Silver Spring, Maryland, USA .... [ANN]

At its Annual Council meeting on October 4, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's world leadership voted to endorse the setting up of an Advisory Council on Evangelism and Witness.

"We want to have a creative forum on evangelism and witness with a broad mandate and a sharp focus on the things we value highly," said Dr. Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church. "This Council will have wide-ranging terms of reference and international composition to examine a wide range of ideas and concepts."

Many Council members spoke in support of this new initiative.

"We were lacking such a body to coordinate outreach strategy, and I want to express my support for this new initiative," said Mario Veloso, associate secretary at the Adventist Church Headquarters.

"Up until now we have been dealing all along with business as usual in our Church," commented Roger Robertsen, leader of the Adventist Church in Norway. "Now we are responding to real needs and objectives for the Church's mission."

The Annual Council, which opened on Tuesday evening, September 28, will continue until October 7. It is composed of 330 Church delegates from around the world. [Jonathan Gallagher]