Until they have a claim, many people don’t know who Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) is. That is unfortunate because ARM is much more of an asset in ministry to our church than merely offering insurance.
In 1936 ARM began providing risk management solutions for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. William Benjamin presented to church leadership the concept of having our own risk management services. The church allocated $25,000 (more than $460,000 in today’s dollars) to start the ministry of risk management. At this time, the idea of a multinational organization investing in risk management with this intentionality was a bold step.The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) conveys a simple lesson: wise stewards will be entrusted with more assets; unwise stewards will see their responsibilities lessened. Since 1936 ARM has provided intentional resources and tools to assist the church in managing the assets entrusted to you. ARM is only a successful ministry in our church with each member and leader’s commitment to being effective stewards.
Who is ARM?
ARM plays many roles for the ministry of the worldwide church, including advisor, resource provider, and risk financier.Advisors: We are a team of approximately 130 Seventh-day Adventist professionals with over 1,000 years of service and experience, and over 120 industry designations. We believe part of our ministry is to use this experience and knowledge to advise the church. We provide this advice daily by answering questions, hosting webinars, and planning with leaders to make sure the next bold step in ministry is done safely.
Resources: We know our church. We partner with you each and every day by providing resources to bring a clear path for managing the assets you have each been entrusted. On our website www.adventistrisk.org you can find a wide variety of print resources, videos, check sheets, and more. These resources are designed to help you in identifying and mitigating risk or avoiding it entirely.
Risk Financing: A future Solutions article will describe this part of our ministry in greater detail, but in a bold step, our church created a captive insurance company. This asset of our church allows us to pool our money as a worldwide denomination and cover claims as needed. It is the church’s money, and it is being used to insure the ministry of the church.
Who We Serve?
ARM serves and partners with the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has a presence in 213 countries. We protect the 21 million members who worship each week in more than 88 thousand churches. We protect the second-largest Christian school system in the world, with 1.8 million students in more than eight thousand Adventist schools. We protect campers while they are at summer camp and Pathfinders around the world, including the 60 thousand plus who attended Oshkosh last year.The ministry of ARM is to protect your ministry, and it is a pleasure to work alongside you in serving the world church.
Like any resource, ARM is only an asset to our church if you partner with us. I ask you to continue to partner with the ARM team. Be bold in protecting the assets God has entrusted to you as a leader in our church.
