Record Live Podcast

Decoding the GC Session
Intro: [00:00:00] Hi there everyone. I'm Jared. And I'm Sunita. We are your hosts of Record Live, a podcast where we talk about church faith and living well. We believe as followers of Jesus faith is more than just a set of beliefs. It's a way of life, something we'd put into practice. Let's go live.
Jarrod Stackelroth: And we are back again with another episode of Record Live. We, Zita and I that is your co-host of record live. We'll be on our best behavior today because we have our boss, Dr. Brad Kemp, and it's great. Great to have you, Brad.
Brad Kemp: Yeah, good to be with you guys
Jarrod Stackelroth: now, Brad. Before we get into today's topic, which is the general conference session that's fast approaching, , I think it starts at the end of next week.
I thought we'd get to know you a little [00:01:00] bit since this is your first time, I believe, on record live, or at least for some years. , Tell us a little bit about yourself. We get, , the privilege of hearing some of your mission stories from Papua New Guinea., Every Wednesday worship time.
, We get a window into who Brad is. But tell us a bit about yourself and , your career as for the church , and Yeah. Your interest in, outside of work perhaps?
Brad Kemp: Yeah, look, it could be a long or a short story, Jared, but , when I finished at Avondale, I started in Perth, west Australia. So my wife and, I was newly married at the time, started in some coastal churches, Fremantle and Rockingham, and then, manger.
And, we had, a wonderful time there. And then we got asked to go to p and g. , That threw us into a spin, cause we were enjoying life back where we were. But , it was a life changer for us to go up and work, , in Papua New Guinea. And we started out in Goroka, up in the Highlands. Had [00:02:00] lots of wonderful experiences.
Met many wonderful people. And then, , from there to Lae at the union office. , And that's where I guess we got involved with governance. And we're gonna be talking about governance to some degree today. , And since then, , you know, I've worked at the division and union levels doing various roles, , mostly in governance and, , today at Adventist Media.
So the Lord's Blessed. We've had a really rich experience in ministry in a whole range of areas. And here at Adventist Media, I work with some wonderful people like yourselves. And, , that's, a great joy for me.
Zanita Fletcher: I was listening to you share a story the other week at Worship Brad, and. I thought, and I said to Jared, why are we always scrambling for people on record live each Wednesday when Brad is just full of stories and full of life lessons?
Like we need to get him on regularly. And so I'm excited to have you on today, [00:03:00] but , today we're actually talking about, , something that's happening next week, the GC session, which I believe both of you are going to. Is that correct?
Brad Kemp: Correct. Yeah. Yes.
Zanita Fletcher: Now, I know this is something that everyone knows happens every five years, but I think a lot of people are sort of like.
What actually goes on at these things? I think it's kind of something that Few Adventists have the opportunity to go over to the states, , and participate in. So do you wanna tell us a little bit about what goes on at the GC sessions?
Brad Kemp: Yeah. Well there, there's a lot of stuff unofficial goes on, so lots of meeting and greeting and side meetings and so forth with.
, Different people, but the , real, , business of a general conference session is to basically take stock of where the church, , has come from in the last five years, and to look at where do we want to go in the next five and what's the leadership team that we need to move the church in that direction.
, So that's probably the [00:04:00] critical piece. So that's your election process. So you look at, electing, a general conference president, secretary, treasurer, the Associates Departmentals, and also the division, , officers, , president, secretary, treasurer. So they're the key pieces. . There's also an executive committee that's elected at that time that serves the church at the general conference for the next five years.
The other piece that happens is, , the church manual, so any changes to the church manual, which goes through a whole vetting process and hours and hours of committees and backwards and forwards, but it finally comes to the floor. Of a general conference session where the church globally, so this is representatives from the church all over the world, , decide on any changes that come into, , that particular document that guides the governance of a local church.
So they're the key pieces that happen. There are some , other things that take place with,, , meetings , of different boards and. [00:05:00] Constitutional bodies that need to happen at that point, but they're the main things that occur at a general conference session.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Hmm. Brad, tell us why you think it's important to, , have a church manual and some of those things.
People might think, oh, we're just talking about policy and there's all these rules and different things in place, but what does, what's the purpose of some of those things that the, this body looks at and examines , and tweaks and adjusts?
Brad Kemp: Yeah. There's a reason the church probably has three or four major documents.
