Released by: Rick Kajiura
Phone: +31-30-955-324 (June 29-July 8) or +301-680-6300
Written by: Herb Ford
          
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 July 7, 1995
          
ADVENTIST WORLD CONGRESS, DAY 9
          
Utrecht, The Netherlands ... Delegates at the 56th World Congress of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church voted Friday, July 7, to amend their
official church manual to include as church-recognized reasons for
divorce "sexual perversions, including homosexual practices."
	The delegates, representing some 8.5 million Adventists in more than
200 countries, modified the wording regarding prohibited practices in
marriage which already included adultery and fornication.  The Church
Manual guides church-related practice for Seventh-day Adventists.
	"Even though the Scriptures allow divorce for the reasons mentioned,"
says another part of today's vote statement, "earnest endeavors should
be made by those concerned to effect a reconciliation urging the
innocent spouse to forgive the guilty one and the latter to amend his
or her conduct, so that the marriage union may be maintained.
	"The Church is urged to relate lovingly and redemptively toward the
guilty party."
	In an action that will govern future quinquennial world gatherings
of the Church, delegates voted to place a limit of 2,000 on the number
of official delegates who will vote on church business at the 57th
World Congress in Toronto, Canada, in the year 2000.
	Delegates at the current world congress, which began on Thursday, June
29, in the spacious Jaarbeurs convention center here, number some
2,600.
	Delegates also mandated major changes in the composition of future
world congress delegations.  Lay member representation will increase
from 18.25 percent to 25.6 percent at the next world congress.  The
percentage of local church pastors, teachers and "front-line" church
workers will increase from three to 24.4 percent.
	At an 11 a.m. worship session of the international meeting today,
Walter L. Pearson, Jr., Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., associate
director of the Adventists' Ellen G. White Estate, told delegates, "The
slender margin of time that separates us from the second coming of
Jesus to earth presents us with a unique window of opportunity."
	That opportunity, he said, is the spreading of the Christian gospel
throughout the world.
	"We are allied with forces that cannot fail," Pearson said.  "The only
fear is that we shall cease to trust in the merits of our mighty
Commander."
	At a mid-day press conference, two official statements from the office
of Adventist World President Robert S. Folkenberg relating to the place
of women in society, and abuse and family violence were made public at
the congress.
	"We are painfully aware that throughout the world, in developing and
developed nations, adverse societal conditions often inhibit women from
fulfilling their God-given potential," the statement on women says.
	"Stress, the environment and increased demands have placed women at
greater risk for health problems.  Poverty and heavy workloads not only
deprive women of their ability to enjoy life, but also impair their
physical and spiritual well-being.
	"Women are entitled to the God-given privileges and opportunities
intended for every human being the right to literacy, to education, to
adequate health care, to decision making, and to freedom from mental,
physical or sexual abuse."
	The statement on abuse and family violence says, "We take seriously
reports of abuse and violence and have highlighted these issues for
discussion at this international assembly.  We believe that to remain
indifferent and unresponsible is to condone, perpetuate and potentially
extend such behavior.
	"We accept our responsibility to cooperate with other professional
services," the statement continues.  "We will listen to and care for
those suffering from abuse and family violence, to highlight the
injustices, and to speak out in defense of victims.  We will help
persons in need to identify and access the range of available
professional services."
	During the final business session of the congress, delegates elected
a number of world officials.  The elections include:
	Samuel Leonor, Avon Park, Florida, U.S.A., elected treasurer of the
Africa-Indian Ocean Division of Adventists with headquarters in
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa.  Leonor has been president of
Walker Memorial Medical Center, Avon Park, Florida.
	I. Nagabhushana Rao, Tamil Nadu, India, reelected treasurer of the
Southern Asia Division of Adventists which is headquartered in Hosur,
Tamil Nadu, India.
	Michael L. Ryan, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., elected as a world
field secretary of the Church, with the specific assignment of director
of the Church's Global Mission operation.
	Robert E. Lemon, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, elected as an associate
world treasurer of the Church with headquarters in Silver Spring,
Maryland, U.S.A. Lemon has been treasurer of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Canada.
	Elected associate directors of the world auditing service of the
Church were Robert F. Cooke, Coenraad J. Haupt, Daniel E. Herzel,
Philip R. Just, Robyn W. Kajiura, Ellen C. Nixon and Richard L.
Salsbery.
	Willmore Eva, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A., elected as an associate world
director of the Church's Ministerial Association.  He has been pastor
of the Kettering (Ohio) Seventh-day Adventist Church.
	Jose Luis Campos, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., reelected, and
David D. Woolley, Warburton, Victoria, Australia, elected as associate
world directors of the Church's publishing department. Woolley has been
general manager of Signs Publishing Company, Warburton, Victoria,
Australia.
	Richard O. Stenbakken and Martin W. Feldbush have been reelected as
director and associate director of the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries
respectively. Both are from Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.
	Elected associate world director of the Church's Public Affairs and
Religious Liberty department was Wintley Phipps, Washington, D.C.  He
has been pastor of the Capitol Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church.
	Elected associate world director of the Sabbath School and Personal
Ministries department of the Church was Jonathan Kuntaraf, Singapore,
Republic of Singapore.  Kuntaraf has been Personal Ministries director
of the Adventists' Asia-Pacific Division which is headquartered in
Singapore.
	Reelected associate world directors of the Adventists' Youth
department were Malcolm J. Allen, Richard E. Barron and David S. F.
Wong.  All are from Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.
	"War is the metaphor of life on this planet these days," Dwight K.
Nelson, Berrien Springs, Michigan, U.S.A., senior pastor of the Pioneer
Memorial Church on the campus of the Adventists' Andrews University,
told those at the world congress at 7 p.m.on Friday.
	"It's the daily fare of our news: Sarajevo, Belfast, Tel Aviv, Los
Angeles, Rwanda, Baghdad, Grozny, and on and on the tragedy of war ad
nauseam. As Adventists we are a peace-loving people.  But the tragic
reality is that we are in a war, a war that broke the heart of God eons
ago!"
	Nelson told those attending the world congress that the present,
troubled world is a fertile field in which Christians can fight and win
the war that began when Satan rebelled against God in heaven.  He said
young people today are "a broken generation.  I believe we are rearing
the most broken generation in the history of this planet."
	He cited "the crescendo of natural disasters that is battering our
planet today," and the "phonomenal resurgence of the Radical Right," as
other exhibits to support his contention that world conditions are ripe
for widespread preaching of the Christian gospel.
	"As sentinels on the walls of earth's last civilization, we must be
a people consumed with a passion for Christ," Nelson said.  "God is
calling us to proclaim both the glad tidings of His pardon to all the
human race, and the urgent invitation to accept that very good news
while there's still time to accept it."
	          
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