Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in today. I’m Lauren Lacson, director for Communication & Media Production here at the Southern California Conference.

If you’ve been joining us so far this year, we’ve been sharing what our mission, vision and values look like as they are lived out in our conference each and every day.

Today, I’m going to talk to you about the core value we hold entitled “engagement.” This is the description: “We will do anything short of sin to reach people who don’t know Christ. To reach people no one is reaching, we will have to be fully engaged, doing things no one is doing.” 

This core value is so inspiring because it speaks to how we are committed to working together and utilizing new methods of connecting with one another as well as reaching out to others. 

We’ve talked in previous videos about just how diverse and large the Southern California Conference territory is. When it comes to reaching others for Christ in this complex territory, we have quite the task in front of us, don’t we! With such diversity, people are bound to respond to different things in different ways. What’s very impactful for one person may be ineffective to another. 

Lifeway research shares a few statistics on the effects of different types of evangelism:

• 24% of all non-Christians say they would attend a seminar on a spiritual topic
• 35% say they would attend a worship service if they were invited by someone they knew
• Half (51%) say they would likely come to a community service project organized by a local Christian church

Barna tells us that: 

• 40% of adults agree they are more open to talking online vs. in person with people who have opposing views on controversial topics. And, among non-Christians who report having had a digital discussion about Christianity with a friend or family member, 90% report that the conversation went well.

In Jesus’s earthly ministry, He modeled this and used different ways to reach people based on what they would respond to best. In the Review and Herald, Ellen White wrote:

“From Christ's methods of labor we may learn many valuable lessons. He did not follow merely one method; in various ways He sought to gain the attention of the multitude; and then He proclaimed to them the truths of the gospel.” —The Review and Herald

Here in SCC, we look to Jesus’s example and take a diverse approach to ministry and outreach. We’ve seen amazing testimonies come from traditional evangelistic series, from outreach through literature ministry, from personal evangelism efforts and also from online and digital evangelism. Our churches and schools are being creative with different techniques to reach others.

Here in our department, we’re passionate about storytelling, and we use various methods to share the stories of God working in our conference. You’ve heard us talk about this studio we’re building out, where I’m recording right now, to give us even more options when it comes doing evangelism. That’s just one example of the new methods were exploring to accomplish the same mission — reaching people who don’t know Christ. 

I encourage you to ask God to show you some small way to use the talents you have to reach out to people in unique ways. You may not be an evangelist, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something you can do to make a difference. There are so many ways to be a light for God in your circle of influence. 

Thanks again for joining us today. Be sure to subscribe to our channel for future videos. And check out our twice-monthly e-newsletter, which includes a new featured video, local church and school stories, upcoming events throughout the conference and lots more right to your email inbox.

Blessings to you in your ministry as you allow God to use you in reaching others with His love. We’ll see you in the next video!