North American Division Evangelism Institute (NADEI)

The North American Division Evangelism Institute (NADEI) is the North American Division’s evangelistic ministry training institute with offices at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, located on the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. NADEI trains seminary students, pastors, and church members in practical personal and public evangelism methods.

Origin and Background

The roots of NADEI can be traced to conversations in the mid 1970s between Lowell Bock, then president of the Lake Union Conference, and Steve Vitrano, from the Andrews University Theological Seminary. They conceived a plan to provide seminary students with ministerial training that was “practical, pastoral, and evangelistic.”¹ The two experimented with several different training programs for seminary students, who were given credit for participation. These initiatives were met with various levels of success, but provided valuable information for the design of the program that eventually was implemented.

To further develop Bock’s and Vitrano’s idea, Don Gray, then pastor of the Stone Tower Church in Portland, Oregon, was invited to serve the Lake Union Conference as ministerial director in 1976. In this position, he was asked “to work closely with the Seminary in developing a training program that would emphasize the practical phase of ministry with emphasis on soul-winning.”²

With these foundational pieces in place, Bock decided to move ahead with establishing a training school in Chicago. The purpose of this school was to train students in personal and public evangelism through supervised instruction and active field participation. Students would spend three months in Chicago in preparation and implementation of a public evangelistic meeting.

The next challenge was securing housing for the estimated fifty students and staff who would attend the program. In March 1979, through a series of events that some would later describe as “providential,” the Godair Building, a five-acre fifty-three-room retirement center located in Hinsdale, Illinois, was leased for two years at the rate of one dollar a year. The building came fully equipped with everything from furniture and linens to dishes and even kitchen equipment.³

Meanwhile, the Lake Union was searching for a director who could teach and oversee the program. After much discussion and searching, the Lake Union was led to extend a call to a young pastor from New England, Mark Finley, to serve in this capacity.⁴ After a few months of planning and preparation to finalize the initial curriculum, the Lake Union Soul-Winning Institute (LUSI) opened its doors and hosted its first cycle of students in the fall of 1979. The initial group consisted of thirty-five individuals, which included seminary students as well as lay people who were invited to take part in the training.⁵

The early success of these first meetings resulted in the establishment of a local congregation, the Burbank Seventh-day Adventist Church, located southeast of Hinsdale in suburban Chicago.⁶ It was planted and pastored by Mark Finley until 1982 when it was transferred from the Lake Union Conference to the Illinois Conference, who assigned a new pastor to the congregation.

In January 1982, NADEI relocated from the Godair Building to a complex of three apartment buildings, which had just been purchased for the institute, located at 1120 64^th Street, LaGrange, Illinois.⁷ This new space offered office and classroom space, as well as housing for those attending the institute.

Transfer to the North American Division

Due to the success of LUSI in the Chicago area, as well as impact on the lives of participants, it caught the attention of leaders at the North American Division (NAD). These leaders desired to extend the influence of LUSI beyond the Lake Union. After a series of discussions in 1983, the ownership of the institute was transferred from the Lake Union to the NAD. The change in administration also brought with it a name change: the Lake Union Soul-winning Institute was renamed the North American Division Evangelism Institute, commonly known as NADEI (pronounced /'næd.i/).⁸

Mark Finley accepted a call to serve in the Trans-European Division in 1985, which left NADEI in need of a new director. Elder Russell Burrill was invited to assume leadership.⁹ Under his leadership, NADEI also planted a church in another Chicago suburb, the West Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tinley Park, Illinois, in 1987. In addition to evangelism training and practice, the staff from NADEI served as the pastoral staff for the West Park church.¹⁰

In 1992, the question arose whether “NADEI could better serve the students on location at the seminary.” A key reason for this move came from concern about students with families. A three-month move to Chicago during their time at the seminary created significant challenges at home. On October 13, 1992, the North American Division accepted NADEI’s proposal to relocate to Berrien Springs. Courses were revised to conform with Andrews University and accreditation guidelines, and listed under the Christian Ministry (now Practical and Applied Theology) program. While “close cooperation with the seminary” was expected, NADEI would “continue to be operated by the North American Division independent of the seminary.”¹¹

From its new location in a basement suite at 9047 U.S. 31 North, Berrien Springs, Michigan,¹² NADEI broadened its reach to the entire constituency of the North American Division. Students and staff coordinated evangelistic efforts with conferences around the division, holding meetings in a variety of locations. Seminarians benefited from prolonged access to NADEI resources and training integrated into their regular coursework.¹³

With the change in how courses were taught after the move to Berrien Springs, lay members were no longer able to attend the same classes as the seminary students. A new way to train lay evangelists was developed, called Extension Schools, where NADEI staff traveled on weekends to various conferences to provide similar evangelism and church growth training the seminary students were receiving.

In June 2007, Russell Burrill made the decision to retire, after leading NADEI for over twenty years. Ron Clouzet, dean of the School of Religion at Southern Adventist University, was called to direct NADEI. Under his leadership, NADEI continued to implement successful evangelistic training events throughout the NAD. Clouzet served as director until November 2015 when he accepted an invitation to become ministerial director and director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries for the Northern Asia-Pacific Division.

