PRESIDENT’S REPORT
September 30, 2007 Constituency Session booklet

The past four years in the history of Upper Columbia Conference have been marked by remarkable evidences of God’s blessing and the faithful loyalty and support of God’s people. We can truly rejoice and praise His name for the report you hold in your hands. And yet we believe that the best days are yet ahead and we will see even more miracles as we approach the last days of earth’s history.

At our last constituency session the duly elected delegates representing every church in the conference provided a vision for what should guide the work here in the Inland Northwest. I feel confident that you will be pleased and grateful as we summarize what God has done as we have all cooperated with Him.

Spiritual Growth

Every effort has been made to infuse every activity of the conference with a strong spiritual foundation as a base from which to work. Some of these efforts have included:

• Continued emphasis on prayer ministry including our Page-a-day Prayer calendar now available to everyone on the conference web site, active encouragement for participation in the world-wide Global Rain initiative, appointment of Dr. Colin Dunbar as our conference prayer coordinator, and the continued support of the Prayer PATCH plan for the students and faculty of Upper Columbia Academy and other K-12 schools.
• Promotion of the current conference reading plan which correlates appropriate passages of Scripture with the corresponding passages of the writings of Ellen White found in the Conflict of the Ages series.
• Careful planning of regular Camp Meeting and Convocation opportunities throughout the year in various locations in the conference.
• Sponsorship and organizational support for hundreds of international mission trips involving thousands of people and millions of dollars which results in significant contributions to the work of the church around the world and the renewal of spiritual commitment in the participants.
• Intentionality in providing a strong personal spiritual growth component to every continuing education program that is planned for pastors and teachers.
• Provision for adequate places of worship for all of our churches, particularly our Hispanic congregations. The local church is the geographical location where worship, a vital part of spiritual growth, takes place. We set a goal of obtaining four new buildings for four of our Hispanic churches. By God’s grace seven have been provided at an estimated cost of $1,899,503.00. The Upper Columbia Conference enthusiastically disbursed $281,608.00 of that amount, which, combined with the sacrificial commitment of the church members, made this possible.

Empowering Youth

The conference allocates more resources, both financial and in personnel, to Adventist education than to any other single ministry. When combined with support of other programs focused on youth, you can readily conclude that saving our children and youth is one of our highest priorities.

• Upper Columbia Conference operates 29 K-12 schools which have an enrollment of 2,097 students and employs 190 teachers plus approximately 90 individuals who comprise an invaluable support staff.
• Two of our senior academies, Walla Walla Valley Academy and Upper Columbia Academy, have been recognized with the Academies of Excellence recognition which identifies them as among the best schools in the North American Division.
• Upper Columbia Academy has developed a model Industrial Technology program that testifies to the credibility of Ellen White’s counsel on this topic and recognizes the unique and valuable gifts that so many young people have in this area.
• Educational rallies have been held in 11 different locations in the conference. These rallies have highlighted the contribution our schools have made in the lives of thousands of students and celebrated the blessings that God has bestowed through our church schools.
• Efforts have been made to support and recognize the value of Adventist Education in the context of the home. Families who have chosen to Home School are being encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities and be a part of their local school activities.
• The KEEP Scholarship/Endowment Fund has gathered $1,175,092.00 in donations and commitments. Already these monies are making a significant difference. Just over $300,000.00 of KEEP scholarship funds have been distributed to our K-12 schools to provide financial assistance to qualified students. The goal is to have every Seventh-day Adventist young person who wants an Adventist education to have that opportunity, regardless of ability to afford tuition.
• One of the premiere assets of the conference is Camp MiVoden located on the shores of beautiful Hayden Lake in North Idaho. This 540-acre nature preserve ministers to over 1,400 youth, families, and single adults annually. Every year hundreds of people make a decision to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives while experiencing the special blessings of camp. Implementation of an exciting new master plan is advancing as fast as accumulated financial resources and burdensome governmental regulations allow.
• Thousands of children and youth are ministered to in every church congregation through their weekly involvement with the Sabbath School program.
• Upper Columbia Conference operates one of the largest and most effective Pathfinder programs in all of North America. Our 37 clubs are operated with the help of approximately 232 volunteer adult leaders. The program has 552 young people involved.

New Outreach

Evangelism and outreach must always be the highest priority of the church. This is the core of the gospel commission task which heaven has entrusted to us.