That are important to keep the church together. So these are the kind of documents that, , as a united group we agree on as our rules of operating. So we have a church manual, which is really , the church's rules of operating. , It outlines, , how the church is structured, how the church is led.
How the church deals with [00:06:00] issues, what the church does with money, et cetera. And so with a common agreed set of rules, , we know, from church to church that there's uniformity, that, you don't have someone doing something entirely different and creating chaos. , Over here. But that we're all working on a common, , playbook.
So the church manual's important for the unity of the church. And so, you know, that's why when you've got , this manual, which is the universal playbook for a local church or it's rule book, , the church comes together, has representatives from all around the world, and as a global body. Will we vote on any changes, any additions, any deletions, because that's what we're all gonna follow for the next five years as the way we run church.
I.
Zanita Fletcher: Forgive me if I'm wrong, Brad. But that sounds a little bit like the Bible. [00:07:00] In terms of like a lot of the things I'm sure we are referencing to are in the Bible, have we just taken things outta the Bible and used wisdom to like expand on these things or some of these things like modern issues that aren't mentioned that we've had to kind of discern as a church.
Brad Kemp: Yeah, , it's probably the last bit. , So while there are some principles that you find in Bible on governance and , you can read about the early church and the book of Acts and some of the things it put in place, , for caring for the running of the local church. Church manual sort of takes that, or those principles and it looks at other things that we need to consider in today's.
Age. So , it's probably a more distilled and refined set of guidelines or rules or. Operating principles for a local church than what you'd find in the Bible. 'cause the Bible is more a story of , God's activity, with, with his people and how he's leading them, , through to the sec, the second coming of [00:08:00] Christ.
So, but in and around you've got the stories and out of the stories you find the principles of how the church is to operate. So the manual's not the Bible. The Church manual is, a very considered set of operating principles for a local church.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Hmm. The elections, yeah. Are not quite, or the appointments are not quite what one might be familiar with, I guess, in a world setting.
, It's not like the most popular vote wins the presidency. So can you tell us a little bit about how. Adventist church elections. Go and do the GC appointments. Follow, I guess what we might be familiar with in our own local church. Some of us might not be familiar how those appointments are made, so can you just tell us in a nutshell, sort of how, how these decisions are arrived at?
Brad Kemp: Yeah, sure. It's probably not dissimilar to what we do in local church. You know, at a [00:09:00] local church we have a selection committee. I. The selection committee selects the nominating committee, and the nominating committee then deliberates on the names , or those who are to be appointed to certain positions.
Now it's a nominating committee, which means then they nominate, but the names come to the body. Of the church to actually vote on. And if they're not happy with the name of, there's a reason they can refer it back and there can be discussion around that. Now, what happens at the general conference is very similar to that.
The only difference is size. So in a nominating committee, the general conference, you've actually got 300 people. You've got a delegation of about 3000 people. , 3000 to represent. You know, 23 million. So it's a representative democracy. , But the process is very similar. So each of , , the divisions, they actually caucus, which means they get together before, , the [00:10:00] nominating committee thing happens, and , each division chooses.
So the division actually serves as a mini selection committee for their division. And they will choose a certain number of people, which is set out in, the constitution of the General Conference, , who will serve as their members on the nominating committee of the general conference. For our division, it is usually the four union presidents, and one of the reasons for that is because when you've got such a large world field, how are you gonna know anybody?
You know, you've got. 23 million people. , You've got unions, which are. In some cases, hundreds of thousands in our division, our biggest union's, Papua New Guinea, that's about half a million people, 500,000. Our smallest union is, is New Zealand Pacific. It's got about, 12,000 people. So you can see the [00:11:00] diversity, , and the church has to work with all this mix and difference , and come up with a system that works.
And , the system they use is each division. Has a certain number of people they can place on the nominating committee. They decide who they are and , then that nominating committee will meet and they meet, . In a closed room away from all the activities for days on end. 'cause they've got a lot of work to do.
, But then what happens is , they start the nominating process by appointing a chairperson for the committee and secretaries. And then the very first position that is considered is the general conference president. And once they make a decision on who they wish to bring before the body, . The work of the nominee committee , is stopped for a while.
They go into the session, the name is presented to the body, and the body then has to decide on whether they're happy with that [00:12:00] nomination and they get to vote on it , or to take whatever action is deemed appropriate. So that's the first thing that takes place once the president move on. Officers of the general conference, they'll look at the secretary, the treasurer, or CFO, and the same process is followed.