In November 2016, Eduard Schmidt was named director. Schmidt had joined NADEI in 1993 as an associate director under Russell Burrill and had been an effective instructor in the areas of creative evangelism and strategic planning for church growth. During his tenure as director, NADEI faced the challenges of how to provide evangelism training and do effective evangelism during the COVID-19 pandemic. This presented an opportunity to explore how to effectively do evangelism and build relationships in a virtual setting.

November 2022 brought new changes to the institute as Eduard Schmidt chose to step down from being the director in preparation for retirement. Tim Madding was appointed as the new director at that time. Madding joined the institute in the fall of 2021 as an associate director for church planting, overseeing the Seeds and ACTS programs and teaching church planting and church growth classes for the MDIV program at the Seminary.

NADEI’s Programs

In addition to its work preparing future pastors through training in evangelism and church growth at the seminary, NADEI has promoted healthy congregations through innovative programs. In 1995 NADEI established the Seeds Church Planting conferences, which take place periodically around the NAD. These meetings have been directly responsible for a surge in church planting initiatives in many union conferences. They were established with the intention of encouraging and equipping pastors and lay leaders alike with the tools for successful church planting. With the renewed interest in church planting, a need was identified for further support for church planters. In response, the ACTS (Assess, Coach, Train, Send) Church Planting Support System was developed to encourage ongoing collaboration between experienced church planters and those who are new to it.

Another tool utilized by NADEI that has helped many churches grow is the Natural Church Development (NCD) survey, a church health assessment based on the premise “that as obstacles to growth are removed, the church will naturally grow as God has given it the ability to grow.”¹⁴

Equipping University, previously called Extension Schools, a program to certify lay evangelists, continue to be offered to conferences across the division.

Since its inception, NADEI has grown beyond its initial vision to be a major player around the world church, empowering pastors and members alike to reach others in real and practical ways. To date, every conference in the NAD has hosted a NADEI training event at some time. In addition, many NADEI programs have gained the attention of church leaders around the world and have been replicated in other areas of the globe. 

NADEI recognizes that success of its mission depends on its ability to adapt to an ever-changing world while it remembers the reason for its existence. Its mission is to create “mission disrupters to reach North America with the Christ-centered Seventh-day Adventist message of hope and wholeness.”¹⁵

North American Division Evangelism Directors¹⁶

Lake Union Soul Winning Institute (1979-1983)

Mark Finley (1979-1983)

North American Division Evangelism Institute (1983- )

Mark Finley (1983-1985), Russell Burrill (1985-2007), Ron Clouzet (2007-2015), Eduard Schmidt (2016-2022), Tim Madding (2022- ).

Sources

Bock, Lowell. “The Open Door of Opportunity.” Lake Union Herald, March 27, 1979.

“Come, Share Our Miracles!: The Building.” Lake Union Soul Winning Institute Bulletin, Summer 1980. North American Division Evangelism Institute office archives.

North American Division Committee. General Conference Archives. Accessed January 29, 2023. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/NAD.

North American Division Evangelism Institute. 2022. Accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/history.

North American Division Evangelism Institute, Reports, 1986-1988, NADEI archives, Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985.

Wallack, Jere. “Laymen and Pastors Learn Together.” Lake Union Herald, August 28, 1979.

Notes

1. “History,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/history. Andrea Pusey, NADEI resource center manager, contributed significantly to this article through her personal knowledge and research of NADEI archival material.↩

2. “History,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/history; “Lake Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1977), 58.↩

3. “Come, Share Our Miracles!: The Building,” Lake Union Soul Winning Institute Bulletin, Summer 1980, 6 and 24, North American Division Evangelism Institute office archives.↩

4. Lowell Bock, “The Open Door of Opportunity,” Lake Union Herald, March 27, 1979, 6-7.↩

5. The North American Division Evangelism Institute scrapbook, assembled by Genevieve Clark, November 17, 2002, North American Division Evangelism Institute office archives. Jere Wallack, in “Laymen and Pastors Learn Together,” Lake Union Herald, August 28, 1979, 10-11, states that there were only thirty-four students, but NADEI records record thirty-five students in the first class.↩

6. “Come, Share Our Miracles!: The Building,” Lake Union Soul Winning Institute Bulletin, Summer 1980, 24, North American Division Evangelism Institute office archives.↩

7. “North American Division Evangelism Institute,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985), 203; North American Division Evangelism Institute Report, August 14, 1986, NADEI Archives, Berrien Springs, Michigan, 1.↩

8. North American Division Annual Council, October 12, 1983, 173-174, General Conference Archives, accessed January 29, 2023, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/NAD/NAD1983-10.pdf.↩

9. The North American Division Evangelism Institute scrapbook, assembled by Genevieve Clark, November 17, 2002, North American Division Evangelism Institute office archives.↩

10. North American Division Evangelism Institute Report, July 21, 1988, NADEI Archives, Berrien Springs, Michigan, 2.↩

11. North American Division Year-end Meeting, October 13, 1992, 98-99, General Conference Archives, accessed January 31, 2023, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/NAD/NAD19921013-01.pdf.↩

12. “North American Division Evangelism Institute,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1993), 182.↩

13. “History,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/history; Doug Kilcher, “NADEI Moves to Berrien Springs,” Seminary News, Winter/Spring 1993, 1-2.↩

14. “Natural Church Development,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/nadequipping/natural-church-development.↩

15. “About,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/.↩

16. “History,” North American Division Evangelism Institute, 2022, accessed December 13, 2022, https://www.nadei.org/about/history.↩