Welcome!
Something significant happened at the North American Division Year-end Meetings (NADYEM) on October 27, 2023. An action was taken to receive a report on recommendations from an appointed Education Task Force based on research, surveys, news reports, and data. The Task Force was asked to look at the prevalent teacher shortage, globally, that directly impacts the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America and bring back suggestions on retention, recruitment, remuneration, and respect. Various committees, including the NAD Board of Education, reviewed the recommendations and made suggestions.
Currently, in the NAD Adventist Education System (Early Childhood-20) there are 77,304 students enrolled who are directly impacted by 9,960 educator evangelists across our great territory. It was noted in a report to NADYEM Executive Committee that “The spiritual influence of an Adventist school teacher extends into every single minute of a school day. The entire life of a church-school teacher, in fact, is one in which he/she is consecrated to the ministry of teaching, suggesting that every classroom, in every school, is an evangelistic meeting, making Adventist education the longest continuous running evangelistic series in the Adventist Church!” This statement was met with amens and applause. I, too, applaud each one of you!!
Below are the recommendations made to the NAD Executive Committee for consideration:
To update the wage scale for educators and pastors in consideration of industry standards to support an equitable living wage.
1
To review and enhance an employment benefit package for educators and pastors.
2
To have NAD partner with and support unions in creating incentives for theology and education majors.
3
To provide funding for hiring union-level coaches to facilitate the coaching process of educators in their territories in an intentional and sustainable manner, and to include the development of resources to support the process.
4
These recommendations are an indicator that pastoral ministry and educational ministry are equally valuable to the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. God’s messenger to this end-time church underscored this important consideration in these inspired words: “In the highest sense the work of education and the work of redemption are one, for in education, as in redemption, ‘other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ’” (Education, p.31). She further noted that “their [educators’] work, in its influence, ranks with that of the Christian minister” (Review and Herald, May 20, 1890).
Let us support the committees who will be working diligently and prayerfully, in the next year or two, to make the recommendations come to life.
Prayers and courage,
Arne Nielsen, PhD
Vice President for Education
TOP
Arne Nielsen, PhD
VICE PRESIDENT, EDUCATION
copyright 2023 North American Division of Adventist Education. all rights reserved.