• We have welcomed over 2,000 new individuals through baptism into our conference family during the last quadrennial. Our current conference membership stands at 24,331.
• In the past four years, at least 380 full message public evangelistic series have been conducted in the Inland Northwest.
• Conference financial support of specific evangelistic efforts in the local churches has increased from $350,000 annually to $729,650 for 2007.
• In addition a new outreach grant fund of $310,000.00 has been provided. These funds are available to any local church that qualifies and presents a prepared proposal request.
• In the last few years over ten new church plants have been started within our conference territory. Many of these groups are endeavoring to develop creative approaches to reaching unentered demographical groups in our larger urban areas.
• Our conference has an unprecedented network of media ministry projects which focus on our evangelistic task. These include: three television stations, eight radio outlets, a new and improved conference website, plans for audio and video streaming on the internet, opportunities for podcasting, as well as continued excellence in the more traditional media methods.
• Bibleinfo.com and KidsBibleinfo.com continue to reach the world with reliable Scripture information. This ministry is averaging more than one million unique visitors annually. Bibleinfo.com is now a part of It Is Written’s Internet ministries although they continue to be housed in the Upper Columbia Conference office building.
• We are encouraging our community services organizations to continue their ministry to those in need and to expand their horizons as to how best they can maximize these opportunities including the effective use of our dozens of Adventist Community Service centers.
• Our participation in a North American Division pilot project for Hope for Humanity has resulted in an exciting well drilling project in Guatemala.
• Significant impact is being made by numerous prison ministry programs, mostly supported at the local church level and at the initiative of dedicated lay workers.

Discipleship

We have not completed our evangelistic commission until every new convert has been mentored into a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. This means they have “settled into the truth” and are actively involved in the ministry of making more disciples for Christ.

• Our Adventist Book Center provides an invaluable source of discipleship materials which encourage and promote continued spiritual growth.
• The Church Ministries Consulting Service has been created to assist local congregations in a self-assessment process to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in relationship to the proven characteristics of healthy, growing churches. Fifty-five churches have voluntarily participated in this process.
• Our Family Life department continues to provide an array of resources and training events to divorce-proof our marriages, provide counsel in successful Adventist parenting, open doors of opportunity for Adventist women, and respond to the particular strengths of Adventist men.
• Significant progress has been made in insuring that our churches and schools are safe places for all people.
• Support and education is being provided for members and employees who need awareness of the issues, and in some cases personal help, regarding the topics of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
• Resources are being provided for our men and women who are serving their country in the various branches of the military.
• All of our conference employees are being encouraged to participate in the “Fit4Him” wellness program which provides a framework for careful stewardship of their health.
• Educational events and attractive materials are continually being planned and developed to provide encouragement in the area of Biblical stewardship.

Financial Miracles

During the past four year period the conference has faced significant financial challenges. The dramatic turnaround has been nothing short of miraculous and has required the cooperation of divine intervention, conference leadership, especially the conference executive committee, and the faithful support of our conference constituency.

• The conference recorded tithe plus restricted donations in the amount of $86,166,336.00 during the four year period. Of the $81,374,624.00 in tithe, approximately 27% was shared with the world field.
• Current cash reserves and recommended working capital stand at 80%. We are well on our way to reaching the 100% recommendation.
• We are currently able to meet all conference obligations without any short term borrowing, which has not been the case in nearly 20 years.
• Our Planned Giving Department has provided services enabling faithful members to benefit the Lord’s work in the amount of $2,447,821.00 through their wills and trusts during the past four years.
• The Streams of Light Capital Campaign is raising six million dollars to benefit the KEEP scholarship/endowment program, Camp MiVoden, KidsBibleinfo.com, and five church planting initiatives in the conference. At the time of this writing we have received 5.3 million dollars in cash and pledges and feel confident that we will meet our goal by the end of the year.

Future Plans

We will be working in collaboration with the Upper Columbia Conference Strategic Planning Commission, the conference executive committee, conference administration, and most importantly the conference constituency session delegates to formulate plans for the future.

In preliminary work we are giving focus to our expectation of the soon coming of Jesus and our call to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20) within the context of the three angels messages (Revelation 14:6-12). We are deeply troubled by the evidence of plateauing in our conference and plan to urge each believer, congregation, and church entity to prayerfully develop a response to the following two items:

• How we might foster spiritual renewal, revival, and committed discipleship.
• How we might reach our community for Jesus.

In the light of those two overarching concerns we must devise a divinely inspired strategy to address specific aspects of our task in a variety of contexts within the ministry of the conference.

• GROWTH: We must inspire and empower the members of the Upper Columbia Conference to make intentional and meaningful contact with each of the 1.8 million people in the conference within four years.
• RESOURCES: We must expand the resources available and push more and more resources of all kinds toward the front lines of mission and the accomplishment of the gospel commission.
• LEADERSHIP: We will prioritize training and nurture of dynamic and committed leaders in ministry and discipleship for Christ.
• RELATIONSHIP: We will recognize that a relationship with Jesus is essential to everything we do. To initiate revival and renewal we will encourage meaningful worship, personal prayer, careful Bible study, and Spirit-led service as modeled by Jesus.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: We will encourage and develop strategies to hold members and church leaders accountable to the gospel commission and to each other.

I am excited about the potential of what God intends to do through Upper Columbia Conference in the next few years. With His enabling grace the possibilities are limitless and certainly it is within the realm of possibility that Jesus may come before the next constituency session convenes. That is my hope and prayer and the goal toward which every effort will be directed.