Since his election in August 2022, Pierre Omeler, president of the Atlantic Union Conference, has emphasized incorporating “bold, new initiatives” with a focus on mission in our territory and continuing the Atlantic Union Conference’s rich history of mission initiatives around the world. “When we focus on mission, evangelism is a natural activity that flows from that focus,” said Omeler in a recent video interview (see YouTube video link).
In 2020, the General Conference introduced the strategic plan “I Will Go” as a tool to help churches, conferences, missions, unions, divisions, and institutions “be more focused and effective in answering God’s call for us to witness to unreached people around the world.” Since then, the North American Division (NAD) incorporated the theme with a “specific divisional emphasis on media, multiplying, and mentorship” and encouraged NAD churches, conferences, and unions within the division to tap into the three M’s as optimal methods to fulfill the mission and leverage these strengths to impact the lives of the church body and surrounding community. (See https://www.nadadventist.org/NAD-strategic-focus-together-in-mission.)
The Atlantic Union Conference has embraced the theme “United We Go” as the rallying cry for moving forward with media, multiplying, and mentorship within its territory. In 2022, the Atlantic Union Conference added a Digital Media and Technology department to strategically focus on outreach and building relationships in our territory. “Mission is so much about digital media now,” Omeler said and added that they hope to create “an army of digital content creators” or what he likes to call “digital media evangelists” to incorporate various forms of evangelism.
In the video, Omeler highlighted the multiple mission-at-home initiatives spearheaded by the Atlantic Union Conference Adventist Youth Ministries and Office of Education departments. He also shared his desire for the Atlantic Union Conference to be more connected to the Lancaster, Massachusetts, community, where it has its headquarters. “I feel that over the years, the Lancaster community has not felt us enough as a union,” Omeler said. Atlantic Union Conference representatives have been attending town meetings and connecting with community leaders “to ensure that they know we are here to serve them.”
Omeler also discussed plans for using the Atlantic Union College property. “We have heard from the community, and from all six conferences, about the need to have a trade school and the types of certifications that will help answer some of the needs in our community,” he said. Omeler added that they are looking to establish partnerships with Seventh-day Adventist institutions of higher learning “so we can still have life on campus.” In February 2023, delegates of the Atlantic Union College Corporation Constituency Session voted to approve a recommendation to negotiate with Seventh-day Adventist higher education institutions to create a “Hub of Education” on the campus. The “hub” components include opening a trade school to offer in-demand trade courses and certificates, partnering with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America to offer profit-sharing workforce development certification programs, leasing space to the Southern New England Conference Corporation to be used for community services and ministry purposes, and partnering with a suitable developer to redevelop assets not used for the Hub of Education initiative.
“It’s going to be exciting, and we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do,” said Omeler. “We do our part, and God will do the rest.”
