Spring Meeting will be held at the General Conference headquarters building in Silver Spring, Maryland, April 9-10, 2019. The first session of Spring Meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of April 9, and business will conclude at 1:00 p.m. on the afternoon of April 10. Worship begins at 8:00 a.m. each day in the General Conference auditorium.
As we make preparation for the 2019 Spring Meeting, let us renew our petitions for a daily, personal baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, our work becomes ineffective. We are told, “He knew that His disciples must receive the heavenly endowment; that the gospel would be effective only as it was proclaimed by hearts made warm and lips made eloquent by a living knowledge of Him who is the way, the truth, and the life.”—AA 31.
We pray that you may be one with Him and for your safe travel with good health. We look forward to seeing you at Spring Meeting!
Watch Live
You can watch the meetings live on Tuesday, April 9, and Wednesday, April 10.
Agenda
View the 2019 Spring Meeting Agenda
Check-In On-Site
Committee members are required to Check-In when they arrive. Check-In will be at the entrance to the auditorium on Monday, April 8, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Late check-in will be in the rear of the auditorium.
If you did not return your badge when you left the building on your last visit, please remember to bring your badge for Spring Meeting.
Devotional Speakers
Our devotional speaker on Tuesday, April 9, is Clifford Goldstein, editor of the Adult Bible Study Guide for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Nicknamed “Heckle” by friends at the University of Florida for the colorful verbal assaults he leveled against a certain street preacher, Goldstein was the poster boy for rebellion and philosophical skepticism. A self-proclaimed seeker for meaning in life, Clifford, an agnostic, sampled everything from Hare Krishna to free-falling in his quest for truth. But his pursuit for truth paled against his passion for writing. His partially-written novel became his god until the true God revealed Himself in a remarkable way. (See The Clifford Goldstein Story, Review and Herald, 1996.)
Goldstein was born in Albany, New York. He was raised a secular Jew but became a Seventh-day Adventist in 1980. He studied at Southern College (now Southern Adventist University) and at Wildwood Lifestyle Center and Hospital. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Florida.
From 1984 until 1992, Goldstein edited the journal Shabbat Shalom, and in 1992 he received an M.A. in Ancient Northwest Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University.
In 1995, Goldstein was ordained to the Gospel Ministry. He served as the editor of Liberty magazine from 1992 to 1997 and was an associate director of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) department of the North American Division from 1993 to 1999.
Goldstein became the editor of the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide (ABSG) in 1999 for the world church, a position he continues to hold today. He wrote the 2006 Third Quarter edition of the ABSG, entitled “The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment,” which examined the prophetic significance of 1844, the investigative judgment and the heavenly sanctuary.
Goldstein has a special interest in topics related to creation and evolution and is known to espouse the belief that one cannot be an Adventist and an evolutionist at the same time.
Clifford and his wife Kimberly have two adult children, Zachary and Hannah, and one granddaughter, Nova.
A prolific author, Clifford Goldstein has written hundreds of articles and numerous books, including:
- Hands Across the Gulf (1987)
- The Saving of America (1988)
- 1844 Made Simple (1988)
- Best Seller (1990), republished as The Clifford Goldstein Story (1996)
- How Dare You Judge Us, God? (1991)False Balances (1992)
- A Pause for Peace (1992)
- Day of the Dragon (1993)
- The Remnant: Biblical Reality or Wishful Thinking? (1994)
- Between the Lamb and the Lion (1995)
- One Nation Under God? (1996)
- Children of the Promise (1997)
- Like a Fire in My Bones (1998)
- By His Stripes (1999)
- The Day Evil Dies (1999)
- The Great Compromise (2000)
- God, Gödel, and Grace: A Philosophy of Faith (2003)
- Graffiti in the Holy of Holies (2004)
- The Mules That Angels Ride (2005)
- Life Without Limits (2009)
- Shadow Men (2012)
- Baptizing the Devil (2017)
Our devotional speaker on Wednesday, April 10, is Dr. Clinton Wahlen, an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Clinton planned to be a scientist-astronaut at NASA. At the age of 17 he was accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Then someone handed him The Great Controversy. Although an atheist, he decided he should know something about the Bible, so began with the chapter, “The Origin of Evil.” Soon, he was studying the books of Daniel and Revelation, and became convinced that God was real, the Bible was God’s Word, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church was God’s end-time remnant movement identified in Revelation. After much study and responding to a call by Elder C. D. Brooks he was baptized.
Wahlen decided to attend Pacific Union College (PUC) rather than MIT and earned two bachelor’s degrees—in theology and computer science.
After serving for two years as a pastor in Northern California, Wahlen went to the Seminary where he completed his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree, including a thesis—“Selected Aspects of Ellet J. Waggoner’s Eschatology and Their Relation to His Understanding of Righteousness by Faith: 1882-1895.”
Returning to pastoral work in Northern California, he was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1990. Two years later he was called to the newly opened Zaoksky Seminary in Russia, where he taught Greek and New Testament classes and served as director of the library and the Ellen G. White Research Center until 1998 when he began doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, U.K., completing a Ph.D. in New Testament in 2004. His doctoral dissertation, Jesus and the Impurity of Spirits in the Synoptic Gospels was published in 2004 by Mohr Siebeck.
From 2003 to 2008 Dr. Wahlen served as an associate professor and then professor of New Testament at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in the Philippines. He also served as chair of the Biblical Studies department and was associate editor of the Journal of Asia Adventist Seminary.
Coming to the BRI in 2008, Dr. Wahlen’s research interests include the Gospels, Biblical Hermeneutics, and Adventist History. He has given many academic presentations worldwide, published articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, contributed an Adult Bible Study Guide on the Book of James, and is the author of two forthcoming commentaries—The Gospel of Luke, part of the Andrews Bible Commentary, and The Gospel of Matthew, a volume for the Seventh-day Adventist International Bible Commentary.
Following his journey from atheist to Adventist, Dr. Wahlen has grown to appreciate and respect the Bible even more, finding it ever reliable and relevant. His love for the Lord has grown deeper and his appreciation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its prophetic mission stronger. He is convinced, with the apostle Peter, that “we have not followed cunningly devised fables” (2 Peter 1:16).
Clinton and his wife, Gina, have two grown children—Daniel (and wife Samantha) and Heather, as well as adorable twin grandsons, Killian and Judah.
Daily Schedule
Daily Schedules for the dates of Spring Meeting and the pre-meetings will be posted on the Executive Committee Portal as they become available. Please login using your username and password, then click on the tab for Spring Meeting.