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Released by:   Rick Kajiura
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 4, 1995


Seventh-day Adventist Congress, Day 5

	Utrecht, The Netherlands ... A call to improve world literacy,
especially among women, has been issued at the 56th World Congress of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church now in session here.
	
	"The inability to read impacts every aspect of a person's life
earning power, career opportunities, access to health care information,
and even the ability to raise a child properly," says a statement
issued by Adventist World President Robert Folkenberg at the 10-day
international church congress today (Monday, July 3).
	
	"To better meet these needs the Church has launched a major thrust
in literacy training, since without the skill of reading, few doors of
opportunity can ever be opened."
	
	Noting that literacy is "one of the basic issues of all human
beings," the statement also notes that "the ability to read God's Word
the good news of salvation should not be reserved for the privileged
few.  We assert that every man, woman and child should have access to
the truths and uplifting power of the Bible."
	
	At an 11 a.m. session of the congress, Rose Otis, Silver Spring,
Maryland, U.S.A., world director of the Church's Women's Ministries
department, declared "We can't afford to place culture, tribe, or
gender before our Christianity.  It's too easy to think and live as
Tutsi or Hutu, American or Russian, Bosnian or Serb.  We must instead
live first as Christians.
	
	"In the fellowship of Christians there is room for the uniqueness
of culture; for honored, healthy traditions; for differences of
personality and temperament," said Otis. "But there is no room for
hatred, for destructive words or behavior, for exclusion or rejection.
	
	"Christian fellowship goes deeper than ideology, deeper than
ethnicity, deeper than skin color or gender or social status," Otis
said.  "The Christian gospel is capable of bridging all these
differences in a miraculous way to make us one."
	
	The session's 2,600 official delegates, representing 8.5 million
members of the Church, also elected a partial slate of world church
officials at today's meeting.  They named nine world division
presidents, five world-level secretaries and five world-level
treasurers:
	
	Bertil Wiklander, Stockholm, Sweden, was elected president of the
Trans-European Division of Adventists headquartered at St. Albans,
England.  Formerly president of the Church's Sweden Union, Wiklander
replaces Jan Paulsen who was earlier named a world vice president of
the Church.
	
	Ulrich Frikart, Berne, Switzerland, was named president of the
Euro-African Division of the Church.  Formerly secretary of that Church
division, Frikart succeeds Edwin Ludescher.
	
	Named to head the South American Division of Adventists was Ruy H.
Nagel, Brasilia, Brazil.  Formerly treasurer of the division, he
succeeds Joao Wolff.
	
	Reelected as presidents of world divisions were: L. D. Raelly,
Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa, president of the Eastern Africa Division; Ted
N. C. Wilson, Moscow, Russian Federation, president of the Euro-Asia
Division; Israel Leito, Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A., president of the
Inter-American Division; Alfred C. McClure, Silver Spring, Maryland,
U.S.A., president of the North American Division; Bryan W. Ball,
Sydney, Australia, president of the South Pacific Division; and M. E.
Cherian, Tamil Nadu, India, president of the Southern Asia Division.
	
	Elected to world-level secretarial positions were: Athal H. Tolhurst,
undersecretary; and Maurice T. Battle, Larry R. Colburn, Lowell C.
Cooper, and Murio Veloso, associate secretaries.
	
	Named to world-level treasurer positions were: F. Martin Ytreberg,
undertreasurer; and Gary DeBoer, Anita M. Gibson, Dennis C. Keith, and
Don Robinson, associate treasurers.
	
	A second official statement of the Church, relating to human
relations, was made public at the congress on Monday by G. Ralph
Thompson, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., Adventist world secretary.
	
	"One of the most troubling aspects of our times is the manifestation
of racism and tribalism in many societies, sometimes with violence,
always with the denigration of men and women," the statement reads.
	
	"Seventh-day Adventists deplore and seek to combat all forms of
discrimination based on race, tribe, color, or gender.  We believe that
every person was created in the image of God, who made all nations of
one blood.  Any form of racism eats the heart out of the Christian
gospel.
	
	"The equality of all people is one of the tenets of our Church.  We
are all equal in Christ. We are to serve and to be served without
partiality or reservation."
	
	In an evening "Mission Pageant" report to the more than 10,000
delegates and visitors attending the world congress, two world
division, and the Southern African union made pre-sentations.
	
	M. E. Cherian, president of the Southern Asia Division, highlighted
relief efforts of members of his division following devastating
earthquakes and a plague epidemic in India.  In addition to immediate
relief, his church members rebuilt entire villages that had been
destroyed, he said.
	
	Cherian also said membership by baptism in the countries of his
division increased more than 100 percent in the 1990-95 quinquennium
over the 1985-90 period.  "Church growth during the 1990-95 period has
been remarkable," he said.  He cited significant growth in church
membership in Nepal, Bhutan, and the states of Sikkim and Kashmir and
the cities of Madras and Bombay in India.
	
	Heartening progress in the Church's South African Union Conference
since its members chose to became fully integrated in 1992 two years
before apartheid ended in South Africa was reported to delegates by D.
W. B. Chalale, president of the conference.
	
	Chalale reported there are 64,182 Seventh-day Adventists in his
conference, and that church members have recently began Christian work
in 13 areas of South Africa where the Church has previously had no
presence.
	
	The death of some 10,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist faith
in the carnage that has descended on Rwanda was reported to delegates
by J. J. Nortey, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, president of the Africa-Indian
Ocean Division of Adventists.
	
	"There have been and still are political struggles in practically
every one of the more than 30 countries of our division, at varying
degrees of intensity and duration," Nortey said.  In addition to the
terrible loss of Adventist lives in Rwanda, he said operations of the
Adventist University of Central Africa located in that country have
been totally disrupted.
	
	Nortey also reported that wars continue to engulf Liberia and Sierra
Leone, and conflict hangs over Burundi, Nigeria and Zaire, all
countries in his church territory. He said "Epidemiologists tell us
that in certain areas of our territory some 30 percent of the
population are HIV positive.  Famine is rampant, and diseases resulting
from deprived economies are prevalent in practically every one of our
countries."
	
	Despite the many problems,  President Nortey said Adventists in his
division total more than 1 million, and accessions to the Adventist
faith are accelerating.
	
	Congress delegates have considered 39 suggested changes to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, official operating guide for the
Church.
	
	While most changes are minor ones, relating to just one word or two,
others have been substantive.  Several of the proposed changes were
returned by delegates to the Church Manual Committee for further study
for possible changes.
	
	Among the changes voted by delegates have been proposals to slightly
amend the baptismal vow all new members of the Adventist faith take. 
Others include changes in the formation of companies, groups of
believers who meet in organized worship services but have not yet been
accorded full church status.
	
	An addition to the Church Manual of a department of Family Ministries
in local churches which "helps individuals build and maintain strong
family relationships" was voted by delegates.
	
	Changes in wording of the Church Manual regarding the censuring and
disfellowshiping of errant church members were also voted by delegates.
 	                              -end-