Elisabet Kirkland Page 8

Jose Briones – Denver, Colorado … In a recent discussion on the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) podcast, Living Generously, Cris Dutra, Young Adult director for the Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, highlighted the dynamic involvement and importance of young people in church activities. Despite significant advancements in outreach to youth and young adults at all levels of church organization, recent statistics reveal a concerning trend: the Seventh-day Adventist Church is losing four out of every ten new members, many of whom are young people.¹

Cris identifies a fundamental challenge in bridging generational gaps, attributing much of it to differing core values. She illustrates this with an example from a potluck scenario. At a church near Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, her alma mater, one of the local churches had various tables for vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free diets. The older generation at that church, which valued stability and uniformity, viewed this as a display of the health message and the importance of an Adventist standard.

Conversely, the younger generation, who prioritized transparency and inclusiveness, felt they couldn’t invite their friends to the gathering because they ate meat. Their differing views on dietary inclusiveness at church meals demonstrate the underlying communication rift, not a lack of faith or commitment.

Cris emphasized that fostering unity involves more than accommodating both perspectives; it’s about recognizing the genuine motivations behind each viewpoint. By understanding these motivations, perceptions of rebellion or indifference can be transformed into opportunities for deeper connection. She encouraged people to host conversations among different generations to understand each other and create a path forward for mission.

She noted, “Effective dialogue between generations can break barriers.” Young people often seek mentors and guidance from older church members but feel conditional acceptance, leading to a sense of abandonment. Research from the North American Division (NAD) and the book Growing Young supports this by reminding us of the younger generation’s need for mentorship and genuine interaction instead of only a superficial engagement with faith.

Cris also highlighted the importance of inclusivity in the decision-making process. Church boards should integrate young voices to prevent feelings of being exploited for menial tasks without real influence.

By valuing ideas from all age groups, churches can nurture enthusiasm and engagement. A future where collaborative efforts extend beyond church walls is envisioned, showing that living generously includes listening, understanding, and working together for the kingdom of God. This renewed commitment to fostering intergenerational relationships ensures a thriving, united church community. Listen to the podcast for more insights.

CLICK HERE to listen to the full episode, and CLICK HERE to see the full list of previous and future series episodes. To listen to the full podcasts on YouTube, CLICK HERE.

—Jose Briones is the RMC Stewardship Promotion and Content creator. Photo by fauxels of Pexels.

¹  General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (2024, March 19). Reports by Topics – Adventist Research. Adventist Research. https://www.adventistresearch.info/research-reports/research-projects-commissioned-by-general-conference-officers/presentations-by-topics/

RMCNews with Mary Lynn Green – Denver, Colorado … As the new year begins, it’s the perfect time to tackle those essential tasks we often push off until a later time if ever. High on that list should be creating a will and developing an estate plan. Though it may not be the most exciting resolution, ensuring your loved ones are cared for, your assets are distributed according to your wishes, and your favorite church ministry is remembered is a responsibility that cannot be overstated, especially if you have young dependents. Start 2025 with the peace of mind that comes from knowing your affairs are in order.

Surprisingly, a large portion of Americans delay or avoid estate planning entirely. According to a 2023 study, 67% of adults in the U.S. do not have a will. For younger adults, this figure rises even higher, with 81% of individuals aged 18-34 and 66% of those aged 35-54 lacking this critical document. Even among seniors, traditionally more prepared, 45% are without a will.¹ These numbers highlight the widespread hesitation surrounding estate planning, despite its importance.

One of the primary reasons people delay creating a will is discomfort with the topic. Conversations about mortality and financial distribution can feel overwhelming or unnecessary, particularly for younger individuals. Others procrastinate due to a misconception that estate planning is only for the wealthy. In reality, creating a will is a vital step for anyone with dependents, property, or specific wishes for their legacy. By taking the time to plan, you can ease the burden on your loved ones, providing clarity and avoiding unnecessary legal complications during an already challenging time.

“There is a saying that says, ‘If you don’t have an estate plan, the government has one for you.’ It is true there are laws that indicate how an estate is to be distributed when a person dies without a will (intestate). Likely, some of these laws do align with your wishes and some do not. Having a will helps each of us to fulfill the directive to be good stewards and take care of all that we have been given,” guides Mary Lynn Green, director of Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) Planned Giving and Trust Services.

If you’re ready to take the first steps toward estate planning, here are some practical tips to help you get started:

• Take Inventory: List your assets, including real estate, vehicles, savings accounts, and personal possessions.
• Consider Beneficiaries: Decide who or which charitable cause will receive your assets and ensure your choices reflect your current wishes.
• Appoint Key Roles: Select an personal representative to carry out your wishes and guardians for any underage children.
• Consult an Expert: Reach out to RMC Planned Giving and Trust Services to help guide you through this process.

“Our office has resources and partnerships with other Adventist professionals in the trust and estate, planned giving, and fiduciary services arena,” continues Green. “A financial planner or accountant can help you determine how to best structure your gifts. Sometimes gifts of non-cash assets such as property, stocks, life insurance, annuities, valuable jewelry, digital currency, and other assets may provide tax advantages and ways to increase the value of the gift to fulfill goals for what you want to give to loved ones and to charities.”

