Session Delegate
The delegate's quick glance at the 56th General Conference 
Session activities in Utrecht, Holland.

Friday . July 7, 1995

Adventists Meet the Press
Press Meets the Adventists
	"I am looking forward to a successful conclusion of these meetings,
and a good night's sleep," President Robert Folkenberg told 50
journalists in a Thursday afternoon press conference.
	After a brief statement in which he expressed appreciation for the
fine treatment and facilities provided by the people of Utrecht, the
reelected president GC spent nearly an hour answering questions.
	Topics addressed included how to exemplify peace between members from
war-torn countries, how to respond to the defeat of the request for
women's ordination, the role of women in the Church, and the Church's
involvement in the social arena.
	Journalists were impressed that the president would meet with them.
"It's eminently appropriate and mandatory if the Adventist Church's
leader is to have credibility with the Adventist in the pew and the
larger society," says James Walters of Adventist Today. He noted that
Folkenberg conducted himself with "self-confidence, a command of the
issues, and clear straight-forward answers."
	"The press conference was called because there were dozens of requests
from the press to meet with President Folkenberg," said Ray Dabrowski,
communication director for the GC. "And there have been agenda items
that have generated discussion, comments, and interest. It was only
proper for the leaders of the Church to face some of those questions
and dispel any concerns."
	
Favorable Coverage	
	Colleen Kelly, media relations coordinator for the Adventist News
Network, reports that 350 members of the media registered with GC
communication for the Session.
	Twenty news organizations attended the opening news conference and
an average of 10 attended daily press events. And they weren't all
Adventists. Non-religious press came from England, Sweden, Romania,
Holland, and Mexico.
	Cees van der Ploeg, communication director for the Netherlands Union
Conference was delighted by the coverage by the national press. "More
than 130 articles were printed in the Dutch newspapers, and regular
reports appeared on the television and radio news," he said.
	"Coverage of this Session more than exceeded our expectations," says
Dabrowski. "We invited the press to cover our activities and provided
them with services, facilities, and vital information.
	
Building Relationships
	What can this do for the Church's relationship with the press? "It can
only be a benefit," says Dabrowski. "The sin of the past was that we
spoke to ourselves. We have not been present in society through the
media. This exercise here in Utrecht is telling us to step out of our
community and let people know that we exist."
	It's working, according to Teije Brandsma, a young correspondent on
religion for the Algemeen Nederland's Persbureau (ANP).
	"The SDA Church is not very big in Holland, so before this congress,
it was not very well known," Brandsma said. "The image has changed
because the established press has written about it, not as a sect, but
as a normal Protestant church."
	
Delegates Breakout 
	Delegates and visitors received a break from the usual afternoon
business meeting yesterday. They had a choice of six different breakout
groups where panel discussions on several different subjects took
place.
	These breakout groups dealt with various issues for input from the
world Church to recommend to the incoming administration.
	We asked four participants of the breakout groups why they attended:
	
The Authority of Scripture
	"I am a pastor beginning my ministry in September. This is a theme
that is very important to the Church and for me as a pastor with the
issues I will face," said Christian Goltz of Germany.
	
Relationships Among the Community of Believers
	"I've been an Adventist for seven years and I've always heard of the
General Conference," says Jeanetta Nash of England. "I thought if I
came to a place like this I'd be able to find a tremendous blessing.
And not only blessings but ideas I can take back to my branch Sabbath
Schools."
	
Religious Liberty
	"This is important to me because we are facing issues in my union
about school exams and military conflicts with the Sabbath," said
Misael Barreto of Brazil. "I'm finding frequent things that will help."
	
Abuse and Family Violence
	Most of the breakout groups were rather sparsely attended. Family
violence, however, was a packed house.
	"This may open up some resources for educating the parents we work
with of the difference between discipline and punishment," said Terri
Saelee of the United States.
	
Technology
Rules
	Those who were not among the fewer than 300 members and delegates who
attended the first GC Session in 1863 were grateful they could read
Session news in the Adventist Review which came out a month or so
later. Today the Session is coming home to members via satellite, short
wave, FM radio, and computer communication.
	
GCTV 
	GCTV is covering Session events for the meetings as well as to those
in the Americas with satellite systems. A complete television station
was constructed inside the Jaarbeurs Convention Center with an
impressive array of equipment.
	
AWR
	Using satellite technology, AWR transmits around the world and other
programs are being sent to various countries via telephone feed lines.
Live broadcasts will be made around the world by short wave on Sabbath,
July 8, during the morning service.
	
GC95
	In addition, onsite broadcasters are providing 15 hours per day of
local, FM-based programming on Station GC95 Radio (87.6 FM) heard
throughout the city of Utrecht.
	Licensed by the government of the Netherlands, GC95 Radio has five
watts of power with the transmitter inside Jaarbeurs Center and a tower
on the roof.
	
SDAs On-Line
	The surprise package of technology steadily emitting messages is SDAs
On-Line-a forum on the CompuServe Information Service.  	On-line
sessions are held nightly during the Session, with articles being
uploaded each day as well.

Brenda's Top 10 Gift Ideas
	Today is the last full day of GC Session, and it will soon be time
to pack up. What will you be taking home to family and friends as
momentos of your special experience here?
	The proceeds from most of the following suggested gifts will benefit
worthy projects such as Romanian orphans, Women's Ministries in Russia,
and Shepherdess International.
	Here are Brenda Duerksen's top 10 gift/souvenir ideas or 12 or 17:
	
17. Official Session Pins
16. Dutch cheeses-(Naturana)
15. Candles-(Rudd's Waskit)
14. Dutch wooden shoes
13. Official Session logo watches
	-(#257)
12. Seasoned With Love Cookbook
	-(#256)
11. Handmade Indian carvings-(#253)
10. United in Christ caps-(#245)
9.  International music recordings
8.  Delft pottery bell-(#248)
7.  Images of Mission Book-(ABC)
6.  Lace Dutch hat-(#208)
5.  Egyptian papyrus bookmarks
	-(#216)
4.  Palik (Russian black lacquered boxes)- (#218)
3.  Official Session logo t-shirts
	-(#219 and #255)
2.  Agate Spiders-(#223)
1.  Hand-carved, painted, Romanian pencils

Free CompuServe Membership Packs
	Any SDA organization which wants CompuServe SDA membership packages
in bulk may stop by the SDAs On-line booth (#91) any time Friday.
	There are 2,500 free packets Windows, Mac, and DOS operating
systems.
	
Published by Adventist News Network . Celeste Ryan & Jeff Scoggins,
editors . Jason Wells, assistant editor