{"id":26771,"date":"2026-10-15T07:24:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=26771"},"modified":"2026-10-15T07:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:24:42","slug":"general-conference-president-makes-impassioned-plea-to-move-forward-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/general-conference-president-makes-impassioned-plea-to-move-forward-together\/","title":{"rendered":"General Conference President Makes Impassioned Plea to Move Forward Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

12 October 2026 | Silver Spring, USA [Libna Stevens and Marcos Paseggi]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen God\u2019s people gather, representing our worldwide Church<\/a> family, we have a real celebration. And I believe we have one of these celebrations today,\u201d said Erton K\u00f6hler, president of the General Conference<\/a>, at the beginning of his annual pastoral message on October 10.<\/p>\n

Addressing more than 300 members of the General Conference Executive Committee (GC EXCOM) gathered at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, K\u00f6hler called Adventist leaders to renew their biblical-mandated commitment to the God-mandated mission for this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Sabbath and this Annual Council are a great opportunity to strengthen our unity and strengthen our commitment to be a church always grounded in the Bible and focused on the mission,\u201d he told Adventist leaders from around the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Erton K\u00f6hler, president of the General Conference, delivers the Sabbath message, emphasising the church\u2019s identity as a prophetic movement and its mission, during Annual Council on October 10, in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our birth certificate<\/h2>\n

K\u00f6hler based his message on the biblical book of Revelation, chapter 10, which he called \u201cthe birth certificate of the Seventh-day Adventist Church\u201d and \u201cthe moment we were called for mission.\u201d He connected it with Revelation 14, where, according to him, God \u201cdelivers the message to be preached\u201d by the Adventist movement.<\/p>\n

The message is delivered by an Angel with an open book, K\u00f6hler reminded Adventist leaders. \u201cThe birth of the Adventist movement is linked to an open Book, to an open Bible,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a call for mission,\u201d because \u201cour church was born opening the Book and studying prophecy. And sharing this message with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised that the message of Revelation must be proclaimed \u201cwith a loud voice,\u201d something that implies \u201ca call for boldness in mission,\u201d going \u201cbeyond the ordinary for Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

K\u00f6hler also emphasised that the message of Revelation 10 is connected to Revelation 14\u2019s call to worship the Creator. \u201cFrom the very beginning, the Adventist movement was called to be a voice for creationism,\u201d he said. \u201cThe creationist message is an Adventist message.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Aeolians, the Oakwood University choir, sang during the Sabbath morning worship service at General Conference Annual Council 2026 at world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, October 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A sense of urgency<\/h2>\n

In that regard, K\u00f6hler said, Revelation 10 should inspire us with a sense of urgency in everything we do. \u201cWe may feel discouraged or complain about the apparent delay [of Jesus\u2019 second coming], but our calling is to make the most of the time we still have and prepare more people for Jesus\u2019 return.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decisions made during Annual Council are not merely administrative, K\u00f6hler reminded Adventist leaders. \u201cMission plans, policies, reports, budget allocations, and structural choices must be our response to the reality that our window of time is closing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, K\u00f6hler reminded leaders that Revelation 10 states that John eats the Book before<\/em> he is commissioned. \u201cYou cannot proclaim what you have not consumed and digested,\u201d he said. \u201cMission without deep understanding of God\u2019s Word is empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Erton K\u00f6hler, president of the General Conference, delivers the Sabbath message, emphasising the church\u2019s identity as a prophetic movement and its mission, during Annual Council on October 10, in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond disappointment<\/h2>\n

But then those who ate the Book suffered the Great Disappointment when Jesus didn\u2019t appear on the day they expected Him.<\/p>\n

God \u201csent a small group of disappointed people to prepare the world for His second coming,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a calling that began with disappointment and will end in glory and power.\u201d<\/p>\n

K\u00f6hler also emphasised the key message of Revelation 10:11\u2014you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings\u2014which he called \u201ca recalibration that did not silence the church but\u00a0commissioned [it],\u201d he said. \u201cOut of the bitterness came a deeper understanding, a more precise message, and a renewed mandate to prophesy again to the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message of the second coming is not yet completed. It must be proclaimed again, with fresh urgency, until Jesus comes,\u201d he said. \u201cThe blessed hope that inspired and committed the 19th-century generation now must be proclaimed once again by the 21st-century generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a mission which has no geographic boundaries, K\u00f6hler emphasised. \u201cNo ocean is too wide, no border is too closed, and no culture can be too resistant,\u201d he said. \u201cOur mission is global!\u201d<\/p>\n

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More than 440 Seventh-day Adventist leaders from around the globe listen to the morning worship service on October 10 at the world church headquarters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moving forward together<\/h2>\n

