This Month's Issue | Seventh-day Adventist Church

7 Takeaways from Successful Church Plants

Story by Michele Joseph

The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting churches,” says Rubén Ramos, the Columbia Union’s vice president for Multilingual Ministries, quoting from C. Peter Wagner’s book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest: A Comprehensive Guide. Here are some tips Ramos and Peter Casillas, who most recently served as associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference, say any leader can use in their ministries:

Why Every Church Needs to Get Pregnant ... and Multiply

Story by Michele Joseph

The Bible gives a specifc command: multiply, says Peter Casillas, most recently the associate director for pastoral ministries in evangelism and church planting and volunteer lay pastors in Potomac Conference.

However, as a church gets bigger, it is easy to go into institutional mode.

“Church planting reminds us to come back to the movement and not stick with the institution,” he says. “Church planting is ... like blood to the body. It’s the moving dynamic action of the body. If you kill church planting, you kill the movement.”

For that reason, he believes every church should get “pregnant.”

Feature: Their Needs > Our Needs = A Formula for Church Planting

Story by Michele Joseph

When Juliana Marson received a call from a woman so depressed she was unable to leave her home, Marson did what she knew would work best—she prayed. Then she invited the woman to her two-week-old church plant, the New Jersey Conference’s Grace Place, in Lakewood.

Jacqueline Lewis didn’t come to church, but she arrived during fellowship dinner.

“I stopped what I was doing, ran and hugged her,” Marson says. But Lewis replied, “You can’t hug me. I’m ugly.” Jacqueline Lewis (right) credits Lay Pastor Juliana Marson and the New Jersey Conference’s Grace Place church members in Lakewood for helping her overcome depression. Photo by Jorge Pillco

In God’s Time

Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos by Jorge Pillco

For years Tony Liriano had the dream of starting and leading a new church. Tony and his wife, Maria, were excited for the opportunity to plant a church and spread the gospel in Garfield, N.J. Since starting the project more than a year ago, Tony, who leads the New Jersey Conference church plant as a lay pastor, reports a membership growth from 10 to 60 people. Members faithfully invite friends to attend, gather for a weekly prayer session and help to reach those who don’t know Jesus. A family of six started attending the church after Tony greeted them on the street and invited them to attend. Maria says the key to their growth is the family environment and members who “act like Jesus and don’t judge.”

Will the New Tax Bill Impact Adventists?

Story by the General Conference Office of General Counsel & General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty

The United States House and Senate passed, and the President is expected to sign into law, H.R. 1 formerly known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which makes certain changes to the United States Internal Revenue Code. Below is a summary of some of the changes that particularly impact the Adventist Church and its employees. It also addresses changes that were proposed but not ultimately passed.