Letter from the Editor: Jesus is Coming, I Will Go!

Significant things have happened this year. There is more to come.

Very soon, the General Conference (GC) in Session will meet to worship, pray, hear reports, discuss agenda items and direction-setting decisions, and appoint our world leaders, including the South Pacific Division President, Secretary, and Chief Financial Officer, for the next five years. Our South Pacific Division leaders are included in that. While there won’t be white smoke, I’m sure Adventists worldwide are waiting to see how God will provide key people for our church as we go forward. 

The theme for the GC Session is 'Jesus is Coming, I Will Go!' I’m sure you can see the obvious emphasis on the mission Jesus gave us. As a result of focusing on mission, the church continues to grow. In 2023, the Seventh-day Adventist Church grew by approximately 4,011 members per day, which equates to 1.465 million for the year – this works out to be about 167 new members per hour, or almost three per minute. World membership is over 25 million in 212 countries. 

The Adventist Church is one of the fastest-growing and most widespread churches globally. Because of such significant growth around the world, some of the first items on the agenda for the GC Session typically involve the establishment of new Unions and Divisions of the General Conference, which have been formed to cope with current and future administrative needs, to facilitate even greater effectiveness in reaching our world with the message of a soon-coming Saviour.

Thousands from around the globe will travel to St Louis, Missouri, USA for the 62^nd Session of the General Conference. The attendance for the Sabbath Services is anticipated to be about 70,000 people. The meetings will last 10 days, commencing July 3, and will be open for all to attend. While most of us won’t be able to do that in person, the Session will be available to watch live by visiting the official website, gcsession.org. Remember the time difference – I figure the evening meetings will happen at about 10:00am here in Victoria.

Based on what I’ve seen from previous GC Sessions, the Division reports presented in the evening are interesting, inspiring, and worth watching if you can. Business Sessions are during the day over there, when it’s well and truly dark in our part of the world.

The Australian Union Conference Constituency meeting will be held in Melbourne in the first week of September. Three local Conference Constituency Meetings are scheduled in the same month here in Australia, including the Victorian Conference. As with the GC Session, in each of these Constituency Meetings, there’ll be worship, prayer, reports, discussion of agenda items, voting on direction-setting decisions and the appointment of leaders for the future. May I encourage you to join with Adventists around the world in prayer for God’s leading at the GC Session and in the Constituency Meetings that follow. If ever we needed God to lead, we need it now.

Now, let me focus on this issue of IntraVic. While there are reports on some recent events within Victoria, let me draw your attention to the upcoming rally for 'enditnow', designed to raise awareness and advocate for the end of violence. This rally is another excellent initiative of the Women’s Ministries Department. I’m sure you’ll want to support 'enditnow' as you’re able. For more information about the cause, visit enditnow.org. Let us do our part to improve our world while we look forward to—and help others prepare for—the glorious return of Jesus, our Saviour.