So each time, , key decisions are made, the names are brought to the body of the session. The 3000 people representing the World Church, who then, , need to decide on that nomination. And so the process is worked through, , through the week. , And it's quite grueling. It's hours and hours and hours, prayer and work and discussion and names going up, looking at, what's in the best interest of the church, et cetera.
So, . It is somewhat similar to a local church just on a much [00:13:00] grander scale.
Zanita Fletcher: Hmm. I hope there's some exercise snacking breaks in there so you keep the blood flowing through your brain. This is a, perhaps a question for both of you, 'cause I've heard people kind of ask this before. Why is, , even in the local church and on a GC level, why is it fashioned in that sense?
, That there's like a committee of people who. Can have their say, , but not like an election, I suppose, where you've got, the people, , up for voting and then everyone in the audience, or everyone in the country or everyone in the church voting for their why is there not a worldwide church involvement in that kind of voting process?
Brad Kemp: Well, that's a really good question. I dunno whether I know the answer to that one. Whether it's because it's what works. Uh, , I'm just thinking what would it be like to actually have ballot voting from 24 million or 23 million people , on [00:14:00] names of people nobody knows, you know? , I think,
Jarrod Stackelroth: yeah, I guess
Brad Kemp: how would you actually manage that as a church?
It's true.
Jarrod Stackelroth: It's certainly be logistical issues. I guess something that comes to my mind, Zita, is the idea that, , that may turn it into a popularity contest, and I think the church system was developed to try to avoid the sort of politicking that you see in the outside world because everyone's. Yeah.
Campaigning for votes. Then if you know you're gonna be in a position to potentially be elected and running against, , two or three other candidates, it's sort of leads human nature leads you to try and, , wrestle or compete or, or find a way to Yeah. Win that vote, I guess. And , this takes some of that competition out of it.
, That's my. I can't speak for those that set up the system, but that's my feeling on what it helps to avoid is some of that competition. [00:15:00] Yeah.
Brad Kemp: Yeah. And it does do that to some degree. I don't think it's foolproof, Jared. , No, I don't think so. There still can be, . What would you call it? Not pressure groups, but influencers that can come in.
Yes. But generally with a, , a two tiered approach, it does weed that out to some degree. Mm.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Brad how many sessions have you attended? Just out of interest? Yeah.
Brad Kemp: This, this will be number five for me. , So 25 years worth, it's, , quite a, a hop.
Zanita Fletcher: What about you, Jared?
Jarrod Stackelroth: Uh, this will be my second last time I went to report for record. This time I'm being seconded by Adventist Review, so I'm gonna do some writing for them and hopefully send some news back here as well.
Zanita Fletcher: Speaking of that, Jared, , is there ways for people in whatever country they're from to kind of follow along with what's happening at gc? Like, are there live streams or summaries or like you said, articles that are sent out?
Jarrod Stackelroth: My [00:16:00] understanding is that there are, I didn't go to the last one, but I did tune into some of the meetings.
, I. Think that Adventist Review and Adventist record and other outlets in your local area are gonna probably, report on and, , share a lot of content from the gc. There'll potentially be stuff generated. So if you are interested in, what's happening, , you should be able to get updates from your laptop or your phone right in the palm of your hand.
Yeah.
Brad Kemp: And, and Jared, the other exciting thing is, , the communication department at the general conference have been working on a really, , ambitious plan of, , , all the divisions working together on a grand communication plan. And so, there's about in, in excess of 200 communicators all working together.
To put out hundreds of, , reports and articles across, , , the session, and that'll come [00:17:00] through, , the GCs communication website. , Tracy will be there from Adventist media writing articles and directing traffic with all those hundreds of people. , They're going to be produced in a variety of languages.
So, , you know, we'll have someone from Germany. Writing something in German, which will be translated in English and made available to us. So we'll get a perspective , from that part of the world on how the GC session is going and some of the decisions that are being made. And the same will be from someone from Japan, people from South America.
So it'll be a, a real. Mix of people all working together, creating news, telling the stories, going onto the floor, interviewing people. , It's you, you're gonna get a real bird's eye view of , what's taking place. And some of the stories behind the stories will come out as well, which I think will be quite interesting.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Hmm. I don't know [00:18:00] about your experience, Brad, , what your sort of highlights are, but I guess one thing that stands out to me from the one session that I've attended is the mission reports and that sort of thing, some of the stories that come out. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about some of the other things that happen apart from voting on policy.
