By Marcelo Altamiro Coelho

Itajaí Center of Influence cordinator

(Espaço Vida e Saúde), in Itajaí, SC.

Why starts a
Center of Influence?
Urban centers and large cities have become the focus of great interest to the Seventh-
Day Adventist Church (SDA) in recent years due to rapid population growth in urban areas1 and
the church's advancement in these places2. Since 2010, the General Conference has been
encouraging the establishment of centers of influence around the world to further advance and
make more disciples in these challenging areas.
However, interest in this type of work is not recent, since even in Old Testament times
God has demonstrated his love for city dwellers, as can be seen in the episode of Jonah in
Nineveh and the Lord's disturbing question to the prophet: “You had compassion on the
pumpkin, in which you did not work, nor did you make it grow, which in one night was born,
and in one night perished; and shall I not have compassion on the great city of Nineveh, where
are over a hundred and twenty thousand men?” 3 Throughout the biblical narrative we can
observe the divine action in the search for the human being and His desire to restore it to His
image and likeness. In Wright's words, "the biblical text itself is the result of [God's] mission in
action.” 4

Adventist movement in cities

The Adventist movement, based on Revelation 10, saw itself as a worldwide prophetic
movement that had a specific message before the return of Jesus. Ellen White spoke repeatedly
about the work to be done in the cities. For her, the question in her days was not if the church
should do the work in the cities, but how the work would be done. This apparent ambivalence
came from two concepts: on the one hand, families should avoid corruption, malice, and the
health problems inherent in cities and live in rural areas. On the other hand, she felt the burden
that the church had neglected gospel work in the cities. Correcting this neglect would be the
focal point of her ministry between 1901 and 19105. But since she had the understanding that
the Adventist message should be worldwide, she constantly warned the church that the work
should be done while the time was right and that it was necessary think in the whole world, as
he said on April 1, 1874:
A Being of dignity and authority - present at all our committee meetings - listened
with utmost interest to every word. He said deliberately, and with perfect
assurance, “The whole world,” he said, “is the great vineyard of God. The cities and
towns are part of this vineyard. They must be reached. ”6

1
“For the first time in history, more than half of the global population lives in urban areas. By 2050, 70% of the world
is expected to live in cities.” https://am.adventistmission.org/360-its-time
2
Knight says “the massive cities of the world are probably Adventist most untouched mission fields.” KNIGHT,
George. Another look at city mission. Adventist Review, Dez. 2001, p. 28.
3
Jonah 4:10-11.
4
An exhaustive study of God's mission in the world can be found in this book of WRIGHT, Chritopher J. H. A missão
de Deus. São Paulo: Vida Nova.
5
KNIGHT, p. 28.
6
Testemunhos Seletos, v. 3, p. 88.

Por que iniciar um centro de influência? 1

 For her, cities should be worked as God intended, for when this happened, “the result
will be to set in motion a mighty movement never before witnessed.” 7 In one of her many
appeals, she emphasized the need for the church to create facilities with a specific purpose:
We must do more than we have done to reach the people of our cities. We should
not erect large buildings in cities, but again and again it has been made clear to me
that we must establish in all our cities small facilities that become centers of
influence.8

It’s time
In September and October 20139, church leaders from around the world met for the It’s
Time urban mission conference, where they analyzed data, prayed together, and adopted the
following vision: “That every city will have an influential Adventist presence actively engaged
in a comprehensive mission, using Christ’s method of ministry.” Building on this vision, the
voted document encouraged the establishment of centers of influence in large cities, thus
redirecting the church's attention to reach the billions of people who lives in the massive big
centers of the world.

San Francisco
• The ideal of today's centers of influence is the model described by Ellen White in 1901 in
the Bay Area of San Francisco, California, where a church led by Pastor J. O. Corliss was
called by her as "beehive." In this church there were several services offered in the
community. It lists 14 service categories, 9 of which are health related. It divided as
categories into "lines of effort" and "centers of influence", namely:
• Visit to the sick and helpless
• Assistance to widows and orphans
• Running a home for workers and an employment agency for the unemployed
• Patient care
• Bible teaching from house to house
• Literature distribution
• Healthy Living Lessons
• Adventist school for children
• Medical mission in shelters
• Health food store offering nutritional instructions
• Hygiene working establishment
• Advanced Healthy Living Center (branch of the St. Helena Sanitarium)
• Vegetarian restaurant
• Doctors who volunteer (along with medical and dental students) to serve the poor.
The term “lines of effort” can be understood as the services offered by members and
“centers of influence” as the places where services were provided. It should be noted that not all
services were offered at the local church. For this reason, Ellen White encouraged the creation
and establishment of “small facilities that become centers of influence,” as she saw in these
places an opportunity for the church to be massively inserted and engaged in the work of
restoring life and health, as well as the proclamation of Gospel in the cities.
The current understanding of SDA Church10, centers of influence must be places that (1)
serve the local community, (2) put Christ's method into practice, (3) involve lay people in service,
(4) plant new Adventist groups between unreached people groups and (5) support themselves in
the long term.

