"JOURNEY OF HOPE"                                                       Serving the North Bahamas Islands: Abaco, Grand Bahama, Bimini, and Berry Islands

SABBATH SCHOOL / PERSONAL MINISTRIES          

Department Description

The Personal Ministries Department of the North Bahamas Mission of Seventh-day Adventist is responsible for the religious education and the training, equipping motivation and mobilization of members of all ages for service for a finished work. The Department seeks to inspire members to be active participants in the process of evangelization, thereby ensuring they impact their communities, become spiritually mature and become contributors to the establishment of healthy churches in our Mission.

The department is composed of two units. Sabbath School (including all age levels) and Personal Ministries. These two units form a partnership rather than an organic unity. They share common links and strategies at some points. At others, they function as two separate entities under one directorship.

The Goal of the department is to involve members in outreach and dynamic Christian service that impacts their communities daily.

Sabbath School

The Sabbath School unit of the department is the primary religious education system of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that builds the faith and lifestyle of members. The objectives of the Sabbath School are reached through the following four areas of emphasis: 

* FAITH - Make the saving gospel of Jesus Christ central in all Sabbath School /Personal Ministries; Encourage Spiritual growth through systematic Bible Study, Prayer and the sharing of the word.

* FELLOWSHIP - Fostering a caring and loving relationship among members, nurturing new members and working to restore inactive members to active participation in church life.

* COMMUNITY - Reaching out to the community to attract non-members to the Sabbath School and Church while directing all members to discover their spiritual gifts to use in service.

* WORLD MISSION - Maintaining a consciousness for the global mission of the church and supporting it by systematic offerings and personal involvement.

The Sabbath School comprises the following Divisions:

Senior - College age through Adulthood
Youth - 14-18 years of age
Earliteen - 10-14 years of age
Junior - 10-12 years of age
Primary - 7-10 years of age
Kindergarten - 4-7 years of age
Cradle Roll - Birth to 4 years of age

PERSONAL MINISTRIES

The Personal Ministries unit of the department focuses on training church members for soul winning, developing healthy churches and providing resources and expertise in the development of natural church development-oriented systems and strategies.

The Personal Ministries Department specializes in the following areas:

* Growing Healthy Churches
* Distribution of Literature
* Opening the Word through Personal Bible Study
* Lay Preaching
*Organizing and Running the Community Services Programmes of the Church.
* Organizing and supervising the Annual Ingathering Programme.
* Co-operating with the Sabbath School Department in organizing and overseeing the Sabbath School Action Unit Plan.
* Co-operating with the local Church Pastor in the organization and management of small group ministries and to design programmes and resources to help in development of natural church development and church growth.

The Sabbath School /Personal Ministries Department endeavours to motivate all members to dynamic Christian service with the conviction that "The Church of Christ is organized for service" (The Ministry of Healing, 148), and "Every son and daughter of God is called to be a missionary; we are called to the service of God and our fellow men" (The Ministry of Healing, 395).

To this end, "Every church should be a training school for Christian workers. Its members should be taught how to give Bible readings, how to conduct and teach Sabbath School classes, how best to help the poor and to care for the sick, how to work for the unconverted ... There should not only be teaching, but actual work under experienced instructors" (Christian Service, 59).