Brad Kemp: Yeah, look, highlights at the GC session, there's the evening reports. So every evening two divisions will give a report on what's happening in their part of the world to fulfill the mission of the church. So that's, it gives you a really good insight into what they're doing to reach into their communities and the interesting thing is that.
Because you've got such diversity across the globe, , what one division does and what works in the area, , will be completely different to what's happening somewhere else. So you look at places like, , the inter European division and the Trans-European division, which is very secular and western and the way they try and, , share [00:19:00] Jesus , and the gospel, , is very different to perhaps.
What happens in West Africa, where you've got a Muslim culture or, or Southern Africa, , or in Asia or South America. So you, you get to see, not just the challenges that the church has, but the way they're trying to address those challenges to share Jesus, , in their part of the world. So that's an exciting part.
The other piece that's probably the real, . Finale, I guess, of a general conference session is called the Parade of Nations.
Zanita Fletcher: Cool.
Brad Kemp: And this is, , a really colorful event because you've got all the nations of the world where we have a presence dressed in national costume and, carrying their national flag.
And there's always a number of nations where we have not entered yet. , Which are featured. So there, there are still,, eight to 10, I dunno how many years, but somewhere around there where we do not have an Adventist [00:20:00] presence. And the challenge is always how do we enter those territories in the next five years?
But it's an exciting time. The other thing I find really interesting is on the Sabbath. So you have the Sabbath there, but you find a lot of people go to church in their, in their. National dress as well. And the really exciting thing is, , you see the people from West Africa with all their colorful clothing and it's just, ,
I don't quite know how to put it, but , it's. A kaleidoscope of color in many ways. And you see the church, globally united with all its shades and colors , and cultures , and it's just, . Just an exciting experience to be worshiping like that., , there's a, there's a passage in scripture in the Book of Revelation that talks about the nations of, of the world coming together to worship God in the new Earth.
And this kind of event reminds me a little bit about that in a, in a kind of snapshot or a [00:21:00] microcosm.
Zanita Fletcher: Hmm. Beautiful. It reminds me of the Olympics, the opening ceremony. Yeah. Yeah. That's the closest thing I can picture, but it sounds super cool.
Exactly. , Brad, when I typically think of, , the GC session, I picture like a very formal gathering where people are wearing suits and Yeah. , I guess voting on things and discussing things around big tables, is there much of an atmosphere of, . I guess worship or prayer or, I don't know, even like fasting pride to all these big decisions.
Like what, what's like the spiritual emphasis that happens with these?
Brad Kemp: Yeah. No, that's a good question. The day starts with a, a spiritual at times. So there's always morning worship, there's always prayer seasons. , A lot of time spent by the delegates, , in often. One on 1, 2, 2 on two prayer time. And then during the day, particularly at critical times where there's key decisions, the the delegation will stop and they will have [00:22:00] prayer, , and asking for or seeking God's guidance as we make some of those decisions. So, they're very mindful of, , the need for God's guidance, , and. They're not at all shy about stopping a program if, if prayer is needed to,, just help us connect with God and his leading in the process.
So yeah, , it's quite a spiritual time. . They also have some wonderful, wonderful music from around the world, , which a aids , the whole worship experience. And then they select, , some, they, they find some really good speakers.. When you've got a whole world to choose from, you think you could select some good ones, which they do.
And it's very inspiring and very motivating. , A lot of the sermons and, , presentations that are made, , during a general conference session. [00:23:00] Now, I will say there is another piece that happens on the side of a general conference session, and that is the exhibition hall. Were you gonna come to that, Jared?
Jarrod Stackelroth: I don't know. I'm, I think there'll be some stories there, so I'll probably wander through, but, , unlike last time, I probably won't be scheduled on the booth at any point. No shifts on the booth for me.
Zanita Fletcher: What is that? What is the exhibition hall?
Brad Kemp: , I was waiting for that question. So, so what happens? So you've got the main, the main venue where, , the s are.
, You know, that holds a lot of people. , But then adjacent to that is a hall where you've got lots of ministries and departments and divisions and institutions who set up a booth, and the basically showing people either what they're doing, what they have to offer, what [00:24:00] services or ministries they have, or what resources they have.