7
Medical Missionary Ministry, p. 304.
8
Counsels on Health, p. 481.
9
https://am.adventistmission.org/360-its-time
10
https://urbancenters.org/the-basics-955

Por que iniciar um centro de influência? 2

Método de Cristo
The centers of influence must strictly follow the holistic method that Christ used in his
ministry. Ellen White lists 5 steps:
Only Christ's methods will bring true success in approaching the people. The
Savior mingled with men as a person who desired their good. He expressed
sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and gained their trust. He then
ordered, "Follow Me."11

It should be noted that there is a logical sequence which if followed well, will bring "true
success". A method that does not dissociate the social aspects of the invitation to follow Christ.
Centers of influence should not only serve people socially but should be intended to lead people
to Jesus.
Most churches, however, fail to meet or minister to their needs, due in part to a lack of
knowledge of what people really lack. We need to do an exegesis of society in order to find out
what people really need. As Van Gelder states, “We need to do the exegesis of culture just as
missionaries did so well with the diverse tribal cultures of peoples until then unreached”.12

n making this analysis, the church encounters an emotionally ill, spiritually void society seeking
a purpose for life. If it cannot search the community, the church can at least, as Jesus said,
discern "the signs of the times." A quick look around the church and the news will reveal the
problems and show the opportunities God puts before our eyes. That is why his call is so urgent
and has never been so necessary as in our time.

Principles of Evangelism
In the thematic section of the EGW Encyclopedia, Jerry Moon summarizes some
principles written by her that should guide evangelism and which are applied here to work in
cities. She says, for example, that members whom she calls Christian witnesses should “attend
to the people where they are and must adapt their tactics to the conditions of those they are ministering
to” (Ev, 57). When talking about doctrines, the recommendation was that, “not to create barriers,”
“it is best not to talk about some subjects in the opening presentations” (GW, 117). Regarding
identification as a Seventh-day Adventist, she suggests that “it is not necessary to identify yourself
as an Adventist [...] if it can create barriers that prevent people from understanding biblical doctrines,”
especially “in hostile environments. of our present world” (ibid., 119, 120).
Other principles found in the book Evangelism help in understanding the work to be
done:
“Our mission is to build relationships” (p. 227). “When confrontational methods are used,
many individuals who could have been won to Christ become resistant. Instead of a combative
and controversial stance, a Christlike approach is needed to reach people where they are ”(p.
248, 249).
For her, “the works of evangelism, care, development and health should not be done
separately. The offering of physical help must be combined with the preaching of God's Word (CS,
557).” And one of the broadest concepts is this: “It is through social relations that the Christian
religion comes into contact with the world.”13

Público negligenciado
There is a middle/upper middle class people that has sometimes not been contemplated
in the plans of churches that are already in urban areas. It must be taken into account that over
84% of Brazilians live in cities14 and that there is a higher concentration of middle/upper middle

11
The MInistry of Healing, p. 143.
12
GELDER, Van. Confident witness: changing world, p. 14.
13
Gospel Workers, p. 480.
14
https://educa.ibge.gov.br/jovens/conheca-o-brasil/populacao/18313-populacao-rural-e-urbana.html

Por que iniciar um centro de influência? 3

class15 than in rural areas (although three out of four people in urban areas live in poor living
conditions 16). SDA Church has sought to develop great projects of varied reach to all audiences,
but it is notable that many local churches are still planning services for a more vulnerable and
poor niche that does not necessarily live around the congregation. Perhaps this detachment
from the church from this class is the reason why so much has been heard of the word "relevant"
among Adventists lately.
Reaching out to people where they are is a basic principle of Christian endeavor, and
considering the public in urban areas, centers of influence can follow Ellen White's advice about
working with this class of people: “Plan to get closer to the classes. high, and you will not fail to reach
the most disadvantaged.” It can be concluded from this text that when elaborate plans, projects
and programs for the upper classes17, the most disadvantaged will be contemplated as well. But
the opposite may not have the same effect. It is noteworthy that centers of influence should
work with everyone, but Ellen White's advice is extremely helpful when we think of urban
areas and the people who reside there.

Church as a missionary school

In Ellen White's view, city churches should perform services and create centers of
influence connected with her. Not only did she defend churches in the city, but she often talked
about how to evangelize these churches. In Acts of the Apostles, for example, she noted that
“although it is in God's plan that chosen, consecrated and able workers be sent to important population
centers to hold public conferences, it is also their purpose that church members living in these cities use
the talents God has given you by working for people.”18 In 1909 she wrote something along these
lines: “The Lord has presented to me the work that must be done in our cities. Believers there
should work for God in the neighborhood and their homes.”19
Creating services requires churches to become missionary schools in order to prepare
members to carry out this function. In a letter to Stephen Haskell and his wife Hetty who were
doing work in New York City in 1901, Ellen White stressed the importance and need for training
of members:
Brother Haskell, the Lord has given you an opportunity to enter New York City,
and your mission work there must be an example of what this kind of work in other
cities should be like. You have to establish in New York a center of missionary effort
from which the work can be carried forward successfully. The Lord desires this
center to be a worker training school, and nothing should be allowed to interrupt the
work.20