Do not delay any longer and reduce the risk of leaving your family unprepared and your wishes unmet. For members of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, there’s no need to worry about costs—wills and estate planning services are offered free of charge. This invaluable resource makes it easier than ever to ensure your legacy is protected.

As we embrace this new year, make it a priority to secure your family’s future no matter what your age or stage in life. By creating a will and estate plan today, you can take a significant step toward being a good steward of the blessings God has entrusted to you.

Green leaves a parting message: “Let us know how our team can help. It is a pleasure for us to be here to serve you and to help you accomplish your stewardship and ministry goals. Let’s all get planning!”

Contact Alex Gamble, RMC Planned Giving and Trust Services department assistant, at [email protected] or by phone at (303) 282-3640 to get started today.

—Initial article draft created by ChatGPT, revised and edited by Liz Kirkland, RMC Communication Director, and Mary Lynn Green, RMC Planned Giving and Trust Services. Photo by Bich Tran with Pexels.

¹ LegalZoom. (2023). Estate planning statistics. Retrieved from https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/estate-planning-statistics

Jose Briones – Fairplay, Colorado … Amy Webb has been a devoted member of the Fairplay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fairplay, Colorado, for the past four years. In 2018, while working at the Union Adventist University in Lincoln, Nebraska, Amy and her family decided to travel to Colorado. During their visit, they stopped at the Fairplay Church while helping their daughter move and exploring potential future property purchases.

The Webb family, consisting of seven members at the time, was accustomed to the large congregations often found in Adventist churches in Lincoln. Upon their arrival, the Webb’s found a small congregation of only five people at the Fairplay Church. There were more visitors that day than members. Despite the small number, the church congregation’s hospitality and warmth was very welcoming. The Webb family instantly felt drawn to this small, loving community.

The Webb’s decided to move to Colorado a few years later, purchasing a home they felt God had led them to, and began attending the Fairplay Church regularly.

During the COVID Pandemic in 2020, Amy and her husband Richard organized an “Unlocking Bible Prophecies” seminar at the Fairplay Church. Despite much planning, no one attended the event, leaving them saddened and disheartened, especially Richard.

“Amid their discouragement, Amy suggested they pray. They asked God to bring them ten more families, not knowing where they would come from but wanting to fill the church to overflowing,” recalled Jose Briones, lead pastor at the Fairplay Church and RMC Stewardship Promotion and Content creator, who interviewed Amy for the RMC video series “Always Faithful” that will begin airing in January 2025.

“Miraculously, shortly after their prayer, families began arriving from different places,” continued Briones. “These families had been searching for a place like Fairplay Church with the same love that initially attracted the Webb family. The church’s attendance grew from about five people during that initial visit to between 25 and 40 people each week now in 2024. ‘Praise God! He brought us more than ten new families who became members of Fairplay,’ Amy told me.”

Church members will tell you that some of their most cherished memories in recent years involve evangelism. They view that, without evangelism, the church would be dead. Inspired by a member from decades ago who referred to the church as the “Light on the Hill,” they hope to continue the legacy of the sentiment and excitement behind that reference. To do so, the Fairplay Church actively engages with the local community and events like the Burro Days and plans to expand their efforts to Alma and other higher mountain towns this year.

The Fairplay Church also values fellowship and holds a fellowship dinner every week. “The members believe some of the greatest moments come from sharing a meal together,” commented Briones. “They gather around a large table, facing each other and getting to know one another better. This weekly tradition helps people fall in love with the church’s loving God and fellowship.”

Amy’s story and testimony are a powerful reminder of the importance of evangelism and welcoming new members with love. Her experience at Fairplay Church highlights how truly caring about everyone that walks through the doors has been a significant part of the church’s success. The church’s goal is to make everyone feel wanted and welcomed back. As Amy always says, “If someone attends three times, they are already considered members.”

Keeping love and fellowship alive is essential for the vitality of any church community. CLICK HERE to watch Amy’s story and share it with your friends.

—Jose Briones is lead pastor at the Fairplay Seventh-day Adventist Church and is the RMC Stewardship Promotion and Content creator. Photo capture from RMC’s “Always Faithful” video series.

By Lucas Lujan

It was a typical Sabbath morning of prayer and devotional, loading up the vehicle with my bag of electronics, Sabbath fellowship meal food, and a warm Chai tea along with my 40-ounce Stanley water bottle. I remember turning through the winding highway roads of US HW-24 talking to Jesus and reflecting on the last time I was able to attend a Sabbath morning worship service that I didn’t have to be up front on a platform, publicly speaking and proclaiming the everlasting gospel. I remembered to ask Jesus to empty me of anything that would prevent me from hearing from Him that particular Sabbath morning. I knew that He wanted to speak to me, and I wanted to hear from Him.

