The 2025 North American Division (NAD) Year-End Meeting began at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 30, at the NAD headquarters in Columbia, Maryland. Two hundred and forty executive committee members (of 304) convened for day one of business meetings during which, until Tuesday, November 4, they will vote on business items, receive reports, strategize, and fellowship with colleagues in ministry. For greater accessibility, the year-end meeting is also being live-streamed on the NAD website, Facebook, and YouTube platforms.

G. Alexander Bryant, NAD president, opened his 2025 president’s report by acknowledging his election at the recent General Conference Session. “It’s always a pleasure to serve, and I was honored this past GC Session that the church, and you, my colleagues, gave a show of confidence and elected me for another five years,” he said to warm applause. He then extended thanks to the delegates on behalf of Kyoshin Ahn, executive secretary, and Judy R. Glass, treasurer, who were also elected to serve another term.

Bryant continued, in a nod to the division’s 40th anniversary, “I also recognize that we stand on the shoulders of some giants who have come this way.” He subsequently provided a concise history of the division and its enterprising leaders.

While the NAD traces back to 1912, it was a General Conference department until 1985, when it became a separate world division under the leadership of Charles E. Bradford (1980s). “One of the things he was known for, especially on the evangelistic witness side, was the ‘caring church,’” said Bryant. Next was Al McClure (1990s), known for spearheading satellite evangelism with the ’Net Series. In 2009, Don Schneider (2000s) launched the “year of evangelism,” which still holds the record for annual baptisms in the NAD. Finally, Bryant’s predecessor, Daniel R. Jackson (2010s), set and reached an ambitious goal of planting 1,000 churches. 

Bryant also briefly recognized NAD executive secretaries and treasurers to present. In a reflective moment, he shared that he and Ahn are the only executive secretaries still alive, while all other former presidents and secretaries are “resting in Jesus.” Smiling, he noted that all former NAD treasurers are still with us. 

Evangelism has been a common thread in all eras, leading to the NAD’s current theme, voted in March 2021: “Together in Mission: I Will Go.” Bryant divided the theme into strategic focus areas, “the three Ms” — multiply, media, and mentorship.

Finding New Ways to Multiply in North America | Pentecost 2025

Bryant first spoke to multiply, defined as “leverag[ing] opportunities to exponentially grow the ministry of Jesus in all aspects of ministry, such as praying, building relationships, educating, helping, healing, proclaiming, revitalizing, reclaiming, and planting.” 

As NAD leadership determined how to best celebrate a milestone year in 2025, they were inspired to “double down on the mission of the church,” anchored in “multiply.” Thus, Pentecost 2025 — the division-wide evangelism initiative centered on prayer, community engagement, proclamation, and discipleship — was born. Focusing on activity rather than baptismal numbers, NAD leadership especially wanted to encourage the more than 60 percent of our churches with 100 or fewer members.

Bryant then revealed that more than 5,200 churches and schools had registered to participate in Pentecost 2025, significantly exceeding the goal of 3,000. Highlighting education, he noted that more than 300 schools registered for evangelistic initiatives, many student-led. Among the youngest preachers was a four-year-old from Lynden Daycare Center in Queens, New York. These reports led to spontaneous applause for the NAD’s Office of Education. 

Unexpectedly, he added, NAD summer camps also found a way to get involved in Pentecost 2025. Last summer, nearly 5,000 Adventurers and juniors, and more than 5,000 teens used Pentecost 2025 Bible study guide sets for devotionals. 

Delegates then viewed a teaser of NAD Communication’s Pentecost 2025 documentary web series on creative ways churches are reaching their communities. Featured stories included that of a Ukrainian church reaching Ukrainians, Russians, Moldovans, and Kazakhs; a church with only 15 regular attendees engaging in outreach; a church-based free health clinic; and Indigenous ministry. One pastor cited his primary goal as people “find[ing] God to be a caring, loving God; not the God of racism, sexism, poverty and abuse, but the Father who welcomes us in.” 

Next, Bryant shared Pentecost 2025 statistics, including the number of union and conference applications, and proclamation events by month. For instance, the Southern Union has the most churches involved, and October has seen the largest number of proclamation events.

He also highlighted Reach Baltimore, a partnership of numerous area churches, It is Written, the Chesapeake and Allegheny East conferences, the Columbia Union Conference, Hope Channel, and the North American Division. Concluding this Sabbath, Reach Baltimore has comprised a month-long English series with evangelists Bryant and John Bradshaw, It is Written president; a two-weekend Hispanic series with Robert Costa, speaker/director, Escrito Está; an AMEN free health medical, dental, and vision clinic; and an archaeology seminar.

Among other multiply initiatives mentioned was Antioch St. Louis, including a Pathways to Health clinic resulting in nearly 1,000 Bible study requests, preceding a proclamation series hosted by Debleaire Snell, Breath of Life Ministries speaker/director, and Oakwood University Church senior pastor. Another was “a delightful café” run by the Southwestern Union in Fort Worth, Texas, serving as a center of influence. 

Mentoring Leaders in Different Spheres and Language Groups

Bryant then turned to the second M, mentorship, defined as “collaborat[ing] with entities in creating an intentional leadership development plan for leaders.”

He shared that the NAD has several leadership development programs under Paulo Macena, leadership director, including leadership summits in English, Spanish, and Portuguese; a multilingual library with more than 600 videos on leadership topics; leadership certification in English and Spanish; and a mentorship certification program for pastors and elders.