And so the South Pacific division has a booth, , has a reasonably large one, and working together with sanitarium. , We actually attract a lot of people because food seems to work. I dunno why, but it seems to work. , But at our booth, , we share the story of what we are doing in the South Pacific to disciple people.
And so, there's screens and there's , film clips rolling through, which illustrate some of the things that we are doing in this part of the world. And every division has that. Every department of the general conference sets up a booth to share, what they've been doing and the resources they have to offer the world.
And then you have, , some of the institutions like Andrews University, Loma Linda. , Southern Adventist University , and some of the institutions talk about , some of the services and educational things they offer the church. And there's a whole range of ministries [00:25:00] and inde or supporting ministries, that have booths there as well.
So if you've ever been to,, a Christian festival, , particularly in the US they always have these booths where they,. Share their ministries and what they're doing. So , while the session is on and they're talking about church manual stuff. Lots, a lot of visitors say, we'll leave that to the delegates.
We are gonna go walking through the booths and see what,, what exciting things are there. And often, , they all have giveaways and you can get gifts of this and you've got little cards and tokens, which you take in , and, , you give them a token and they'll give you something from their part of the world.
So, , it's a little kind of side thing that happens, which isn't little but big.
Jarrod Stackelroth: Hmm. And just on that, you said there's about 3000 delegates, but tens of thousands of people come through. , Some of those things,, the Sabbath worship services and things like that are attended by people from all over.
There's almost, a bit of Adventist [00:26:00] tourism going on to visit this big, the biggest show in town for the weekend. Do you know how many
Zanita Fletcher: people are expected to be there this year?
Brad Kemp: They're expecting about 40,000 for the first Sabbath and 60 for the second.
Zanita Fletcher: Wow.
Brad Kemp: That's a fair few people.
Jarrod Stackelroth: It's a big, it's like a stadium worship, service In the Sabbath morning, there's a whole stadium filled with people singing.
We are this hope together. It's quite a, quite an experience. Brad, we're running out of time rather quickly, but just to sum up, would you say there's a take home message? It's like, okay, this is how the church works. We've learned a bit more about what happens at a session. Today, but someone who's listening or watching at home, maybe they're not attending or planning to attend, maybe they're not even that interested in watching , the live streams, the policy stuff.
What should they be doing or what could they do in the lead up to the session that something practical that they can contribute or that [00:27:00] they can . Take away from our conversation today?
Brad Kemp: Well, I think the first thing is that, , because this is. The church trying to fulfill God's purpose. We need prayer.
These are major decisions that the church makes, which guide the church for the next five years. And so the more we have , people praying for what's happening and the process that's taking place at the general conference session, , I think the better. So, that's the first thing I think, , anybody can do. , While there may be some who aren't interested, I'd still encourage you if you get a chance to. To dial in. , Have a look and see what's happening. Be familiar with what your church is doing, , at the global level. , It's, they're open meetings. You can see what's happening. You can see the discussion that's taking place.
You can get an idea of some of the issues that the church is [00:28:00] struggling with sometimes, , some of the directions it's looking at. And, you talked about some of the mission things. There are lots of reports on where the church is wanting to go. , There's a lot of talk around strategy and future direction, so how do we do this as a church and what are the plans that we are trying to do globally?
One of the huge challenges for the church is the 10 40 window, and there are billions of people who live in the 10 40 window who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. So how do we reach that area? How do we be effective because that's part of the mission of the church. So there are discussions around some of these things.
How do we as a church, . How can we be effective , in that part? There's lots of parts where we've been successful. We've just had PG for Christ, huge success. But there are other parts of the world where we are hugely challenged still. So they're the things that the church grapples with. [00:29:00] And at these GC sessions, there are reports around that and there are discussions around that as well.
So it's well worth, , coming in on. YouTube or, or the platforms , and listening to some of those discussions when they take place.
Zanita Fletcher: Hmm. And prayer. That's something we can do, whether we are coming with you guys or not. So. Encourage everyone to, yeah. Be praying for the GC session as it starts. , Brad and Jared, thank you for discussing the GC with us.
Wish you both the best as you go. And Brad, we'll have to get you on again to tell some of your stories, but Jared will see you soon.
Brad Kemp: Yeah, we can do a story time.
Zanita Fletcher: You good?
Brad Kemp: Thanks.
Zanita Fletcher: No problem. See you soon, everyone. .
Jarrod Stackelroth: Thanks. God bless.