Lake Region—As a further step in necessary visioning and planning, an initial stewardship strategic planning session was convened under the direction of the Lake Region Conference stewardship secretary, vice president Eddie Allen. This meeting constituted another response to the mandate voted by Lake Region constituents, calling for a conference-wide strategic plan. That plan was formulated and voted by the executive committee under the direction of Jerome Davis, conference president.

The stewardship planning meeting, held Mar. 31 at the Lake Region headquarters, included stewardship associates, Leon Bryant, Eric Bell and Ron Williams (pastors), and administrative associate Josie Essex. The conference area leaders, including William Joseph, Leroy Logan, Zebron Ncube and Michael Horton, were also present and involved in the discussion, and were joined by Richard Terrell, stewardship director for the Lake Union Conference.

The session began with prayer and a devotional service led by Allen, presenting the sufficiency of Christ as our eternal hope. Pastors then surveyed the strengths of the conference, such as the dedication of the membership, their dedication to the Lord and Bible truth. The weaknesses or challenges were also examined, including the changing economic conditions and the rising unemployment in the Rust Belt states. Opportunities and threats were considered to form an initial document for discussion and feedback from the conference membership at various levels.

The stewardship team recognizes that for the plan and vision to be effective, improved dialogue, incorporating the insights and perspectives of local church pastors and leaders, is indispensable. Therefore, the process has advanced to the area meetings in Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago and Berrien Springs to create forums for the views, concerns and counsel of the various pastors, workers, treasurers and leaders at our churches.

While the Lake Region Conference is making significant strides in the areas of finances and stewardship, it was recognized that a concerted effort, rooted in a spiritual collaboration of administration, members, ministers, local church boards and workers, needed to be clearly formulated. William Joseph, pastor and area leader of Detroit, led out in developing initial PowerPoint presentations, entitled "Executive Privilege" to support that effort.

The committee constructed a biblical, mission-driven approach to stewardship. This holistic view, encouraging every member to know and utilize their spiritual gifts and talents, to re-embrace the health message which is the right hand of the gospel message, to be better managers of the financial resources given to us by the Lord, and to appreciate and utilize the time given us through active evangelism and service to glorify His name, focuses on the call to faithfulness in all the areas of stewardship.

Michael Horton, pastor, Hyde Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Lake Union and Lake Region Conference Executive Committee member