Pr Arnold Alexander

Biography

I am Arnold Alexander, the eldest of 5 siblings.  Heather and I will be married for 37 years this year. We have a daughter Lizelle married to Vaughan Petersen, and they have made us proud grandparents of a handsome little boy, Levi Grant Petersen. Before God called us to ministry, I worked in the Financial Services industry for over 30 years. My retrenchment in 2012 was an exceptionally peculiar entry wedge that God utilised to commence my ministry.

In February 2013 I enrolled at Helderberg College of Higher Education (HCHE) where I commenced my theological studies. I completed my studies and graduated from HCHE in December 2016.

We received a call to pastoral ministry from the Cape Conference, in the Swartland District on 1 January 2017, and served here until 31 December 2019. Our next assignment commenced on 1 January 2020 in the Central Peninsula 2 District. We served this district during an unprecedented and unparalleled period in our history. It was during our time in this district that I was ordained to the pastoral ministry on 18 March 2022.

At the 5^th Constituency meeting of the Cape Conference, on the 20 March 2022, we were called to administration where I currently serve as the Executive Secretary. We are deeply appreciative of the providence and protection of God during our time in pastoral ministry, and one year in Secretariat.

Personal Camp Meeting Message

I am delighted to participate and minister at your camp meeting. It is a time of excitement, fellowship, inspiration, and spiritual rejuvenation. However, we cannot forget the recent past where gatherings of this nature and magnitude were prohibited. We have been directly impacted, or acquainted with someone who was affected and infected by COVID-19. Because death has visited us, many may still be grieving in the aftermath of this pandemic. We have passed through this period and now able to congregate at this camp meeting since this unforgettable epoch in our history.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we are acutely aware of the present time in the context of history, and more significantly prophesy. Our identity and theology firmly focus us on the second coming of Jesus Christ, and we fervently and urgently anticipate it. While camp meeting is a time of excitement, fellowship, inspiration, and spiritual rejuvenation, it must equally be a time firmly focussed on preparation for mission. As a movement we have been called to participate in God’s mission and camp meeting must be used as a mobilisation tool for this purpose.

EGW writes, “The camp meeting is one of the most important agencies in our work. It is one of the most effective methods of arresting the attention of the people and reaching all classes with the gospel invitation.” (6T, 31.1). Mission is the core business of the church, and I have never been more aware of this fact than the present time. May this camp meeting constrain and compel us and serve as a seminal moment to energise and mobilise for mission with a resounding, “I WILL GO!!”