14 August 2026 | St Albans, UK [Joe Philpott]
Seventh-day Adventist churches around the world are preparing to mark the enditnow® Emphasis Day on 22 August 2026, with this year’s resources calling members to respond to abuse and violence with compassion, awareness and practical support.
Under the theme “Moved With Compassion”, the 2026 materials have been written by Karen Holford, Trans-European Division (TED) director of Family, Children’s and Health Ministries. The resources explore how following the example of Jesus can help us to see people who are hurting as valuable and worthy of being understood, supported and cared for.
The annual Emphasis Day, held on the fourth Sabbath of August, is part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s wider enditnow® initiative against violence and abuse. While the designated Sabbath provides an opportunity to focus our attention on the issue, the Church’s 2026 enditnow® materials stress that the initiative should continue throughout the year.
“I am proud to be part of a church that is taking a clear and proactive stand on this important issue,” said Sylvia Cariotoglou, TED Adventist Mission, Community Services and Women’s Ministries director. “Abuse and violence are real, and many families and individuals are affected. We, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, say no. We say enditnow. We say that all men, women and children are worthy of dignity and respect.”
The initiative’s collaborative approach has recently expanded, with Adventist Possibility Ministries becoming the seventh additional General Conference department to co-sponsor enditnow®. The initiative was launched in 2009 through Women’s Ministries in partnership with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) at the General Conference. In 2016, six more General Conference departments joined as co-sponsors: Children’s Ministries, Education, Family Ministries, Health Ministries, the Ministerial Association and Youth Ministries.
Today, the initiative reaches more than 200 countries and territories and addresses different forms of violence and abuse through awareness, education, prevention strategies and support for survivors. The participating departments contribute their respective areas of expertise while Women’s Ministries continues to coordinate the initiative and its advocacy.
For Holford, compassion is the central theme connecting these aims in 2026. The provided resources invite participants not only to recognise suffering, but also to consider how compassionate responses can lead to practical action. It includes a children’s story and full scripts for a sermon and a seminar, with separate PowerPoint presentations for both, giving local churches materials that can be adapted for their congregations.
Although the Adventist world church designates the fourth Sabbath of August as the enditnow® Emphasis Day each year, congregations are not limited to holding their programme on that date. This flexibility can be particularly helpful within Europe, where late August falls during the summer holiday period, so churches may choose to hold their Emphasis Day later in the year.
For Cariotoglou, the initiative ultimately connects practical action with the Christian understanding of human worth. “Enditnow is about raising awareness, offering training and resources, and highlighting that God’s plan for people is always rooted in His love,” she said.
Churches and ministry leaders can access and download the 2026 “Moved With Compassion” resources from the General Conference Women’s Ministries website.
