A Church on the Move
Color Guards and people—lots of people! —The Auditorium of the University of the Southern Caribbean pulsates with energy on the opening afternoon of the 44th session of the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh day Adventist.
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Guest speaker Dr. Abraham J. Jules, President of North Eastern Conference in New York, Vice President of the Inter American Division, Dr. Balvin Braham; President of the Caribbean Union Conference, Dr. Kern Tobias and Dr. Clive Dottin, Religious Liberty Director for the Caribbean Union Conference are some of the leaders present for the opening of the 44th session of the South Caribbean Conference held at the University of the Southern Caribbean. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team.
Color Guards and people—lots of people! —The Auditorium of the University of the Southern Caribbean pulsates with energy on the opening afternoon of the 44th session of the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh day Adventist. Here, delegates gather to worship and to transact church business under the theme “Here we go! All involved!”
At the heart of the business meetings, during which some 399 delegates across the Conference will elect leaders, is the opportunity to connect with loved ones, review reports and celebrate the blessing of God and the work of the church during the quadrennium.
“Welcome to the session,” said Pastor Leslie Moses, President of the South Caribbean Conference. Of course, his welcome did not eclipse the feeling of joy that embraced the delegates as music rendered by the youth steel orchestra from the Pinehaven Seventh day Adventist Primary School, the model school of the Caribbean Union, met their approval.
Students from the Pine Pine Heaven Seventh-day Adventist school provided steel pan instrumental music for the opening of the session. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team.
Indeed, the South Caribbean Conference is helping us in the Inter American Division to grow the church qualitatively and quantitatively, said Dr. Balvin Braham, Vice President of the church in the Inter American Division and main speaker for the opening session. “The Adventist church has a specific message to proclaim-The everlasting message to prepare a people for the soon return of Jesus. We are not here to create a mission. This is a global church organized by God. We must peach, teach, heal and disciple.”
At a time when the Adventist church is threatened by global membership decline, the Vice President encouraged the delegates to “follow Jesus and remain loyal to the truth and not commission substitutes that will replace the thrust for the mission of the church. With 96% of Trinidad yet to be influenced about the gospel we need to get engaged. It’s all about Mission. We need to leave here and go about gossiping about the gospel.”
Reflecting on the soon return of Christ, he shared that the challenge is how to answer to the call of God to be his disciples. “We must decide to witness everywhere, to do mission as an answer to all the Lord has done for us,” encouraged Pastor Braham.
Dr. Balvin Braham, Vice President of the church in the Inter American Division was the main speaker for the opening of the session. Image by South Caribbean Conference Media Team
Braham is leading a delegation of leaders from across the territory who traveled to Trinidad for the session. They include President of the Grenada Conference, East Caribbean Conference, Guyana Conference and St. Vincent Mission. The North Caribbean Conference, Tobago Mission, St. Lucia Mission are all represented by their treasurer while the Suriname Mission is represented by the Executive Secretary Pastor David Daniel.
The President of the South Caribbean Conference , Pastor Leslie Moses has led the field for eight years. Although the last four years were the most challenging, his report to the constituency spoke of members embracing the mission and vision of the church and collaborating with both church and state to do phenomenal exploits for God. For Pastor Moses, it’s completely “the Goodness of God at work.”
“We are excited by the growth of the church at a time when, globally, many religious groups are no longer growing. We thank God that, in the face of challenges such as political, religious intolerance and increasing materialism they were able to emphasize hope and wholeness. That is evident by the many evangelistic exploits that have yielded additions to the church.” Using the data available he gave statistical review of the intentional effort of the conference to conserve its gains.
The session brought together retirees from across the territory including Pastor Joseph Mc Coon former pastor of the South Caribbean Conference. Image by South Caribbean Conference Media.
Church leaders attributed church growth to a variety of initiatives undertaken by the directors, pastors, lay leaders and members, including media outreach, interpersonal outreach and public evangelism. “What a privilege to proclaim The Three Angels’ Message and Christ’s soon coming in a united way,” said President of the Caribbean Union Conference Dr. Kern Tobias.
Four congregations were accepted into the sisterhood of churches by delegates on the opening night. Outreach has been especially effective in the territory where service to the community has been a way of life for the conference. This serving attitude and connecting with the community has paved the way for the growth of the Adventist Church in the conference.
Formally organized in 1906, the South Caribbean Conference now boasts of 134 congregations and a membership of 60,204. The church’s commitment to serving humanity is evident all across its territory. The denomination operates the University of the Southern Caribbean (formerly called Caribbean Union College), a tertiary level institution, and the Community Hospital of Seventh-day Adventists. The headquarters of the South Caribbean Conference is at Deane Street, St Augustine.