Ted Wilson, World president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church met with German church leaders in Frankfurt (Main) on March 8. In addition to the boardmeetings of the two German organizations (North and South German Conferences), he also participated at the meetings with the directors (heads) of the SDA national churches and the Officers of the Inter-European Division (Bern).
In a first round of talks in the morning the German leaders gave Ted Wilson a detailed report on the special concerns of the SDA Church in Germany. In the afternoon, a number of current issues were discussed such as the missionary efforts of the Adventist Church in Germany, the situation of the German Adventist churches, the high administrative structure of the German associations (field regions), dealing with the world church decision on ordaining women as pastors, the relationship to other churches, dealing with various current trends in the Adventist churches and questions about the Adventist identity.
"The meeting was marked by mutual openness, unity, solidarity in the beliefs of our Adventist Church and a spirit of mutual respect," said Wolfgang Dorn, head of the SDA Church in Bavaria. Wilson himself expressed his appreciation for the Adventist churches in Germany and stressed the important contribution Germany makes in our global family of faith regarding finances and theological and missionary contributions in the past. Also the consequences of the decision of (not) ordinaining women pastors, made at the last 2015 General World Conference in San Antonio, Texas, were discussed in detail.
"Personally, I perceived Ted Wilson as a good listener, very spiritual, emphatic and a strong leader, a man of God," said Dorn. "It was striking to me his focus on mission, local communities and his emphasis on involvement of volunteers in missions."
Ted Wilson traveled on Wednesday with his wife to Japan for an extended trip to Asia. He greeted all friends and members of the Adventist churches with words of the Apostle Paul from 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind".
"On May 28, 2016 the largest number of baptisms in the history of our SDA Church will take place in Rwanda: 100,000 people are preparing to follow the Adventist Church in Africa. Please pray for this spiritual moment," said Ted Wilson.
