adventist church in North America is actually shrinking. Some observers think that even Black and Hispanic congregations are not growing among American-born populations. This is not to discount the value of the growth among immigrants, but to highlight the desperate need for increased effectiveness among people who have been in the United States for several generations.

Russell Burrill, director of the NAD Evangelism Institute, wrote a letter to Ron Gladden that has been circulated widely on the Internet. He criticized Gladden on several points, among them:

"You claim that all the churches [in the Mission Catalyst Network] must agree with the 27 fundamental beliefs of the church, however, one of the 27 beliefs declares that the Seventh-day Adventist church constitutes God's remnant people. So, you only believe in 26 of the beliefs.

Second, you also don't fully believe Ellen White, which means you disagree with another fundamental belief. Ellen White in no way, shape or form endorses the starting of any new movement. She continually labored against it throughout her life, and gave strong counsel to any who attempted to do so."

Steven Shomler, a pastor in Minnesota who has left his current congregation to plant a new church in Portland, Ore., in connection with Mission Catalyst, wrote in response:

"I passionately believe in the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Often when I go and speak at other churches or at camp meetings, my topic is how wonderful the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are. When I preach in my own church, I regularly weave one of the 27 into my sermon. I project it up onto the screen and read the entire statement of doctrine word for word. I am very familiar with the 27 fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and I believe that they are not only true, but that they are awesome. Our doctrines are a fantastic revelation of God's character.

Nowhere in the 27 have I found it said what you say the 27 says, that the Seventh-day Adventist Church constitutes God's remnant people. I know that this is a conviction that many Seventh-day Adventists have. And I've often wondered why that specific wording is not added to one of the official statements of doctrine. It irritates me when Adventists, particularly ones in high positions of leadership, don't know the officially voted Seventh-day Adventist statements of belief."

One could dismiss Shomler's criticism of Burrill's statement because, while it is true the fundamental beliefs do not explicitly name the Seventh-day Adventist Church as "God's remnant people", the baptismal certificate does make this equation. And this equation is certainly made in Adventist evangelistic meetings and is commonly assumed by many Adventist members. However, in disputes in the church, it is vital that we know what our doctrines are. The baptismal certificate is not the doctrine of the church. The statement of fundamental beliefs is our functional creed. It is the sole formal, universal statement of what the Seventh-day Adventist Church believes. It also is the statement of belief formally accepted by Mission Catalyst.

Burrill's claim that Ellen White "in no way, shape or form" endorses the starting of any new movement ignores her own practice of redirecting her tithe to ministries she thought the church was negligent in not supporting. In the case of the Southern work, the ministry included the establishment of new congregations.

Some miscellaneous facts which may bear on the Mission Catalyst initiative: According to one church administrator, there are now 73 congregations in New York City which keep the Sabbath and hold an essentially Adventist theology but have no formal connection with the denomination. These congregations are in large part made up of recent immigrants to the United States. In parts of the world where political and cultural realities make formal church structure impossible, the denomination has developed some ways for people and groups to connect with each other to practice Adventism without being labeled as Adventist or having any formal, public ties with the denomination. Adventism has a long history of independent ministries. Some have eventually been embraced by the church (usually after an initial period of conflict). Others have moved further and further from the church.

In North America, there are no Adventist splinter congregations that have been effective over a long period. Independent congregations have not managed to hold on to both their independence and their Adventist beliefs. This does not bode well for Mission Catalyst. However, as history moves forward new realities emerge. Prior to Luther there were many reformers, but none of them led successful movements.

The pastors I have talked to about Mission Catalyst have generally responded: "It's not for me, but I wish them well. Somebody needed to do it long ago." This sentiment has been expressed by employees at all levels of the church, but most especially by pastors. Burrill writes that he is not aware of dissatisfaction aimed at local conferences, but only at the higher levels of administration. Certainly, there is more disapproval of the unions than of the conferences, but a careful survey of pastors' perspectives on conferences would reveal that they believe local conferences also consume an inordinate percentage of church money. Their discontent may be based on misinformation, but it is real nevertheless.

Mission Catalyst claims their goal is to plant new churches that will promote the Sabbath and other elements of Adventist theology. The existence and vision of Mission Catalyst is a direct challenge to those of us who appreciate our place within the denomination. Can we find a way at the level of local congregations to change our stasis? Can we develop congregations that experience sustained growth over time? If Mission Catalyst is successful in planting churches that demonstrate sustained growth and become, in turn, planters of more churches, it will force us within the denomination to ask hard questions about our system. The ultimate goal is mission effectiveness, not the preservation of our institutions.