Based on this call to reach the world, K\u00f6hler made an impassioned plea to move forward together, integrated, as the church seeks to establish an Adventist presence in areas where the blessed hope is not being preached, and to use all media for mission to proclaim the soon return of Jesus. In this sense, K\u00f6hler said, \u201cthe question is whether we are fully embracing this calling or whether we are reducing the strength of our commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that regard, \u201cthis Annual Council is not just a business meeting, but a time for personal and institutional recommitment,\u201d K\u00f6hler said. \u201cLet\u2019s use everything we have and everything we are for mission…Let\u2019s make mission the priority of God\u2019s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit,\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

K\u00f6hler closed by reminding GC EXCOM members that the mission is much greater than we are, \u201cbut the same Jesus who gave us the vision will also give us the provision we need to be bold in His mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key question, he said, is \u201cAre you in?\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders respond to the call<\/h2>\n

K\u00f6hler\u2019s appeal carried into conversations with church leaders after the Sabbath message, with several pointing to the need to move beyond affirming mission as a priority and examine how that priority shapes leadership, resources, and the work of the church.<\/p>\n

For Ivelisse Herrera, treasurer of the Inter-American Division<\/a> (IAD), one of the strongest points was K\u00f6hler\u2019s emphasis on the urgency running through the prophetic message of Revelation. The apparent delay of Christ\u2019s return, she said, exists in the human perception of time, not in God\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message of Revelation is one of urgency, not delay or time for distraction,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cThat is why it is important for us to understand that our reason for being as a church is the call to proclaim the return of Christ to every nation and people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrera said the message reinforced the direction IAD leaders have established for the coming years, including strengthening communion with God, Adventist Christian identity, unity, and total involvement in mission. She pointed to OneVoice27<\/a> and Impact 2028 Every Church One Church as among the initiatives through which the division intends to put that emphasis into practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the way Inter-America must show our sense of urgency in fulfilling our calling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Abner De los Santos, president of the Interamerican Division, prays with his wife, Leticia, during the Sabbath program on October 10. For him, the call to mission requires reaching places with no Adventist presence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting everyone together<\/h2>\n

The question of how to bring different parts of the church together around mission also resonated with G. Alexander Bryant, president of the North American Division<\/a> (NAD). Bryant said that K\u00f6hler\u2019s statement, \u201cmission is a remedy for God\u2019s church\u201d, stood out because mission can provide common ground even amid differences.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter where you are, no matter where you are on the theological spectrum, we all can meet at mission,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cIt keeps us focused on what we need to do. And it also keeps everything in its proper perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bryant, that renewed focus also raised a practical question about integration. He said conferences and unions in North America are involved in numerous mission projects around the world, sometimes without knowing that other church entities are working in the same places.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if we came together?\u201d he asked, pointing to the possibility of greater impact when church entities coordinate their resources and efforts. NAD\u2019s \u201cTogether in Mission\u201d emphasis, he said, aligns closely with Mission Refocus and has prompted leaders to reconsider how they can integrate their work more effectively.<\/p>\n

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For Alex Bryant, president of the North American Division, the call to mission must prompt leaders to reconsider how they can integrate their work more effectively in the region he leads and across the world<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rowing, not rocking the boat<\/h2>\n

Harrington Akombwa, president of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division<\/a>, said one line from K\u00f6hler\u2019s sermon remained particularly vivid for him: \u201cYou cannot rock the boat when you are busy rowing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Akombwa, the illustration captured the idea of mission as a remedy for the church. When members are actively engaged in the work of the gospel, he said, they have less room for unnecessary disputes and criticism and more reason to work alongside one another.<\/p>\n

Akombwa also connected Mission Refocus with the need to direct resources toward places where decades of church work have produced little or no Adventist presence. \u201cThe work will not finish in our territory until it finishes everywhere, until we enter every place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Harrington Akombwa, president of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division, said one line from K\u00f6hler\u2019s sermon remained particularly vivid for him: \u201cYou cannot rock the boat when you are busy rowing\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also at a local church level<\/h2>\n

The call sounded different at the local church level, but carried the same urgency for Sujin Kwon, a pastor from South Korea. Kwon pastors a small congregation of about 40 regular attendees, many of them older members. He acknowledged the difficulty of reaching new people in a community where the population is declining, and many younger residents move to larger cities.<\/p>\n

Kwon said his congregation has lost many of the children and young people who once attended as they grew older, but he believes the church must again make an intentional effort to reach younger generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do it again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sujin Kwon, a local church pastor from South Korea (right), with his wife Hyunjoo Chae. Kwon said he believes the church must again make an intentional effort to reach younger generations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

[Photos: Tor Tjeransen \/ Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0) and Libna Stevens]<\/em><\/p>\n

The original version<\/a> of this article was posted on the Adventist News<\/a> website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erton K\u00f6hler appeals to Seventh-day Adventist leaders to make mission a priority<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":26772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26771"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26783,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26771\/revisions\/26783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}