It may be a surprise to you to see an article in the Adventist Youth Ministries Museum news- letter about the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Ministerial Association. Many of you may not be aware that the collection that Arnold and I have made for the last 40 + years has included every department of the Church. Yes we focus mainly on Youth Ministry but we have also collected materials from every other area of the church, including Adventist Book Center, Adventist World Aviation, Adventist World Radio, Children’s Ministry, Evangelism… and the list goes one. What a blessing to be able to learn of God’s leading through the ministry of various ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church!

Upon reading the history of the Ministerial Association I was interested to know when it began and the reason for this department. The Ministerial Association was formed by action of the General Conference Session 26 May 1922. The reason was to collect information relating to the problems of ministers and to form a medium for sharing this information to encourage young men who were training for ministry. It was originally an association, rather than a department, because it serves ministers at every level of the church organization, including ministers in other departments.

A. G. Daniels and wife Mary

Ellen G. White

The first Ministerial Secretary (director) was A. G. Daniels who had been General Conference President for 21 years. He guided this new association with enthusiasm giving priority to the personal faith in Christ of ministers. Daniels began his work by holding ministerial institutes on righteousness by faith. He traveled extensively 1923 to 1925 throughout the Southwest, West and Northwest regions of the United States. Daniels studied the subject of righteousness by faith and shared in his meetings a quote by Ellen G. White written in 1887 and printed in the Review and Herald, 22 March 1887 “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work” later in the article she wore “Will you shut out the blessed Saviour, because you are unprepared for His presence?”

Daniels took this to be of upmost importance in his own life, studying and praying he felt himself being drawn closer to the Lord. Righteousness by Faith became for him a wonderful reality, a personal experience with Jesus Christ. Daniels realized that every pastor needed to be encouraged and trained for ministry and the Ministerial Association gave pastors a place to receive the training and encouragement necessary for the spiritual growth and health of them and their congregations.

By 1927 the Ministerial Association was worldwide with a Ministerial Secretary in every world division. Since the beginning the following individuals have led the General Conference Ministerial Association:

A. G. Daniels 1922-1931 I. H. Evans 1931-1941

L. E. Froom 1941-1950 R. A. Anderson 1950-1966

N. R. Dower 1966-1980 J. R. Spangler 1980-1985

W.F. Bresee 1985-1992 J. A. Cress 1992-2009

Jerry Page

Jerry Page, who was elected in 2010 is the current Secretary of the Ministerial Association.
Pastor institute had limitations even with three men in the department and others speaking at the institutes there were just not enough people to get around the whole world so another way needed to be found to reach all the pastors in the various fields around the world. That is when the printed page became a way of reaching others.
Workers were asking for practical advice and successful methods for their particular areas of work. Separate lists were made and bulletins prepared for pastors, evangelists, singing evangelists, Bible instructors, Bible teachers, chaplains etc. Many pastors wanted to know what was being shared in their areas so these separate bulletins really did not work.

January 1928 the Ministerial Association began to publish the monthly magazine Ministry, with the purpose of deepening the spiritual life, developing intellectual strength, and increasing the soul-winning efficiency of Seventh-day Adventist ministers. Since that time books and other publication have continued to provide excellent resources for pastors.

Mission ’72

Through the years the ministry has been expanded to include the coordination of denomination-wide evangelistic programs such as Mission 72, Thousand Days of Reaping, and Harvest 90. Resources beyond books and magazines as in slides, videos, seminar participant handouts, computer resources, have expanded continuing education for ministers and enhanced their pastoral skills.

The Seventh-day Adventist Education Department and the General Conference Ministerial Association work together to implement minimum educational requirements for ministry, field based internships, mentoring of young pastors, and evaluation of effectiveness have been encouraged.

The Ministerial Association has added areas of ministry to include reaching clergy of other denominations in fellowship, nurturing and motivating pastoral spouses as effective tam partners in ministry and training laity who have first-contact with Adventist church members in many countries.

The Mission Statement of the Ministerial Association is as follows:“The Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists exists to serve Jesus Christ and His global church by ministering to pastors, pastors’ families, local church leaders, administrators, departmental directors and ministerial association Secretaries.”

These stories of the early leaders will be a part of the Adventist Youth Ministries Museum – A Discovery and Learning Center when it is built. What a blessing the Lord has bestowed upon His church.