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general. The CWC is purely consultative—it
does not pass resolutions.
The CWC is loosely organized, with the
chair serving for two years on a rotating
basis among the various member communions.
The organizing and functioning
of the group depend upon the secretary,
who is also elected for a two-year term.
This is the sort of meeting of Christians
that Seventh-day Adventists have
felt free to be part of. And we have indeed
been made part of it! For 32 years without
a break, Bert B. Beach, then director
of the General Conference Public Affairs
and Religious Liberty (PARL) Department,
served as its secretary. Every two
years the chair rotated, but every time
the group asked the Adventist representative
to continue as secretary.
And that wasn’t all. When Beach retired,
the CWC turned to his successor, John
Graz, the current PARL director at the General
Conference. He has now served as
secretary the past 11 years. Thus, for the
past 43 years the key person in the CWC
has been a Seventh-day Adventist.
The CWC most often meets in Geneva,
Switzerland, but in 2011 it met in Silver
Spring, Maryland, at the Seventh-day Adventist
world headquarters. The work
involved with the multiple arrangements,
including a visit to Capitol Hill for discussions
with representatives from the White
House regarding religious liberty and
other concerns, was huge. Everything went
like clockwork; our guests were effusive in
their appreciation of the Adventist hosts.
And when the CWC met the next year, one
leader revealed that as a result of the visit,
he had adopted a vegetarian lifestyle!
Meetings like this can have huge and
lasting benefits. As Christian leaders
interact with Adventists and come to
understand us, misconceptions and
prejudice disappear. They see us and
appreciate us for our distinctive values,
lifestyle, and beliefs; they welcome us as
sincere, Bible-believing, and Bible-practicing
brothers and sisters.
A more recent development is the
Global Christian Forum. It is not an
organization; rather, it provides oppor-
tunities for Christians from many backgrounds
and countries to meet for
worship, fellowship, and discussion.
Ganoune Diop, associate director of
PARL, serves on its planning committee.
Official Conversations
With the growing desire by leaders of
other churches to know more about us,
the Seventh-day Adventist Church has
become involved in official conversations
with a series of churches and
organizations. These conversations are
approved by the Administrative Committee
of the General Conference and
reported to the same body at the conclusion
of each discussion. Planning for the
conversations comes through the General
Conference PARL office, usually
with involvement of the General Conference
Biblical Research Institute.
We select the finest scholars in our
midst to represent our church. We aim
to be open, honest, and forthright, stating
the reasons for what we believe
without compromise or equivocation.
At the same time in our presentations
and all interactions we endeavor to be
gracious and winsome.
Some of these conversations have
been completed with just one round of
several days; others have extended over
two or more years. Some have had farreaching
results, especially the meetings
with representatives of the
Lutheran World Federation. This conversation
extended over four sessions
from 1994 to 1998 and was of such
value that all papers from both sides
plus recommendations we had arrived
at were published. The resulting book,
Lutherans and Adventists in Conversation,
1994-1998, includes among the recommendations
the following: “We recommend
that Lutherans in their national
and regional church contexts do not
treat the Seventh-day Adventist Church
as a sect but as a free church and a
Christian world communion.”
During the past quarter century, our
church has also engaged in conversation
with leaders from the World Alliance
of Reformed Churches, the
Salvation Army, the World Evangelical
Association, the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), the Church of God (Seventh
Day), and some other smaller churches.
The most recent conversation involved
representatives from the Mennonite
World Conference. Adventists hosted the
first round, held at General Conference
headquarters in 2011. The following year
the Mennonites reciprocated; we met at a
retreat center near Basel, Switzerland.
This conversation was perhaps the
most rewarding of all those of the past 25
years. With roots in the Anabaptist reformation
of the sixteenth century, the Mennonites
share much in common with us,
such as “believer” baptism by immersion.
They strongly believe in separation of
church and state and practice a simple
lifestyle. Advocating peaceful means, they
refrain from bearing arms. Because of
their distinctive practices, the Mennonites
suffered for their faith, even to martyrdom.
Driven from place to place, many
found refuge in the New World.
The time together with the Mennonites
was deeply spiritual. Excellent papers
were prepared from both communions;
they are to be gathered together and
jointly published in book form.
In my judgment, all the conversations
with other churches have been of significant
benefit to Seventh-day Adventists.
Christian leaders have come to see us as
we are, without the distortions and stereotypes
that led us to be dubbed a sect
or a cult. And we ourselves have become
less exclusive, more open to work with
and learn from other agencies that the
Lord is using.
Truth can stand investigation; truth is
still the best answer. That is why we
can—why we should—engage other
churches as part of the fulfillment of
our divinely ordained mission. n
WILLIAM G. JOHNSSON, FORMER
EDITOR OF ADVENTIST REVIEW AND
ADVENTIST WORLD MAGAZINES, CHAIRS
THE ADVENTIST GROUP IN CONVERSA-
TIONS WITH OTHER CHURCHES.
!
www.AdventistReview.org | June 20, 2013 | (547) 19