Inter-America holds first Communication Summit, Society of Adventist Communicators formed
Nearly 200 Adventist communicators gathered for Inter-America’s first Communication Summit, held in Miami, Florida, Nov. 26-28, 2012. Image by Jamaar Daniel/IAD
December 3, 2012 – Miami, Florida, United States…Libna Stevens/IAD
Driven by the need to network and use all available means of communication to impact the church constituency and its community creatively and effectively, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America organized its first territory-wide Communication Summit, Nov. 26-28, 2012. The three-day event brought more than 200 Adventist communicators to Miami, Florida, for professional instruction, exchange of ideas and ministries, and unify efforts to share hope.
Pastor Leon B. Wellington, vice president and communication director for the church in Inter-America, reminded communicators their crucial role in ensuring that the message of hope the community
Image by Marvin King/IAD.
“This summit was crucial to our [communication] department and administrative objectives of helping our communicators be more knowledgeable in the use of technology when sharing information and the crucial role they are expected to play in ensuring the messages reach its targeted audience,” said Pastor Leon B. Wellington, communication director for the church in Inter-America and organizer of the event.
It was more than just facilitating better networking, added Wellington. “We wanted to provide inspiration, foster team spirit, harmonize our message in the expanding arena of the media with a stronger commitment to service the church in the fulfillment of its mission.”
“It’s about striving to develop creative ways to work together in a professional environment and enrich the mission,” said Abel Marquez, associate communication director for the church in Inter-America.
The event aimed to equip Adventist communicators with a series of valuable tools and concepts for the church in the 21st Century, where the paradigms of communication have changed dramatically, explained Marquez.
From left to right Andrew King, Andre Brink, Garrett Caldwell of the Adventist World Church communication department and Mark Kellner of Adventist Review, participate in a roundtable discussion on corporate communication, on Nov. 28, 2012. Image by Ansel Oliver/IAD
Top leaders and experts from the Adventist World Church, Adventist News Network, Adventist Review/Adventist World Magazine, Adventist World Radio, and The Hope Channel, challenged communicators to soar to greater heights of sharing the gospel and teaching others with clear strategies, integrated messages, consistent media relations, creativity and innovation and with media and technology through radio, television, print, and the social media.
“We need to make sure the world hears and understands about the love of God while using various ways and all means of communication,” emphasized Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America.
Pastor Leito also motivated attendees to assist leaders in stepping out of their comfort zones to learn more of current technology and media.
Williams Costa Jr., communication director for the Adventist World Church, encouraged communicators to dream big and keep church leaders at the forefront of driven strategies to enhance the spreading of the gospel in creative ways as creative disciples.
Daniel Murillo, communication director in northeast Mexico, was particularly encouraged to help leaders along the way understand the use of new technology and ways to connect better with people.
“My goal is to pinpoint how I can correctly share the corporate image of the church to the outside public and organize an evangelism campaign using social media, and strive to daily feed our Facebook and Twitter accounts that can accurately reach the intended audience outside the church,” said Murillo.
Dayami Rodriguez, communication director for the church in Cuba, shares with the CommSummit delegates on the creative ways the message is shared on the island. Image by Benjamin Garcia/IAD
For communicators in Cuba, reaching an intended audience outside the church has brought them to one successful creative way of spreading the gospel, said Dayami Rodriguez, communication director for the church in Cuba as she shared an on-going ministry called “Preaching with Bats and Gloves”. This ministry connects church members with young people through community baseball games.
“Adventist young people get to invite their peers in neighborhoods to play baseball together and learn of the message of salvation too,” said Rodriguez. It’s a creative way to reach others, pray together and offer hope, she added.
For Charles Bulgin, technical director of the church in Central Jamaica, the summit reminded him that the gospel must be presented in a plain and simple way through social media.
“We are living in a grand and awesome time where technology can enable us to reach millions with the gospel in places and at times when it was otherwise impossible to do so,” said Bulgin, who plans to impart the knowledge gained from the summit.
Delegates from Guatemala take notes and tweet #iadcs #creative disciples during the CommSummit event, Nov. 28, 2012. Image by Benjamin Garcia/IAD
Baltazar Quiej from Guatemala agrees. As a CEO of BM Computacion and communication director for the church in Central Guatemala, investing in social networks has proven to be beneficial. The challenge lies in sharing the vision and bringing awareness of available low-cost evangelistic opportunities through social networks to church leaders, explained Quiej.
“The greatest challenge is to preach the gospel through all means possible. [The gospel] message transcends technology platforms,” added Quiej. “It’s the same message but through a new way of doing evangelism.”
During the summit, communicators also organized a new Society of Adventist Communicators for Spanish-speaking communicators in Inter-America. With the help of the established Society of Adventist Communicators in North America, the new organization is expected to establish by-laws to provide networking opportunities to its members.
Society of Adventist Communicators Inter-America board members pose for a group photo after CommSummit attendees voted in the new organization for Spanish-speaking territory. Image by Juan Perez/IAD
“The formation of the Society of Adventist Communicators for Spanish-speaking members will fill a gap that needed to be filled in Inter-America for greater collaboration and networking among communication professionals, as well as the establishment of continuous growth in the medium and long term,” added Marquez.
Voted as SAC Inter-America members were:
President: Benjamin Garcia of Montemorelos University
Vice President of Communication: Angela Barrios of Colombia Adventist University
Secretary: David Sebastian of East Puerto Rico
Executive Director: Leon Wellington
Associate Executive Director: Abel Marquez
SAC Liaison: Libna Stevens
Corporate Communication: Gustavo Menendez of Guatemala
Media Production: Ireidis Pita of Cuba
Journalism and News: Carolina Villamizar of Colombia
Digital Communication: Arnulfo Ardila of Venezuela
Student Representative: Jasson Hernandez of Montemorelos University
Advisors: Bernardo Medina of Dominican Union, Fabricio Rivera of El Salvador, Arnulfo Angila of Honduras and Javier Castrellon of Costa Rica.
During the summit, Gustavo Menendez, communication director for the church in Guatemala was granted the Award of Excellence by Inter-American Division Communication department for his outstanding leadership in communication.
Recognition was also given to Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) Media Group for the outstanding work in Project West Indies providing 120 programs for Hope Channel and Montemorelos University’s UMedia TV for providing 206 television programs for Esperanza TV.
To view comprehensive information and resources on Inter-America’s Communication Summit, visit commsummit.org
To view photos of Inter-America’s CommSummit event, click here
Lizbeth Elejalde, Gustavo Menendez and Nigel Coke contributed to this article.