Cape Conference - Circular 6

2015 Is a historic year in the Adventist Church with Constituency Meetings at the General Conference, Southern Africa Union Conference, Cape Conference, KwaZulu Natal Free State Conference and Namibia Conference. We would like to encourage all our church members as well as our pastors to pray for God's presence and leadership in these constituency meetings. We are all aware that the devil makes our meetings his battle ground and diverts our focus from the core business of the Organisation.

1. We previously communicated to you that the Executive Committee in its November 2014 sitting voted that the 3rd Constituency Meeting for the Cape Conference will be held in Butterworth at Bethel on 22-25 October 2015. Subsequent to that the Executive Committee took a decision to change the date for the Constituency meeting from 22-25 October 2015 to 26-29 November 2015 due to the following reasons:

1. Renovations at Bethel Campus require time beyond the 22-25 October 2015. The time required is 3 more weeks which ends in Mid November 2015;
2. Examinations end mid November 2015;
3. The presence of learners on campus will limit the accommodation needed.
4. The commitment is still to invest in our own property.

2. So far, we have received updated membership from 150 churches in the conference; we are therefore extending the submission of updated membership for 3 weeks, i.e. the final date for submission will be the 20th of April 2015. In some of the membership lists submitted we have picked up that there are still names of deceased members. We would like to appeal to all our Church Clerks to be diligent in compiling the audited church membership. Members under censure are not members in regular standing. We recommend that the membership list be signed by the local church leadership (Pastor/Elder and the Church Clerk) with the date when the membership was audited.

3. On 20-24 March 2015 the Conference organised a Pastoral Retreat at Hartenbos River Resort. The main purpose of hosting this retreat at the Hartenbos River Resort was to assist in infrastructural development for upgrading our resort. In as much as some units were not fully completed when we were there, but the completed units were beautifully done and we are sure that very soon the resort will be upgraded as planned. We appreciate the co-operation and sacrifices that our pastors made, staying in the unfinished units that weekend.

4. It is with regret that Ps B Ntantiso is no longer in the employ of the Cape Conference and is therefore no longer serving as a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Should any church wish to use his services, a service request must be done via his church (KwaNoxolo SDA Church in Walmer, Port Elizabeth).

5. The Executive Committee has affirmed that the following tools are policy frameworks in the Adventist Church:

1. Official Church statements of the General Conference;
2. Constituency Meeting Policy Actions at all levels;
3. Executive Committee Policy Actions at all levels;
4. SDA Working Policies at all levels;
5. Church Manual;
6. Other Operational Policies of SDA.

6. New Brighton SDA Primary School has relocated from New Brighton SDA Church premises, Ngesi Road, to Sheay Kulati Drive, where Lwandlekazi Senior Secondary School previously operated. This school has recently been closed by the Department of Education and the premises were subsequently handed over to New Brighton SDA Primary School for its use. New Brighton SDA Primary School started to operate from this new school premises on 17 February 2015. We Thank the Almighty God for this provision, the need was great and the assistance was long overdue.

7. The following policies have been developed by the Policy Development and Review Sub-Committee and endorsed by the Executive Committee:

1. Child Protection,
2. Pastoral Placement,
3. Bursary Allocation,
4. Guidelines for organising and administering Federations,
5. Employment Equity,
6. EXCOM Oversight,
7. Fiscal (Finance Policy)

These policies are already in operation, including policy statements that are from time to time developed by the Executive Committee. Some policies will be endorsed in the June and September EXCOM sittings.

8. The books of the year for Publishing and Personal Ministries Departments are as follows:

1. Health and Wellness (joint venture of Publishing and Health Ministries Departments),
2. Witnessing for Christ (Textbook for Personal Ministries Department)

9. Mission to Cities projects for 2015 are the following:

1. Port Elizabeth
2. George
3. Cape Town and
4. Uppington

The Conference Administration would like to invite all our brothers and sisters in the Conference to pray and fast for God’s leadership in the upcoming Constituency meetings. We know the devil makes these important meetings his play ground. Ps Niemandt, whose portfolio includes Revival and Reformation, will announce to us special days for prayer and fasting as we prepare for these meetings. I would like to end off by echoing the words of the great Apostle Paul, "If God is with us who shall be against us". As we labour in God's Vineyard, we should not lose sight of our goal, to be in heaven one day.