More than 250 pastors and church members from across the Northern California Conference gathered from March 24 to 26 for ChurchWorks 2006 at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento. The seminar focused on inspiring the attendees to reach everyone in their community for Christ and giving them chances to cultivate outreach plans.

“This event was important because it gave our churches the opportunity not only to be inspired, but also to have time to develop some specific plans to share the Gospel in their territories,” said James E. Pedersen, NCC president.

There were several presentations during the seminar. Pedersen spoke on how every member of the Adventist Church is a minister. Russell Burrill, from the North American Division Evangelism Institute, explained how the members of the New Testament churches ministered according to their gifts.

Eduard Schmidt, also from the NAD Evangelism Institute, gave creative ideas for churches reaching out to their communities. Rod and Donna Willey, lay members who successfully planted a church in Illinois, gave practical examples of reaching one’s community. Don Schneider, North American Division president, shared stories about his own community outreach efforts.

In addition to the various presentations, there were times for attendees to gather in small groups for breakout sessions. In these small groups, pastors and members developed plans on how to implement the ideas at their local churches.

The importance of pastors and laity working together as a team to reach people in the communities surrounding churches was emphasized. With seven million people living in NCC, more than five million of whom do not attend church, and about 40,000 members in Adventist churches across the conference, there are still many people to reach. “ChurchWorks emphasized that there is a lot of work still to do,” said Ed Fargusson, assistant to the NCC president.

Dr. Del Dunavant, NCC director of church growth and Sabbath school ministries, planned the weekend seminar. He is already planning another event, though it is still 18 to 24 months away. Dunavant hopes more people will take advantage of a future ChurchWorks event. “I hope my pastor friends who didn’t attend will not miss the next opportunity," he said. "I’m hoping we will better communicate with our pastors how important this seminar is next time, so that even more will be blessed by this event.”