It should be noted that what he was doing in New York should be "an example of what
this kind of work in other cities should be like." This work involved empowering members to sell
books, give Bible studies, and provide practical instruction and medical care..21
Teaching members to work in evangelistic work has always been imperative in the
writings of Ellen White, but this advice should be taken into greater consideration when a
church is in an urban area or wants to implement a center of influence. She points out that

15
“According to the official criteria, are in the middle class all families with income over 292 reais per member and
are in the upper class those who accumulate more than 1019 reais per month, per person. As most families in Brazil
aggregate three or four people, most of the Brazilian middle class households have total income between 900 and
4000 reais per month, adding the salaries of all their working members.”
https://mercadopopular.jusbrasil.com.br/artigos/248541970/voce-provavelmente-nao-e-da-classe-media-e-e-mais-
rico-do-que-pensava
16
http://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2017/12/maioria-da-populacao-urbana-do-brasil-vive-em-mas-
condicoes-diz-o-ibge.html
17
In the book The Ministry oh healing, p. 148, 149 Ellen White lists some reasons why the rich need to be reached.
18
The Acts of the Apostles, p. 158.
19
Testimonies, v. 9, p. 128.
20
Evangelism, p. 385.
21
KNIGHT, 28.

Por que iniciar um centro de influência? 4

 Every church should be a missionary school for Christian workers. Its members
should be instructed in giving Bible studies, conducting and teaching Sabbath School
classes, in the best way to assist the poor and care for the sick, to work for the
unconverted. There must be health, cooking, and classes in various branches of
service in Christian help. Not only should there be teaching, but real work under the
direction of experienced instructors. That masters go ahead in working among the
people, and others, joining them, will learn by their example. An example is worth
more than many precepts.22

A suggestive program is the Mission Institute that can help empower members to
develop the right view of work and staff to work more efficiently. Themes that can be studied:
missionary contextualization, Missio Dei concept, Revelation 10 and 14, concept of Integral
Mission, analysis of Christ's ministry and method, how to apply his gifts and talents, analysis of
Paul's ministry and the early church (as Ephesus), Mission in Adventist History, Medical
Missionary Work, New Church Planting, and Working in a Center of Influence.
The following sentence from the book Welfare Ministry helps to further clarify the
subject: “Christ's church on earth was organized for missionary purposes, and the Lord wants
to see the whole church idealizing means and plans by which big and small, rich and poor, hear
the message of truth. ”(p. 105)

Churches as centers of influence

Creating a center of influence must be a joint effort of associations, unions and divisions.
As stated earlier, these centers are places where the church connects with the community by
becoming relevant to the needs of the city and using its gifts and talents as a ministry to reach
people for Christ. Because it treats humans completely, it is also called a holistic urban center.
Ellen White said these places should apply Christ's method and provide lifestyle instruction,
treatment rooms, reading rooms, restaurants, canvassing links, lectures, instruction on how to
prepare healthy foods, and other activities.
It is not always possible to create such a structure, so each church can act as a center of
influence for:
• Make better use of church facilities (eg children's rooms) during the week for
other activities
• Adapt the structure with accessibility in mind for all audiences
• Create different ministries from existing ones
• Provide members with space to develop their gifts and talents.
• Open the church at various times other than services
• Redirect ministries and departments to serve not only members, but all people in
the community
• Have a calendar of church activities that includes city events

Other activities and ideas will surely come when members are trained and understand the true
role of the church in the community.

An urgent calling
The motivation for working in cities must be the love of Christ and the concern for the
salvation of people. But the imminence of Jesus' Return cannot be disregarded, as can be seen
in Ellen White's appeals to the church:
“We are very late in following the light God has given us as we work in the big cities.
The time is coming when laws will be formulated that will close the doors that are
now open to the message. [...] Evangelize the cities without delay, because time is
short. ”23

22
The Ministry of Healing, pág. 149.
23
Evangelism, p. 33.

Por que iniciar um centro de influência? 5

 “Cities must be worked like never before. What should have been done years ago
must now be done quickly. The work will be harder now than years ago, but it will
be done..”24

“Sin and wickedness are increasing rapidly, and now we must redeem the time by
working more earnestly..”25

“The time is coming when great cities will be swept away, and all should be warned
of these coming judgments. Not even a thousandth of the work to be done in cities
is currently being done, and that would be done if men and women did their full
duty..”26

Resources and References

Ellen White books:
• The Medical Missionary Ministry
• Mission to the cities
• Mind, Character, and Personality
• The Ministry of Healing
Sabbath School lesson – August to October 2016.
Enciclopédia de Ellen White, CPB.
The Blueprint – a manual for reaching the cities – Rico Hill e Jared Thurmon.
KNIGHT, George. Another look at city mission. Adventist Review, Dez. 2001.
Ministry magazine, 05/ 2013 em ministrymagazine.org/archive/2013/05/
https://urbancenters.org
https://espacovidaesaude.org/materiais

24
Loma Linda Message, p. 241.
25
Medical Ministry, p. 310.
26
Welfare Ministry, pp. 135 e 136.

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