After three years apart, more than 600 conference-, union-, and division-level leaders from across the North American Division (NAD) reunited in Greensboro, North Carolina, January 8-11 for the NAD’s 2023 “Replenish” Adventist Ministries Convention (AMC). With its theme based on Jeremiah 31:25, “I’ll restore tired souls,” every aspect of the AMC, including special music, keynote addresses, seminars, ministry exhibits, the “Replenish” juice bar, morning hikes, community service, entertainment, and ministry achievement awards, aimed to rejuvenate, educate, inspire, and celebrate the church ministry leaders present.

“Replenish” offered both spiritual and professional development, with nearly 70 educational seminars spread out over two days. Attendees gleaned best practices from NAD officers and departmental directors, union- and conference-level leaders, pastors, and subject matter experts in different fields. The plethora of topics included children’s ministry, cultural intelligence, disabilities, family, men’s and women’s ministry, health, IT, leadership, philanthropy, social media, stewardship, youth and young adult ministry. And for wordsmiths, the counternarrative writing conference, on using writing to amplify marginalized voices, took place at Greensboro’s historic International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

To round out the leaders’ experience, the AMC also offered a concert by the Watchmen Acapella Group, the first showing of a Sonscreen showcase, including the film “Those Were the Good Days,” and a comedy presentation by “The Skit Guys” that left the audience crying with laughter.

The three-day convention was bookended by the Adventist Radio Convention on January 6-8, Adventist Women Leaders (AWL) luncheon on January 11, and NAD Children’s Ministries Retreat on January 11-14. Immediately following the AMC, the AWL luncheon taught

70 women presidents, administrators, department directors, associates, and assistants that focusing on God-given strengths is the key to fulfilling God’s purpose.

Jesus—an Oasis for Our Souls

G. Alexander Bryant, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, delivered the opening keynote address the evening of January 8. In his presentation titled “God’s Oasis,” Bryant spoke to the stress many leaders are under due to challenges including the pandemic, work, or family issues. He then presented the perfect solution. “Tonight, I want to spend a few minutes talking about God’s oasis for His people. It’s not a place. It’s a person, and His name is Jesus,” he said.

Bryant, after quoting Matthew 11:28-30, continued, “This is an invitation to God, through Jesus, for His people. And that invitation is for calm. . . . He asks us first to ‘come.’ . . . [Jesus] is the first place that we can retreat that brings peace in difficult and troubled situations. And in exchange for coming, He’ll give us rest.”

Rest, and what it entails, was a common theme throughout the AMC’s morning and evening general sessions, which featured two TED talk-style keynote addresses each session. Using personal stories and biblical examples, pastors, directors, and administrators from various NAD entities presented ways leaders can replenish spiritually, physically, and emotionally; these included creating space for solitude, engaging in laughter and humor, expressing gratitude, spending committed time with God in Bible study and prayer, or going for a walk. Then, recognizing our human weaknesses, several messages also touched on the need for repentance and surrender. In between messages, attendees also enjoyed two sets of worship music from the Crosswalk Seventh-day Adventist Church (Redlands, California) praise team.

Finally, the sessions included a short segment titled “Historical Replenish” by Michael W. Campbell, NAD director of Archives, Statistics, and Research, and Matthew J. Lucio, pastor of the Peoria Seventh-day Adventist Church in Illinois and host of the Advent History podcast. The dynamic duo shared interesting tidbits from Adventist history described in modern terms. In one especially relatable “episode,” Campbell stated that James White experienced burnout while planning the “Dime Tabernacle” in Battle Creek, Michigan and needed time to recharge physically and spiritually. “So,” Lucio quipped, “[he and Ellen] got a nice little Airbnb house in Colorado.”

Out in nature, hiking, and laying their souls before God, “[they] had this kind of reconversion experience,” said Campbell.

Changed Lives and Mission Opportunities

The exhibit hall open throughout the AMC was a hotbed of activity, where visitors could meet old friends, play games, purchase ministry resources, or grab swag of all flavors. But the heart of the hall was the 45 ministries represented, from NAD departments such as Children’s Ministries, Communications, and Adventist Community Services, to ministries of the global Seventh-day Adventist Church, such as the Office of Global Mission and Adventist Risk Management, to independent ministries.

