[Bruce Manners, editor of the South Pacific Record, conducted this interview with Adventist Church president Jan Paulsen during Paulsen’s visit to Australia in November 2000.]

The president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church laughs easily. But don’t take that to mean he isn’t serious about his role or his church. It is confirmation, though, of his reputation for enjoying encounters with people, and on being approachable.

On becoming president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC)* two years ago, Pastor Jan Paulsen made it his business to visit every department in the GC building for a social visit with those working there. He may not even be aware of how positively this was viewed by GC employees.

A tall man, he relaxes into one of the chairs in the foyer of the Canberra hotel where the Adventist Church in the South Pacific is holding its year-end business meeting. His involvement on the session floor during the meetings has been minimal, but statesmanlike. As he talks, he wins your confidence with friendly openness. He may be the GC president, but he wears this authority loosely. You sense he has little to prove. In fact, he says the position is not something he wanted, particularly when he was asked to continue in mid-2000.

“I’d reached that point in my life where we, my wife and I, had other things we wanted to do,” he says. “I’d worked for the church for more than 40 years. I’ve had a truly wonderful life doing everything the church has asked me to do.

“The years we served as missionaries in Africa were wonderful, formative years, even though it ruined my wife’s health. Then there’s the many years as an academic, teaching theology to our ministers.”

He digresses into the thought of God placing in your hands the “young, dexterous, pliable material” that is the mind of theology students and saying, “Make something of that, that’s useful to Me.”

“That’s a wonderful challenge. And it was a great life. I loved it. I didn’t have to try to love theology.”

Paulsen has served in administration for the past 25 years, first as president of Newbold College in England, and then as president of the Trans-European region during a time when Eastern Europe opened with more opportunities than the church could handle. He had been serving as a general vice-president of the GC for three-and-a-half years before becoming president.

“My wife and I didn’t have much time to think about it or pray about it, but we said, ‘If this is what the church wants of us now, let’s give it the best we can.’”

Paulsen’s wife is an important part of his life: “She’s the best company. My home is my luxury. And her cooking is wonderful.”

That’s one of the reasons he limits himself to no more than 50 percent of his time away from home. Besides, he adds, “If I’m gone more than that from the office, the kind of leadership I need to provide there suffers.”

The way forward
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Paulsen came to the GC presidency during a difficult time for the church, with the resignation of Pastor Robert Folkenberg. Paulsen served for some 18 months before being re-elected at the GC Session in Toronto, Canada, in June last year. He senses a strong, united front from church leaders as they plan for the future.

“My associates in the General Conference were all seeking the best way forward,” he says. “And so were the leaders of the divisions. There was a strong feeling of wanting the church to be strong, be more effective, to be good, to look good.

“I see my role as articulating the vision, without being too detailed in the sense that it becomes micromanagerial. I want to share what I think are the important issues for the church—the big things in bold strokes. First I test them with my colleagues by asking, ‘Does this make sense? Is this good Seventh-day Adventism? If it is, then let’s run with it.’”

Added to this is a strong world view that comes not only from living and working in Europe, Africa, and the United States, but also from growing up in Norway.

“I come from a small nation, and you have to learn to think internationally early because you know the world is bigger than the one you grow up in. I think Europeans are accustomed to thinking across the boundaries.

“At the same time, while I value my roots, I don’t see myself primarily in terms of a particular nationality.”

Sustaining unity in diversity
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Unity was raised as an important issue at the GC session. Yet, at the same session there was evidence of division over some items on the agenda. Paulsen stresses the importance of unity in diversity, particularly when there are so many cultures and histories within the church worldwide.

“Freedom allows you to be different. However, having said that, unless you protect the elements that bind us together, you become fragmented. You pass each other, greet each other, but basically you do not share life. Seventh-day Adventism is an integrated wholeness.

“When I go into China, into Beijing, and attend the Seventh-day Adventist church, I don’t have to be there long before I feel like I’m with family, I’m among my people. I don’t understand a word of what they’re saying, but it’s a wonderful sense of spirit that brings us together. There’s the sense of wonder as we’re worshiping the same God, we’re treasuring the same values, and we’re destined for the same eternity.”

He warns against moving toward becoming a regional or national church. “When I sit down with you as part of my church family, I sense we’re one. When I sit down with a person of another language I don’t understand, I sense we’re one. We’re equally valued by God. We’re going to be neighbors in the kingdom. When I talk about unity, I’m talking about something that’s very Seventh-day Adventist. To me, it’s inconceivable to define Seventh-day Adventism without protecting unity.”

Paulsen talks about missions within the South Pacific Division moving toward becoming conferences, something he emphasized in a speech during the division’s session. He emphasizes local ownership of the church in mission territories.

“As I look at the worldwide church, I see strong growth where church members feel good about themselves. They assert themselves strongly. They have the resources to provide their own leadership. They find the finances. They make the decisions. They may not be rich, but they have decided how they’re going to spend what they have. They have these elements of self-hood.”

He is keen for this self-hood to be discovered. But that’s not a call for autonomy. “Autonomy is alien to Seventh-day Adventism. We don’t have autonomist churches; others do that. We’re one church, but we discover our own sense of ownership, local ownership, and our sense of ability to carry ourselves.”

He adds that he senses the “internationality” of Seventh-day Adventism is different from what he sees in any other denomination. Most have linkages, he says, but not unity. At the same time he concedes there are times of tension and of disagreement.

“We’re family and of course we argue. We grow up together, brothers and sisters. But what is greater is the bond that ties our lives together.”

More importantly, “This is God’s church and He has to look after it, otherwise it will fall apart.

That gives me an enormous sense of assurance.”

And, as far as church leadership around the world is concerned, he suggests they’re committed to three “peak value points”: The unity of the church, the priority given to growth, and the uniqueness of the Seventh-day Adventist culture of life.

“Unity, growth, and the quality of life—these are the big issues I feel strongly for.”

An inclusive church
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One of the things that encourages Paulsen about the church is the strong emphasis within to be inclusive, particularly the inclusion of youth and women.

“I’m encouraged to see this, even though we’re not succeeding well. In so many parts of the world the church is allowing young people to have a creative presence. We must make an effort to recognize the importance of women, and the enormous contribution women can bring to the life of the church.

“There are huge efforts to overcome the boundaries that diversity sometimes brings. I’m encouraged to see evidence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church dealing with these kinds of things.”

And it’s at this point that another of the demands of his role interrupts. This time it’s to talk with a reporter from the local Christian radio station.

I watch as Paulsen is led up a winding staircase to a quiet room for the interview. I’m left with an image of the leader and the led—and the powerful impact the church would have if we could all walk together. 

* The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists comprises its world leadership and is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.