The final morning of the General Conference (GC) Annual Council (October 14) finished with a passionate appeal for church leaders to share Jesus personally, not just corporately or at a leadership level, but as church members themselves.

All week, attendees had watched video reports from the 13 divisions and the attached fields on the progress of the OneVoice27 initiative.

On the final morning, leaders from the GC and others representing its institutions, as well as the local church, shared strategic direction and appealed for involvement and commitment. This will be the final annual council before the initiative’s culmination in September 2027.  

“We cannot leave without having a final closing emphasis on OneVoice27,” said Paul H. Douglas, GC treasurer.

Rick McEdward, GC secretary, praised the way the global church had come together, while encouraging them to be prepared to move into the outward messaging of the campaign, All Things New.

“We’ve seen the world come together, and we’ve seen local churches begin to get involved,” he said. “It has been remarkable to see how we have been emphasizing OneVoice27, but today, while we celebrate the emphasis, we’re moving from Old Testament to New Testament, from One Voice27 to All Things New, from internal branding to external branding—so more people, more local churches, can get involved in the life change Jesus offers every person.”

Ministerial associate Crystal E. Ward reminded delegates of the importance of prayer, as each attendee was gifted the prayer journal that has been provided to GC staff. There is a PDF version that can be downloaded and used to pray for the campaign. Every week has a different prayer focus.

Associate treasurer Richard Stephenson, who also leads Digital Strategy for Mission, outlined three priorities for readiness: for leaders to ask whether pastors and church members know about All Things New and the transition to the external campaign; whether resources are being shared, rather than duplicated; and finally, what failure can look like. He said some things may not be ready in time or may be ready in 2028. “Brothers and sisters, now is the time to do all we can to make sure we are ready, prepared, and positioned.”

Hope Channel International director Vyatcheslav Demyan shared seven dimensions that make up the strategic pillars of the initiative, including training creators, contextualization, marketing campaigns, and follow-up.

“We can produce all the content we want,” said Alyssa Truman, GC Communication director. “But we can only finish the work when we partner as members, not institutions.”

She encouraged the leaders to share themselves, a call echoed by Ginger Ketting-Weller, Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) vice-chancellor.

OneVoice27 at AIIAS

AIIAS is a GC institution in the Philippines that provides postgraduate studies for church leaders from 73 countries worldwide.

Ketting-Weller quoted an observation her dad would always make and received a round of applause.  

“Any man who washes feet at communion and doesn’t wash the dishes at home is a hypocrite,” she said.

She told delegates how she had fallen in love with the idea of OneVoice27. “Elder [Erton] Köhler [GC president] stood on stage one year ago [at Annual Council] and said, ‘Tell them about Jesus,’” she recalled. “I caught fire.”

She shared how they had mobilized the AIIAS faculty and students to be involved, how the campus wears purple on Wednesdays, and how the AIIAS leaders, including herself, are finding ways to share and create content, even if it’s not natural for them.

“I am a leader; I cannot simply tell people what to do.” She shared how a young man, who is now a frontline missionary in Cambodia, had come into her office and offered to help her create content she was passionate about but did not know how to do. Now, they continue to work together, even though he has moved. The channel has 2,000 followers.

“If I invite them to participate, I have to be willing to take the risk, to learn, to model, to do what I’m willing to do,” she said. “In my own heart, there is a fire and an excitement about it. How can we as leaders invite institutions and not model our own commitment?” she asked.

Local church

The final speaker in the segment was local church pastor, Chad Stuart.

He shared how his local church, Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, was an institutional church, made up of many employees of the GC office.

“A church is only healthy when a church is focused on mission,” he said. “Spencerville is not satisfied with simply being the GC church; we want to be intentional about mission.”

The team made a plan and, as a result of intentional outreach, has shared 146 copies of Ellen White's The Desire of Ages, including one with a local businessman who, after starting to read, visited the Adventist website to read about Fundamental Belief 18, which discusses the gift of prophecy.

“OneVoice27 will work if we get local and connect people to Jesus and communities,” Stuart concluded. “Because Jesus is the one who makes All Things New, and Jesus is the one who is attractive.”