SECC Pastors Present at National Conference
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very December, pastors from all over the nation gather at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, for the annual Pastoral Leadership Evangelism Council (PELC). PELC is the oldest and largest continuous gathering of Seventh-day Adventist pastors in the world. This year, several voices from Southeastern California Conference (SECC) were featured. The theme for this year’s conference was “Embracing God’s New, Discovering God’s Next.” An intentional effort was made to focus on fresh perspectives on the way the gospel is presented. Two voices that continue to share God’s love in new and exciting ways are Kevin Wilson and Justin Khoe. Together, they did a virtual seminar on establishing an online presence. Wilson, associate pastor at Oceanside church, has over 200,000 followers on TikTok (@ crossculturechristian) where he’s “bridging the gaps between your life and the good life, one cup of chai at a time.” Wilson shared with attendees, “God has reminded me constantly that He is bigger than my theology, that He is also present outside of church walls. Maybe evangelism simply means showing up where God has already shown up.” God continues to show up on social media. With 4.5 billion users on social media, it is time for the church to show up too. “From my perspective, it’s imperative that churches learn how to engage faithfully on the internet or risk becoming extinct,” said Khoe, a professional youtuber (@jkhoe), podcaster, and church consultant, who engages with over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Wilson and Khoe presenting virtually at PELC.
40 Pacific Union Recorder
Southeastern California Conference
Sovory, King and Brooks hosting online segment for PELC conference. The seminar also featured collaborations with other Adventist social media influencers. “Those of us engaged in digital ministry are always looking for opportunities to collaborate because we recognize it’s one of the most important things we could be doing,” said Khoe. Delroy Brooks, Baron Sovory, and Andrea King have also learned the value of collaboration. They have been collaborating for over a year. Together, they presented a seminar on collaborative ministry. Brooks pastors the Juniper Avenue church in Fontana. Sovory pastors the Valley Fellowship church in Rialto. Previously, King pastored the 16th Street church in San Bernardino. She is now the director for communications and media for SECC. The three pastors collaborated in community service projects, youth and children’s ministry initiatives, sermon series, and a weekly online prayer service called “Breakthrough Live.” In their seminar, they shared ways to collaborate and showed how collaboration is a vital component needed to take ministry to the next level. “We go further faster when we collaborate together,” said Sovory. “Let’s work together to accomplish greater good in our churches. We’re all working towards the same goal, which is building the kingdom of God—not building my kingdom but building the kingdom.” ____________________ By Andrea King
