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Church Manual, page xxi ( 17th Edition )
· "Changes in or revisions of the Church Manual, the Notes excepted (see below), can be made only by action of a General Conference session in which delegates of the world body of believers are assembled and have a voice in making revisions. If revisions in the Church Manual are considered necessary by any of the constituent levels (see page 26), such revisions should be submitted to the next constituent level for wider counsel and study. If approved, the suggested revisions are then submitted to the next constituent level for further evaluation. Any proposed revisions shall then be sent to the General Conference Church Manual Committee."
The 59th GC Session has changed the wording of this text to [ Click here ]
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Here is the constituent levels described on page 26 (this page number will change)
Church Manual, page 26 ( 17th Edition)
"Among Seventh-day Adventists there are four constituent levels leading from the individual believer to the worldwide organization of the work of the church:
1. The local church, a united organized body of individual believers.
2. The local conference or local field/mission, a united organized body of
churches in a state, province or territory. (see page xxii)
3. The union conference or union mission, a united body of conferences . . .
4. The General Conference, the largest unit of organization, embraces all . . .
These definitions have been clarified by the 59th GC Session |
The individual member is part of the first level, so when a member has a suggestion to improve the church manual, he needs to bring it to his church at a business meeting or to bring it to the church board of any local church.
The Church Manual Committee reviews the manual and suggests changes to be voted on by a GC Session.
Here is a transcript of the proceedings at the 59th GC Session related to the Church Manual. This prints out on 76 pages and it is hard to find a text - that is of interest to you - to see if it has been changed.
DiggingForTruth.org staff is carefully reviewing the transcript and organizing the changes to the Church Manual that have been approved by the delegates at the 59th General Conference Session in Atlanta.
This project is on-going and if we have not published anything for the texts that interest you - please refer fo the transcript - and come back again. The problem is that the transcipt gives the change and where it will appear in the new manual, it does not say where the topic appeared in the last edition. There are 14 Chapters in the new manual and 17 in the previous one.
Lectures about the Church Manual presented to GYC Conference in Seattle - Nov. 2012
by Jay Gallimore, President of Michigan Conference ( six part series - audio files )
https://www.audioverse.org/english/sermons/recordings/4604/church-authority-part-i.html
Changes to 
Chapter and titles, as found in the Table of Contents of the 17th edition (show changes that appear in the 18th edition)
Changes to Introduction
Major Changes
more separate pages will be created to discuss the other changes
- Appealing Differences to Next Level
- Church Discipline - New Rights given to members
- Baptism
- Business Meetings
- Church Board
- General Conference
- Ordination of Deaconesses
- A new right given to members (fairness in discipline)
- Liabilities of church organizations
- which defined the Corporate Witness of the Church as the body of Christ
Note: NO CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS at the 59th Session
Removal of summary of Doctrinal Beliefs use for instruction of baptismal candidates
See Summary of Doctrinal Beliefs (all 4 pages were removed)
Hot Topic for next General Conference Session Ordination of Women as Pastors
The Church Manual - 18th Edition
Explanation of Terms that will appear throughout the Church Manual
These changes are for editorial and printing economy
Church (with a capital "C") will be used in place of the full term Seventh-day Adventist Church and refers to the overall Church organization rather than to a local church or congregation, with the exception of when it is referred to within a quotation.
Conference now means 'conference, mission, field, section, delegration, or union of churches.' as the administrative context indicates. Generally, each congregation is a member of the sisterhood of churches known as a conference, but until the local organization achieves conference status, under General Conference Working Policy it may be identified as a mission, section, delegraion, or field. In some world divisions, union of churches in a particular country function as a conference for local-church purposes (see Chapter xx, Church Organization)
Pastor and minister - most areas of the world Church use 'pastor' to identify a member of the clergy, so that term is used in these pages rather than 'minister' - regardless of the responsibilities assigned by the local conference. Use of the term here is not intended to mandate that usage where the custom is to use 'minister' - Pastors referred to in this manual are those who have been appointed by the conference to oversee the affairs of the local church or district.
Abbreviation of Ellen G. White books follow the "Key to Abbreviations' found in the front of most of her books and are listed in the Spirit of Prophecy Index on page xx (number to be inserted when the manual is printed).
Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated, with the exception of when referred to within a Spirit of Prophecy quotation.
See page 20, 21 in 18th Edition
If you have any suggestions how to better organize or present this information - please contact us.
