Eighth Quadrennial Session Reports May 16 - 20, 1967 11•11110MINNIM
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.nadian Union May 3, 1967 ESSENGER Vol. 36, No. 10, Oshawa, Ontario Beautiful Vancouver Host to the Union Session Canadian Union Eighth Quadrennial Session Reports May 16 - 20, 1967 11•11110MINNIM., Executive Offices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada Members of the Executive Committee Front — left to right P. G. Biy, General Manager, Kingsway Publishing Association, Oshawa, Ontario A. G. Rodgers, Administrator, North York Branson Hospital, Toronto, Ontario J. W. Bothe, President, Canadian Union Conference, Oshawa, Ontario Carl Klarn, Secretary-treasurer, Canadian Union Conference, Oshawa, Ontario Philip Moores, President, Ontario-Quebec Conference Centre — left to right D. E. Tinkler, President, Maritime Conference, Moncton, N.B. 0. A. Botimer, Executive Publishing Secretary, Oshawa, Ontario D. L. Michael, Executive Secretary, Public Affairs Department, Oshawa, Ontario E. A. Crawford, M.D., Executive Medical Secretary, Toronto, Ontario A. N. How, President, Church in Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland R. M. Devins, Director, Mission Adventiste Du St. Laurent, Montreal, Quebec A. W. Kaytor, President, Alberta Conference, Calgary, Alberta Back — left to right W. G. Soloniuk, President, Manitoba-Saskatchewan Conference, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan W. E. Kuester, Executive Secretary, Lay Activities Department, Oshawa, Ontario F. B. Wells, Executive Youth Leader, Oshawa, Ontario A. G. Choban, President and General Manager, Maracle Press Limited, Oshawa, Ontario P. W. Manuel, President, Kingsway College, Oshawa, Ontario R. A. Figuhr, President, Canadian Union College, Lacombe, Alberta G. 0. Adams, President, British Columbia Conference, Mission City, B.C. VPIP' IIIPPMPT Official Organ of the CANADIAN' JNION CONFERENCE of Seventh-day Adventists, Carl Klam, Editor; Pearl I. Browning, Associate Editor. Issued biweekly. Subscription price $2.00 a year. Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for pay- ment of postage in cash. Printed by Maracle Press Limited, Oshawa, Ont. Words: ROBERT CHOQUETTE MUSiC: HEALEY WILLAN ANTHEM FOR THE CENTENNIAL OF CANADIAN CONFEDERATION Glory to Thee, Creator! Praise and adoration For this dear land so happy in Thy gracious favour, With all her mountains, prairies, lakes and river-ways, Endless her forests and the teeming life they harbour, Boundless her treasures darkling in the earth and ocean! For these we lift our voice in praise. Oh, under other skies, e'en in this age of wonders, Millions on millions of our fellow men are suff'ring, Broken by hunger or by terror beaten down; While unto us Thy bounties, free and overflowing, Stand as a promise given our beloved country: Her glowing future is our own. Hail to the future! See, the spirit of tomorrow Born of our brave ambition — and its daring story Told in our cities' ardent leap toward the skies! Yet give us, Lord, the vision of a greater glory, Show us our children moving as a band of brothers: Pour down Thy grace upon their eyes. O Lord of Love, our God, make it our loving duty So to accord our hearts that every man shall labour, Each in his fashion, for the harvest all may share. Grant us, 0 Lord, that this our country's light and colour Quicken our souls with all her images of beauty: We see Thy beauty everywhere! Lead us to walk the ways that love has always taken, Guide us, 0 God of Love, and we will shape a spirit Worthy a nation reaching for her destiny. So may we show the world a vision of Thy goodness, Our dream of Man to which all men may yet awaken, And share the glory still with Thee. English adaptation © Copyright 1966, John Glassco VoL. 36, No. 10, MAY 3, 1967 167 reoideneo cieport By J. W. Bothe Address Presented at the Eighth Quadrennial Session of the Canadian Union Conference at Vancouver, British Columbia, May 16, 1967 To the delegates assembled in the Eighth Quadrennial Session of the Canadian Union Conference Greetings I T IS with a deep sense of gratitude to God that we gather here for the Eighth Quadrennial Session of the Canadian Union Conference of Seventh-day Ad- ventists. For the first time in the history of our church work, a union session is convening in beautiful British Columbia. Other quadrennial sessions have been held in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Toronto. Now it is appropriate to recognize this portion of our union territory where we have such large and earnest groups of Seventh-day Adventist believers. This Quadrennial Session coincides with Canada's centennial year. As our nation prepares to celebrate its centennial, plans are multiplying for appropriate ceremonies. It is fitting that as a church we duly