In 1998, regional conference presidents voted to support the project and pledged financial backing. Oakwood College, as as part of its institutional master plan, has also pledged to give financial support to the project. Professional ministers and non-professional leaders in ministry have not waited for the church to provide them with continuing education or ministry resources. Instead, they have sought out a host of evangelical training programs to meet their needs, including the plethora of meta-church seminar modules that have flooded the market place. Anecdotal information suggests a correlation between the lack of continued professional growth of the minister and dissatisfaction among members who question the minister's competence.
Members often feel that the minister's decision making is uniformed by relevant constructs.
Members also question the minister's reference point for decision making, particularly when it is evident that decisions are based on political, economic, or other secular rationales, rather than the Scriptures. Conspicuously absent from most Adventist ministers' leadership approach, are models of ministry that mirror Christ's work in solving social problems. Christ challenged and addressed prevailing social ills of his day. He was a change agent who redefined the roles of women, children, publicans, sinners, and the disenfranchised. This is illustrated in His radical re-definition of neighbor.