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THE OUTLOOK OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST LEADERSHIP

Rapid change describes this world today and its future.  The church exists in the world and as these rapid changes come, they bring with them fresh and new challenges that the church has not faced in the past.  The questions to be raised include:  “Is leadership keeping itself abreast to the changes taking place in the world? Is leadership ready to deal with these challenges in a responsible and appropriate way?  Has our leadership in the church at all levels been positioned or trained in a manner that will give appropriate responses to the changing world with the challenges that are coming with those changes?”  The loyalty and vision of elected church leaders will be critical for the future unity of the church, so the church must nurture a leadership culture that understands the Biblical basis of church unity, authority, responsibility and accountability.
To respond to the challenges the church has been facing, the General Conferece Office of Global Leadership Development initiated the meetings in Rogaska, Slovenia (2008); in Loma Linda, California (2009); in Beijing, China (2010); in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2011); in Nairobi, Kenya (2012); in Bali, Indonesia (2013); in Sydney, Australia (2014); in Istanbul, Turkey (2015); in Jerusalem, Israel (2016); in Kiev, Ukraine (2017); in Lisbon, Portugal (2018); in Jamaica (2019); and in Cape Town, South Africa (2020) attended by representatives/leaders from the world divisions and institutions, organized by Dr. Mike Ryan, Dr. Pardon Mwansa and Dr. Delbert Baker who were GC General Vice Presidents as well as Chairs of the Global Leadership Development from 2006-2015.  For the new quenquinnium, the Chairmainship has been passed to Dr. Guillermo Biaggi with the team members of Dr. Ella Simmons, Thomas Lemon, Geoffrey Mbwana, Dr. Artur Stele, and Dr. Abner De Los Santos.

The Objectives:
  1. Discuss and propose a system of gathering information, developing tools for assessment, and creating a consortium of leaders who will help design leadership training that serves the diverse needs of the world field.
  2. Review the 2005 GC Mandate of Leadership Training and develop plans to implement the same.
  3. Clarify the role and functions of the office of Global Leadership at the General Conference and seek input on what type of services can be included and the mode of delivery of such services.
  4. Explore leadership training needs around the global church with a view to identifying critical areas in which those elected to leadership can be oriented.
  5. Identify leadership training centers, entities, and programs available in the church and create a network of how these can be of service to the World Divisions.
  6. Develop and share a criteria of selecting leaders who can be called upon to serve as facilitators at different leadership training events in the Divisions.
  7. Create a system whereby we can get input from the divisions on the “Orientation Package” that Presidential, Secretariat and Treasury have been tasked to produce.
  8. Explore processes that lead to developing a good Division Leadership Training/Development Program.