What would happen if Seventh-day Adventists worldwide prayed for God's guidance at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.? The idea is among several the newly formed Revival and Beyond Committee at world church headquarters is considering to motivate revival within membership.
Tasked with kindling spiritual growth among members, the committee is still in the developmental stage. Even its name is pending. When world church President Ted N.C. Wilson announced the committee during his first address to employees at church headquarters this summer, he called it "Revival and Reformation." Now, he favors "Revival and Beyond," said committee chair Armando Miranda, a world church general vice president.
At least one element is concrete: prayer. The committee spent two hours praying and studying the Bible during its first meeting late last month. "Sometimes in committees we forget that it's not our strategy, but God's," Miranda said. "We spend too much time arguing among ourselves and finding our own solutions, rather than seeking the Lord's will."
Prayer is a hallmark of reformation, and has long been the foundation of revival among Christians, Miranda said. The apostles in the New Testament spent 10 days sequestered in an upper room praying before they shared the gospel. Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White wrote that the success of church workers hinges on "time to think, pray and wait upon God for counsel."
To foster a modern-day environment for revival, the committee is considering several initiatives in addition to the worldwide weeklong chain of prayer. Also on the docket are global days of prayer and fasting, a New Year's Eve prayer intensive broadcast on the church's television network and a renewed emphasis on personal prayer and devotional time. Time set aside for spiritual reflection is especially vital for church leaders, committee members said, advising that leaders regularly attend prayer retreats to seek "God's bigger vision and ideas."
Crucial to any initiative such as Revival and Beyond is solidarity and spiritual balance, said Woodrow Whidden, a professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines.
Citing White's "Uplift Christ" movement of the late 1870s, Whidden said such successful initiatives are consistently led by "spiritually alive, theologically informed, balanced and very patient" church leaders. Concerned that Christ was fading as the Adventist Church's collective focus, White embedded the theme in her writings. The idea that Christ should anchor church theology drove her ministry at the time, Whidden said. To motivate revival among members today, spiritual renewal must similarly be central in church leaders' minds, he said.
Also essential is remembering that revival ultimately flows from God and spreads among those who depend on him, said church theologian Jon Dybdahl, who currently serves as professor emeritus of theology at church-run Walla Walla University in Washington.
"It's a good thing that we're concerned, that we've acknowledged that spiritual renewal is needed," Dybdahl said. "Revival starts within the heart and lives of people. If it's just a program, it'll remain just that."
Miranda agrees. "It's key that this process is guided by the Holy Spirit, and not us just developing strategies for revival on our own," he said.
The biggest challenge, as he sees it, is how best to bring the message of revival to the local congregational level. Miranda said the committee intends to capitalize on the church's media outlets to inform members.
First, though, the committee will meet this week to finalize ideas. Then they'll present their list to world church delegates during the church's biannual business meetings in October for approval.