Now, before I lay on you the short, simple, yet mind-shifting message Jesus gave to me, I would like to share with you something I read online to confirm a rumor I had heard. Just like many other things in life, surveyors found a way to gather stats on the average number of churchgoers who actually remember the sermon or its main points just one week after the worship service sermon is preached. According to this AI-generated survey, typically five to ten percent of churchgoers are likely to remember the sermon one week after hearing it while most people forget the significant parts of the sermon within days. I would also like to say that I am not entirely sure how AI came up with these statistics, however, I am afraid that they may be close to accurate. It reminds me of a lesson I was being taught early in my lay pastor training through the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) in 2019 and 2020.

Is Jesus really speaking to us through the sermon and other portions of the worship service on Sabbath mornings? I am under the conviction that He does still desire to speak to us in these gatherings. However, just like the days of old, I also believe that it takes some preparation in cooperation with His Spirit to be able to hear His voice on the morning of Sabbath. Jesus said,

My sheep hear my voice… (John10:27, KJV).

Have you ever questioned yourself about hearing Jesus speak? I have, many times. And this is why I was silently speaking to Jesus that morning on my way up to Woodland Park from Colorado Springs in Colorado. I wanted Him to search me and remove anything in me that would hinder me from hearing His voice.

By the time I arrived, my heart felt a great expectation to hear Jesus. I was listening carefully to what the parishioners were saying to me while we greeted each other, I was listening to the announcements being read, I was listening to every word of opening, offering, and congregational prayer. I did not want to miss what Jesus wanted to say to me. I was expecting Him to speak to me.

While everything in the Worship service had Christian significance, there was nothing that was hitting me in an extraordinary way that I needed at that time. That is until the preacher stood up to preach. From the opening sentence, I was locked in listening for Jesus’ voice. I knew there was something that I needed to meditate on, I just didn’t know what it was yet.

Now, I also do not remember all the sermon that was preached (remember the AI stats … It took the Spirit of God to touch my ears in order for me to hear Jesus in the part that I did). But what I do remember was a short four-word sentence that I believe he quoted from a study source he had: “Love by nature communicates.” Wow, there it was! It was Jesus, undeniably speaking to me, His hungry child.

Now why was and why is this short sentence so eye opening to me?

To understand this, you would have to understand my context. I grew up, for the most part, only communicating with people who I felt loved me, people who accepted me for who I was. And I was a black sheep to say the least: living on my own by the time I was 15 years old; running the streets at 13 and 14 years old behind my mother’s back while she was working two jobs giving it her best to keep a roof over my sibling and my head; hardly hearing from my dad at all, and, when I did, it was a bunch of broken promises. I came from a childhood where communication was empowering those who don’t love me to have ammo against me. And to be honest, nobody ever cared to communicate back. Not to mention, I developed an introverted personality throughout my teen years, leading to me only communicating with those I trusted. And even then, I was very closed off in many ways.

As I have been saved into God’s family, I do know that I am called into a new character, the character of Jesus, and my old character has passed away. Paul says, … if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, behold old things have passed away and all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17, CSB).

You see, what I was battling with that Sabbath morning, and even before then all the way to now, is and was opening myself up to people I hardly know. I get very uncomfortable being on a platform, gathering with people who I don’t know and who hardly know me. But I know it comes with my calling to pastor God’s people. That morning when I heard Elder Fredy share that quote, Jesus opened me wide with His loving care. He revealed to me that, if I love Him, I will love His people and attempt to communicate with them better than I had previously. That means to have concern for their well-being, check up on them, take them to lunch or dinner, visit with them, and communicate to them, not just by preaching, but more importantly in action that not only do I love them, but Jesus loves them even more.

If love, by nature, communicates then it makes perfect sense why God, throughout all human history, has been doing His best to communicate with humanity. By nature, He communicates in natural revelation, by prophets, He communicated in written revelation, and by Jesus, He communicates in special revelation.

God is constantly communicating with us, and we can still hear His voice if we prepare our hearts with His Spirit to do so. Those sermons we hear are prayerfully prepared by the speaker who is surrendered to Jesus at the time of sermon prep. Our hearts are prayerfully prepared during the week when we spend personal time in devotion to Jesus. And when the two come together in worship on Sabbath morning, how could we not hear our Shepherd’s voice. Because love by nature communicates.

I do have a New Year commitment in 2025. It took me a while to figure out what Jesus was saying to me through those four words—I am a slow learner, I guess. I want Jesus to use me to be a better communicator with the flock of Jesus. I will be more consistent, by God’s wisdom and grace alone, to write newsletters at least twice a month, connect more with church leaders and members while carving more time out for my own family as well. I know I won’t do it perfectly. However, I also know that if I am following the voice of my Good Shepherd, He will never lead me wrong.

What about you? What is Jesus communicating with you for 2025? Is He calling you to leave your comfort zone to metaphorically walk on waters? Do you have some old habits that He would like you to break? Is there anything that is getting in the way of you trusting Him and following Him even deeper? If you have been hearing His voice, why not respond to it in action. After all, “Love by nature communicates.”

—Lucas Lujan is head pastor at Colorado Springs South and Woodland Park Seventh-day Adventist Church. Republished with permission from the CS South/ WPSDA Church District 2025 Newsletter, January 1edition. Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash.