European Church Region Expands Strategic Focus

The appointment of three new members to the Trans-European Division (TED) leadership team is part of a key strategy to develop and enhance the skills of ministers, elders, member and administrators across the Division. Simon Martin and Nikolaus Satelmajer will serve as Discipleship Coaches while Mack Tennyson will take a lead role in training and enhancing treasury staff skills at Union and Conference level.

Leadership development is a key focus of the TED strategic plan. This currently includes, among other things, a very practical MA in leadership that is currently improving the skills of 39 leaders, and a DMin program which is planned to start next year. However, there is a recognition that more, on-site training is needed.

Meeting with Union presidents at a special Executive Committee on Thursday, 5 October, Raafat Kamal, TED President, shared a vision to place short-term missionaries in Europe who understand and appreciate the European context. “These would be experienced pastors with a proven track-record in mission / evangelism / multi-track approaches,” he emphasized, noting that the team is looking for people with a positive attitude for mentoring, and who embrace the models of total member involvement, urban evangelism, church planting and centers of hope in a secular post-truth environment, focusing on the majority population.

That is quite a challenge, but “we are not afraid of creativity and piloting new initiatives!” Kamal stated. “Our preference is not to identify evangelists for this assignment, but rather experienced leaders in doing mission who have a passion to grow others.”

Simon Martin, a Brit married to a Norwegian and with years of practical experience in church planting and coaching will act as a mentor for the Scandinavian Unions. He currently serves as Church Growth director for the South England Conference. Nikolaus Satelmajer has agreed to serve in the Adriatic and South-East European Unions (covering the former Yugoslavian territories). Both appointments will run with immediate effect until August 2020. A third person is being sought to mentor in the Baltics, Finland and Poland.

Satelmajer comes with a wealth of experience in church planting, administration and leadership. He developed Lead Ministry Professional Growth Seminars by satellite across the world, has presented to pastors on ethics, theology, evangelism, preaching, and writing, and has focused on evangelism in some of the more secular areas of the world. Before his retirement in 2011 he served as associate ministerial secretary and Ministry Magazine editor, at World Church headquarters. He comes with an impressive CV. In addition, while his working life has been mainly in North America, he has stayed tuned to his roots in the former Yugoslavia, including initiating relief projects alongside ADRA Canada during the Balkans crisis. Despite retirement, he is a man who loves to serve.

The third appointment, Mack Tennyson, focuses on the enhanced development of treasury teams across the TED. “We need someone whose main priority is to connect with our Field’s treasury departments, assess their needs and work on developing leaders and processes, then providing support based on needs,” states TED Treasurer, Nenad Jepuranovic.

Tennyson currently serves as special assistant to the treasurer at World Church headquarters as the director for Adventist Accounting software. With a PhD in Business administration, and with a career in world-wide consultancy work, auditing, lecturing and church administration, he comes with a skill set that can significantly help strengthen financial leadership across the Division.
His role will vary from developing strategies to helping with simple accounting questions as a resource provider, a trainer and a consultant.

“We live in an increasingly complex world and our pastors, members and administrators face a whole range of challenges that were not even on our horizon twenty or thirty years ago,” Kamal concludes. “These men will help us see through these some of these challenges, develop our skill sets and help place the church on a good mission footing for the years to come.”

It is anticipated that the new team members will join the TED family in time for Year End meetings, mid-November.