recognize this significant and historic event. How grateful we ought to be to know that in a time when the enemies of free men mock the words of freedom, Canadians can, with pride, proclaim a certain definition of their liberties. Living in a country such as Canada, it isn't hard to feel patriotic. But we must be careful lest we be patriotic in the sense of believing that our country, or province, or county is superior to all others because we happened to be born in it or live there. True patriotism is not the emotional luxury of vanity expressing itself in flag waving. But rather, it is a sentiment that expresses itself as a share in a collective life, standing staunchly for the good principles of one's country. As Seventh-day Adventists we need ever to be mindful of broad horizons. The everlasting gospel is to be proclaimed to every nation, tongue and people. While the challenge to bear witness to the twenty million inhabitants of our fair land is tremendous yet we must feel our responsibility to the multi-millions of every land. As we look in retrospect at the activities and accomplishments in the Cana- dian Union durin' the last four years, we are made conscious that the prospering and kindly hand of a heavenly Father has been over His church. The Lord's hand has not been slack in withholding His promised blessings. This report is a general survey and will not deal much with statistics and 168 CANADIAN UNION MESSENGER figures. These are most adequately presented in the report of the secretary- treasurer. Nor will we comment on the activities of our departments since they are also reporting for themselves. Suffice it is to say that every statistic, figure and report shows gains and progress. Surely we owe to God a tremendous debt of gratitude for His blessing on the faithful endeavours of His people throughout this quadrennial period. It is this alone that makes these good reports possible. We believe that the prophet Isaiah was directing his message to the church at "such a time as this" when he said, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch the curtains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." Isa. 54:2 We firmly believe that the programme of the church must not simply be one of consolidation, holding the ropes or playing the role of "custodian of the status quo." It must be one of strengthening the stakes, but also of enlarging the tent and lengthening the ropes. It must be a two-pronged thrust: consolidated expan- sion. Our union must ever be dedicated to the proposition that the primal objective of the church must be the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gathering in of souls for His kingdom. It is our conviction that unless the church pursues an aggressive course of evangelism it will lose its vision and perish. It is desirable and necessary that we have good buildings, and institutions must be given their rightful place, but unless the ministry and laity recognize the need of prosecuting a strong programme of soul-winning, tragic will be the consequences for the future of the church. Consequently, your union officers and committee have endeavoured to give first place to evangelism in all its phases and as a result of the united evangelistic programme throughout the union, implemented by the public campaigns, our lay evangelistic activities, our medical institutions, our colleges, our secondary and church schools, our publishing work, and other departments of the church you will be thrilled to learn that accessions to the church during the quadrennium amounted to 2,783. As a result, the membership of our union at the close of 1966 stood at 16,581. For these results we praise God and give glory to His name. We know that this did not happen by accident but that it was the result of the Lord's blessing and the tireless and earnest labours of all workers and members who were determined to do their part in bringing Christ to the inhabitants of our fair land. During this period our tithe receipts amounted to $8,312,834.67 which reflects a gain of 34% over the previous quadrennium. While we do not believe that a person can buy his way into heaven or that one's contributions to his church are an infallible sign of his fidelity to Christ, it is evident, however, that the failure to be consistent and liberal in the payment of tithes and offerings to the church is robbing God and will certainly keep one out of the kingdom. We are most grate- ful for the loyalty and faithfulness of our people in returning to the Lord the first friuts of their income and offerinngs to the church, and we are confident that as a result they will receive many spiritual blessings. This report would not be complete without duly acknowledging the contribu- tion made by those who are not now members of our union conference staff.