August - Lake Union Conference - General Conference of Seventh ...

the songs and all of a sudden the folks with the cameras
arrived. And they pulled up beside me and said, ‘What are
you doing here’
“And I said to them, ‘I’m here because this is my church.
This is my church as much as “Just as I am without one
plea” down in the main auditorium. This is my church.’
“And you know, and I’ll say this to you today, our church
is made up of so many different kinds of people, so many
ethnic groups, so much diversity. And, you know, recently in
Canada, you know, we have an extension in Canada of the
GYC (Generation of Youth for Christ), called the Eastern
Canada Youth Conference, and a number of other groups
like that, that really are more to the right theologically. And
we’ve said, I’ve said to our presidents, ‘We need to engage
these people in discussion.’
“I will tell you that, you know, we all know that the issues
in the church recently, especially those—and I’m wandering
right into hot water, but that’s okay—emerging out of
La Sierra University have challenged the Church, and have
challenged many people. I want to tell you what I just told
Randall Wisbey (La Sierra University president) in the
hall, ‘I want an opportunity to come to La Sierra University.
I would like to meet with your faculty, to tell them that we
love them, and that we want them in the Church.’
“They need to be a part of the discussion. We ought not
to be afraid to talk to one another. Now some people will
hear that I said that and think that I’ve immediately sold
the store. It’s not the truth.
“We need to quit being afraid of each other, because the
more fearful we are of each other and of one another’s positions,
the more we create silos. And then the only way we
talk to each other is with the shotgun shells’ fire that we
hear from those silos. The time has come for us, I believe—
because Jesus is coming soon—we need to learn to talk to
each other. And to build a stronger church and a stronger
unity, and that includes ... and that includes ethnicity. That
includes race. We need to learn to talk openly to each other
about issues.
“I don’t have all the answers coming into this role. I don’t
have all the answers. I don’t know where every discussion
will lead or should lead. But the fact is we ought not to be
afraid to at least talk. To be open to one another.”
To listen to more of Dan Jackson’s remarks in the press
conference, visit www.lakeunion.org (Media Library).
Gary Burns is the communication director of the Lake Union Conference.
demonstrated a commitment to the mission of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church.”
Jackson is a native Canadian and, with the exception
of five years of service in the Southern Asia Division, has
lived and ministered in Canada. He is a graduate of Canadian
Union College (now Canadian University College)
and Andrews University, from which he holds an M.A. in
Religion in Systematic Theology.
During his career, Jackson has served the church as a
pastor, teacher and administrator. At the time of his election
he was serving as the president of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Canada. Donna Jackson, his wife,
was serving as the family ministries and women’s ministries
director of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists. Dan and his wife, Donna, enjoy the three children
and four grandchildren the Lord has given them.
George Johnson Jr. is the media relations director of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in North America. Article adapted by Lake Union Herald
staff.
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