By John White
CAPE TOWN, South Africa--Forty-seven ministers and wives from the Southern African region gathered at the regional office April 22 to 25 for a regional ministerial conference.
This was the first regional conference in two years, although various smaller, local seminars have been conducted since May 1994.
J. Michael Feazell, director of Church Administration, set the tone of the conference with his presentation on "Proclaiming the Name of Jesus Christ" and how to put this into practice, not only in a pastor's own life, but also into the life of the church and the community.
Mr. Feazell said that those called to the ministry have the responsibility to proclaim Christ to the nations. If we are afraid to confess Christ before men, then we shouldn't be surprised if Jesus denies us before his Father (Matthew 10:32-33).
Mr. Feazell pointed out that 160,000 Christians are martyred every year around the world (mostly in China) for proclaiming Christ's name. We should pray to God for the power and presence of Christ. The work of the church is to really believe in Christ and not to be ashamed of him (John 6:28-29). If we are a praying church, we will see the church grow.
Randal Dick, assistant director of Church Administration International, built on Mr. Feazell's theme with his presentation on "From Passion to Practice."
Mr. Dick said we must focus our collective energies of the power of Jesus Christ through his church for the purpose of salvation and the work of his kingdom. We must celebrate what Christ has done and is doing; identify the gifts of ministry in the church, both in the ministers themselves as well as in every individual member; and identify that which remains as a hindrance and see what we can do to change it.
We need a rich passion for Christ, Mr. Dick said, and if we don't have it, then we need to get it, by asking for it. In the past we might have placed a great deal of emphasis on what we practiced. But what we should understand is that if we receive Christ's nature, then our practices will automatically be good. We can't have a passion for Christ, unless our nature is changed (Colossians 3:1-10).
Godfried Fritz, a consulting psychologist from Cape Town, gave a lecture on the second day of the conference titled "Career Management and Development of Pastors." Mr. Fritz said that we often need to go outside our comfort zone to get results.
Pastor General Joseph Tkach's video presentation on vision was shown. Mr. Tkach said that vision begins, continues and ends with Jesus Christ. Proclaiming him should be our consuming passion.
On the morning of the final day of the conference men and women separated for their own lectures.
A video by H.B. London of Focus on the Family on the subject of accountability was shown to the men. The women were shown two videos. The first, by Tammy Tkach, was on women's ministries, and the other, by Ruth Tucker, author of various books on women's issues, was on "Tough Choices."
The conference ended with Mr. Klynsmith presenting the Southern African ministers' Strategic Blueprint for Southern Africa. Over the last several months, each area has submitted various ideas for the region, which have now jelled into several points.
* Spiritual healing is required and is ongoing.
* Empowerment will assist the brethren for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
* There must be continual pastoral development and career management.
* We will continue to evangelize through the media, but especially through outreach programs.
* We are in the process of developing a dynamic youth ministry.
* We need to revitalize our worship services to include a greater element of praise and worship.
At the end of the conference Art Holladay of Johannesburg Central and Roland Gevers of Free State were ordained preaching elders. Recognizing their wives' contribution to ministry, Wendy Holladay and Elizabeth Gevers were also asked to come forward when Mr. Feazell, Mr. Dick and Mr. Klynsmith laid hands on their husbands during the ceremony.
We also said good-bye to Terry and Bev Browning after being in the Southern African region for 28 years. They return to Mr. Browning's home country, Australia, to serve in the Melbourne church.
John White pastors the Port Elizabeth, South Africa, church.
SOUTHERN AFRICAN CONFERENCE--From left: Robert Klynsmith, acting regional director for Southern Africa; Charles Albrecht, international operations manager in Church Administration; Randal Dick, assistant director of Church Administration International; and Mike Feazell, director of Church Administration.
May 21, 1996, Worldwide News, page 11
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