The 2017 Constituency Session of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists convened July 23 at the Life Source Church in Denver, Colorado. The delegates voted to re-elect Ed Barnett, president, Eric Nelson, vice president for administration, and George Crumley, vice president for finance, respectively, for the next quinquennium.
The Constituency Session convened under a theme “Living for His Return” and brought nearly 570 delegates from 130 churches in Colorado, Wyoming and part of New Mexico. In his opening devotional message, Barnett emphasized that as Adventists “we believe that Jesus is coming soon and we need to share Him with everyone who lives in our territory.”
The delegates heard and accepted the reports on the state of the church in RMC, as well as voted a few adjustments to the bylaws of the conference.
Lining up at the microphones, delegates emphasized a need to see a greater involvement of young church members in the work of the church, helping them understand how tithes and offerings are being spent, and saw this as a strategic area for the conference to address. Several delegates emphasized a need for more active involvement of the church in Adventist education; greater frequency to deal with issues facing the contemporary educational needs, as well as reviewing how finances are supporting local church needs. The RMC leaders were requested to address and give continuing financial support of the Literature Evangelism program.
The last agenda item of the session included presentations by Alex Bryant, secretary of the North American Division, and Gary Thurber, president of Mid-America Union Conference on the current world church discussion about the General Conference’s Unity of Mission document. In preparation for the session, the delegates were provided documents related to the Unity in Mission document. The General Conference document aims to address the question of policy compliance by church entities, and procedures in church reconciliation when entities are out of step with policy.
A discussion centered on a motion proposed by one of the delegates “to take no action on the Unity in Mission document, and the Rocky Mountain Conference’s statement regarding it.” Several delegates expressed concerns about the potential implications of the adoption of the document by the upcoming Fall Council of the church in October.
Session delegates also elected new membership of the RMC Executive Committee, as well as Property and Trust Committee, By-Laws Committee and K-12 Board.