Several exhibits shared stories of changed lives. For instance, attendees coming from the AMC’s general sessions were greeted by Tammy Mapes, a literature evangelist with Home Health Education Service, whose motivation for selling is personal.

“My dad had an Adventist coworker who tipped off a literature evangelist. There were six of us kids. He said, ‘Go see that family. They have kids.’ My parents bought the Bible Story books, and the colporteur passed our name to the pastor, who followed up with Bible studies. I was old enough that I remember life before, the drinking and smoking, then my dad becoming a gentle, godly man. The Desire of Ages changed him.”

Elsewhere in the exhibits, guests discovered the Adventist Learning Community is more than a training database; it also produces several popular podcasts in English and Spanish. They discovered Faith for Today, a life-coaching branded television ministry, which pulls in 4 million weekly viewers for its flagship “Lifestyle Television” program. They also learned about tentmaking, where “you can keep your career and still be a missionary,” from the world church’s Office of Global Mission.

Attendees such as Akehil Johnson, NAD student association president for Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF), public post-secondary campus ministry, left the exhibits inspired for expanded mission. He said, “I’ve been blessed to hear stories and discover new ministries that can support ACF’s vision. It’s been amazing.”

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Ministry awards for lifetime achievement and excellence in ministry were incorporated into the AMC’s general sessions. Awards were presented to 11 leaders at all levels of the church. Recipients came from Jewish Ministries, Regional Affairs, Children’s Ministries, Adventist Community Services, Young Adult Ministries and Adventist Christian Fellowship, Women’s Ministries, Club Ministries, Refugee and Immigrant Ministries, Oakwood University Church, Youth Ministries, and the Center for Youth Evangelism.

The awards presentations fostered an environment of warmth and appreciation, such as when awardee Ron Whitehead, executive director for the Center for Youth Evangelism and assistant professor of Youth Ministry at Andrews University, received a standing ovation.

They also created some lighthearted moments, such as when Ko Saelee, husband of recipient Terri Saelee, coordinator of NAD Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries, managed to play “How Great Thou Art” using a leafy green plant.

Finally, recipients shared inspirational words. Don Keele, Jr., director, Young Adults and Adventist Christian Fellowship, Georgia-Cumberland Conference, stated, “It’s one day at a time. That’s how you make it in ministry. One day at a time and today with Jesus.”

Replenished for His Service

As a first step in planning AMC, organizer Wendy Eberhardt, NAD vice president for ministries, turned to God. “I knew I needed God to direct this event. I said, ‘Lord, these are your leaders. What is the message you want us to present? You know what they need most,” she said.

“After spending time just studying and listening to God, [the need] became clear as I was reading Jeremiah 31, about the Lord restoring us. Then my mind went to the four gospels, and I read the story where Christ had sent the disciples out. They were so excited and exuberant about spreading the gospel. Jesus said to them, ‘Come away. Come be with Me. We need to be together.’ They just needed to regroup, needed to breathe. And Jesus knew that.”

Eberhardt considered how ministry leaders were stretched during the pandemic, pushing through separation, isolation, and masks. “I felt the Lord telling me we need to ‘come away’ – to replenish through meeting and talking to other ministry leaders, have some time for silence and solitude, and just replenish,” she said.

The convention’s final day was a call for leaders to leave Greensboro with a greater sense of dependence on God. In his message, “Undeserved Blessings,” Vandeon Griffin, NAD associate director for Youth and Young Adult Ministries, made an altar call, asking leaders: “Do you want to be replenished?” Roughly 40% of attendees walked to the front of the auditorium.

After speaking about the spiritual benefits of cleansing, in “The Gift of a Good Shower,” David Ferguson, senior pastor of Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Tennessee, closed AMC with a meaningful communion service. As the praise team softly sang, “Who can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” Ferguson guided leaders into a prayer walk ending at a table laden with communion bread and wine.

He led them to eat and drink the symbols of Christ’s body and blood, then prayed. “Come into our lives, Lord Jesus. May we hear Your call and walk in Your footsteps. Not only to be bought and paid for but also to be Your hands and feet.”

— Christelle Agboka is assistant director of communication for the North American Division.