“We would encourage your pastors and elders to take advantage of this tremendous resource [available at adventistleadership.com],” he stated.

Bryant also highlighted an exciting new initiative: a small schools leadership cohort under Leisa Standish, NAD director of elementary education. 

Speaking to all NAD mentorship efforts, he concluded, “We’re very thankful for what they’re doing to help the next generation of leaders.”

Media: Creating a Bridge from Views to Pews

Bryant spent the most time on the final M — media, which “explore[s] opportunities to network and collaborate across all organizations, finding ways in which we can maximize and expand our utilization of media.”

He introduced Adventist Connect, formerly known as Adventist Information Ministry, or AIM. Adventist Connect manages church and school websites, trains local church digital missionaries, and helps local churches connect with their community. 

Adventist Connect is helping the NAD tackle the following conundrums: 1) How do we harvest the many interests generated on digital platforms? 2) How do we work together more synergistically in a world with no geographical or organizational boundaries?

Bryant made a case for effective digital interest management with eye-opening statistics. According to Pew Research studies, eighty-three percent of U.S. adults use YouTube, and 68 percent use Facebook. Additionally, more than 95 percent of Canadian adults and 98 percent of U.S. adults own a cell phone, most of them smartphones. He quipped that even 76 percent of those 65 and older in the U.S., and 85 percent in Canada — “all of y’all”— own smartphones. Smartphone use is high across age demographics and in urban (93 percent) and rural areas (87 percent). “We have to retrain ourselves in the places where people are,” he affirmed.

He then introduced Adam Fenner, vice president of digital media and director for the Adventist Learning Community, to discuss our role in a world where people “are more likely to run across an Adventist online than the physical world.”

We have to be [online] to be relevant,” Fenner said, continuing, “It’s not getting views, likes, [or] shares. It’s about finding a way to take people from the digital to the local church.”

Fenner introduced a two-year division-wide digital evangelism initiative with Adventist Connect helping conferences empower local churches to reach their communities online. Brent Hardinge, Adventist Connect director, shared that the three-month digital evangelism cycle will encompass:

Notably, the NAD is fully funding this initiative, making it accessible to all churches.

Each conference will be asked to select at least one church for this venture. However, Fenner cautioned that this initiative is not for every church. “The real challenge and the real opportunity is to find churches where the pastor and members are united in prayer, open to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and ready to engage personally with those God brings to them.”

Hardinge asserted, “This isn’t just [a] campaign; it’s a framework for long-term digital ministry growth. It’s not about technology; it’s about using every tool available to bring freedom, hope, and wholeness in Jesus to a broken world. Together, we can make digital evangelism an effective continuing ministry in every corner of our division — one church at a time, one community at a time.”

Different Bait for Different Fish

Bryant took the stage again, sharing a map of the percentage of Christians across the U.S. He noted that most Christians are in the southeastern portion of the U.S., with numbers dwindling to about half in the middle of the country and even less in the northwest. This variation is mirrored across Canada.

“This is how you know that one size cannot fit all, because the fishing holes we’re fishing in are different,” he said, adding, “So we need to have a broad approach and allow differences from one side of the country, sometimes from one side of the street to another.” 

Bryant then unveiled OneVoice27: Mission for All, a GC evangelism initiative launching in September 2027. While the Christian world celebrates the anniversary of Christ’s baptism that year, Adventists worldwide will seek unique ways to tell people about Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and soon return under the theme “The Messiah.” 

He cited Evangelism (p. 122) as an anchor text: “Let every worker …  study, plan, devise methods, to reach the people where they are. We must do something out of the common course of things. We must arrest the attention. We must be deadly in earnest. We are on the very verge of times of trouble and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of.”

Bryant shared that the world church has given each region carte blanche to find a creative way of using media to “preach the gospel to every man, woman, boy, and girl” in their context; this topic will be discussed in greater detail at NAD YEM on November 2. Moreover, drawing from global statistics on media consumption, this definition would encompass television, radio, social media, and publications, with an emphasis on Ellen G. White’sThe Desire of Ages.

As he concluded, Bryant put on his evangelist hat. “God has called the Seventh-day Adventist Church to depopulate hell.” Then, drawing on the promise: “Not by might, nor by power,” he continued, “[And] by the Holy Spirit’s power God will give us the strength and ability to be up to the task.”

He called church members and leaders to view our diversity as a strength in a divisive time. “The devil is throwing everything at us to keep us divided … politics … cultural issues. The Bible says he’s angry, walking about like a roaring lion. But if we stand together, there’s nothing the devil can do to stop us. God says ‘greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.’ May God bless us as we stand ‘Together in Mission’ for the cause of Jesus Christ.”

View the president’s full report at this link. 

Additional Resources and Links

Click here to view the NADYEM on the NAD website, here for Facebook, and here for YouTube.

Visit pentecost2025.com for resources and information on this NAD evangelism initiative. 

Click here for free downloads of the NAD’s Momentum Pentecost 2025 youth Bible study guides, and here to purchase the complete set. 

Watch the “Faith at Work” Pentecost 2025 documentary series promo here. 

Registration is open for the next hybrid Adventist Leadership Summit, to be held November 16, 2025, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. Click here for more info. 

Click here to learn more about the NAD’s new, two-year digital evangelism initiative with Adventist Connect.