wfn.org | New Emphasis on Volunteers for Adventist Church

[APD <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

June 28, 2001
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

New Emphasis on Volunteers for Adventist Church in North America

Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.   The Seventh-day Adventist 
Church in North America has created a new Adventist Volunteer 
Ministry Network aimed at mobilizing volunteers of all ages for 
community service. Church administrators voted the changes 
June 6, and appointed Jose Rojas, currently serving as youth 
ministries director, to head up the new department.

Don Schneider, president of the Adventist Church in North America, 
says the structural changes were an inevitable result of the huge 
growth in volunteer-based services over the past few years. More 
than 52,000 volunteers now serve in the Adventist Youth Service 
Network, an organization developed by Rojas. "Rojas was so good 
at the volunteer business and grew it so big that we had to make 
a change," says Schneider.

The vote also marks the completion of a move to bring all areas 
of youth ministry under one department. James Black, an associate 
director in the office of youth ministry, replaces Rojas as 
youth ministries director. He will be responsible for overseeing 
the North American church's work with youth ages six to 19. The 
Office of Youth Ministry coordinates the Adventurer and 
Pathfinder mentoring clubs for an estimated 60,000 Adventist 
children, and 68 summer camp programs for pre-teens and 
teenagers.

"Youth are our greatest resource and serving others is our 
noblest calling," says Debra Brill, a vice president for the 
Adventist Church in North America. Brill called the 
administration's actions "a sign of continued commitment by 
Seventh-day Adventists to change the world through service-driven 
outreach."