Adventist Leaders Approve New Strategic Plan to Strengthen Mission, Empower Local Churches

A five-year roadmap calls every member, institution, and leader to deepen spirituality, strengthen identity, foster unity, and mobilize for mission.

November 20, 2025 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

The Inter-American Division (IAD) Executive Committee voted a bold new strategic plan on Nov. 13, 2025, during Annual Council meetings in Miami, Florida—a plan designed to anchor the church more deeply in Scripture, empower local congregations, and mobilize every believer for mission across the territory.

Introducing the plan, IAD President Pastor Abner De los Santos underscored that the Seventh-day Adventist Church exists for one purpose: mission.

“The Word of God invites us to mission. The reason the church exists is mission,” he said. “Every new member who joins the church must be born a missionary.”

He stressed that mission involves every believer—children, youth, adults, professionals, pastors, and that God has given each person spiritual gifts and influence that must be used to lead others to Christ. Yet one of the church’s great challenges, he acknowledged, is mobilizing all members. While many are active, “you often find that perhaps 20 percent participate actively, while 80 percent come and sit every Sabbath,” he stated.

Pastor De los Santos called for leaders “to loosen the hands of the church,” explaining that excessive top-down programs often clutter local calendars, limiting the space and freedom congregations need to engage in real mission. He emphasized that the strategic plan is rooted in the guiding framework Grounded in the Bible, Focused on the Mission.

A Tree That Represents Spiritual and Missional Growth

To illustrate the core principles of the plan, Pastor De los Santos presented an analogy of a tree—symbolizing the spiritual and organizational health needed to sustain long-term mission work.

“The roots call us to deep communion with God,” he explained. “The trunk represents our identity in Christ. The branches reveal unity and collaboration. The fruits are lives transformed.”

He emphasized that spiritual renewal must precede organizational action. The tree, he noted, provides a visual guide to understanding the four strategic pillars that shape the plan.

To anchor the strategic plan in practical action, Pastor De los Santos outlined three major initiatives that will drive mission engagement across the quinquennium:

• OneVoice27 – Joining the global church in a major celebration to connect large-scale media outreach with on-the-ground engagement by local congregations so that interest generated online and on-air leads to Bible study and membership pathways.
• Impact 2028 – Establishing at least 100,000 preaching centers across Inter-America.
• Every Church, One Church – Every church planting one new congregation within five years.

Grounded in Matthew 28 and Revelation 14, said Pastor De los Santos, the new plan, “I Will Go: Living the Mission” aims to simplify and align the actions of every church entity while empowering local congregations to experience spiritual renewal and mission-driven growth.

Alongside these large-scale initiatives, the plan is built on four spiritual and strategic pillars.

Department directors outlined the central pillars of the strategic plan: Communion with God, Identity in Christ, Unity in the Spirit for Service, and Mission for All.

1. Communion with God: The First Priority

Stewardship director Pastor Roberto Herrera emphasized that Communion with God appears first by design.

“We cannot speak of identity, unity, or mission unless we are a church rooted in God’s Word and connected with Him.”

He explained that the priority focuses on helping members experience salvation in Christ and nurturing spiritual maturity. Organizationally, it calls for creating spiritual environments in local churches through prayer, Bible study, Spirit of Prophecy engagement, increased attendance to weekly services, and promoting wholistic Adventist living, he said.

“The Division is not bringing a list of programs,” Herrera said. “These are strategies. How they are carried out is for each union and field to determine.”

2. Identity in Christ: Remembering Who We Are

Communication director Abel Márquez used a mirror to illustrate the second pillar, citing James 1.

“This initiative seeks to ensure that when we look in the mirror, we know who we are,” he said, “and that when others look at us, they know our identity is grounded in Christ Jesus.”

Five initiatives—including leadership formation, prophetic understanding, discipleship training, and educational involvement—aim to strengthen Adventist identity at every level of the church. The “Disciple 360” initiative will generate complementary programs such as “Creative Disciples” and “Digital Disciples,” which will support One Voice 2027.

3. Unity in the Spirit for Service

Undersecretary Pastor Álvaro Niño highlighted that unity leads naturally to service.

“The church is the means appointed by God for the salvation of souls,” he said. “It was organized to serve, and its mission is to preach the gospel.”

He outlined the two main initiatives: sustainable community projects and promoting healthy relationships using biblical principles of communication and conflict resolution.

“Service is universal,” Niño said. “Like music, it communicates beyond language. Through service we express compassion and hope.”

4. Mission for All: Mobilizing Every Member

Ministerial secretary Pastor Josney Rodríguez emphasized that mission is both a spiritual mandate and an organizational responsibility.

“Evangelism and mission are a spiritual and organizational commitment to share the truth with every nation, tribe, language, and people,” he read from the plan.

“Mission for All means mission everywhere and by everyone,” Rodríguez added.

He explained that fulfilling this mandate requires intentional actions that expand the church into new territories, strengthen the Adventist presence, plant new congregations, implement consistent policies, and consolidate progress to ensure long-term continuity of the mission.

Territory-Wide Support

Leaders across Inter-America responded warmly. Many praised the plan’s clarity, biblical foundation, alignment with the General Conference, and its practical structure that empowers local churches while allowing contextual adaptation.

Pastor Pierre Omeler, general vice president of the General Conference, commended the plan, noting: “It is extraordinary—grounded in the Bible, aligned with the GC strategic plan, involving all members, and flexible for local contexts,” he said.  “OneVoice27 and 100,000 centers of evangelism will set the territory on fire for Jesus.”

Luis Trundle, executive secretary of the Honduras Union, urged the inclusion of measurable benchmarks. “A baseline would allow us to track progress mid-quinquennium and evaluate how these initiatives are moving the church,” he said, adding that retention and reclamation must remain core priorities.

Lay member Perfecto Trujillo of the Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union—who has helped plant two churches—commended the plan’s clarity but suggested simple performance indicators to guide local implementation. “We need tools that help us measure how each proposed action moves us forward,” he said.

Johan Mendoza, youth ministries director for the West Venezuela Union, praised the plan for the spirit of unity it inspires. “Our church needs this—working together without seeking prominence, with young people, women, children, and adults all embracing a single vision,” he said. He described the plan as “simple, yet powerful in the name of the Lord,” and expressed confidence that it will reach even the most remote corners of Inter-America. “We are ready to replicate it and carry this message to every corner of West Venezuela,” he added.

Others suggested strengthening retention efforts and ensuring visual media reflects the cultural diversity of the IAD. Several more committee members affirmed their commitment to implement the plan across their fields.

Next Steps

Pastor De los Santos expressed gratitude to the team that developed the plan through months of collaboration and review. He announced a division-wide leadership summit for March 1–4, 2026, in which institutional leaders and administrators from every union and local field will refine roles, establish evaluation measures, and outline long-term planning.

“Our vision is to review this plan periodically,” he said. “We want these initiatives—One Voice 2027, Impact 2028, and Each Church, One Church—to have a real impact on the church.”

The plan was adopted unanimously, marking the beginning of a quinquennium focused on deepening spirituality, strengthening Adventist identity, uniting in service, and mobilizing every believer to live the mission across Inter-America, church leaders said.

To view in-depth details about the Inter-American Division’s I Will Go, Living the Mission Strategic Plan 2026-2030, visit iwg.interamerica.org

Visit IAD’s photo gallery of the Annual Council meetings HERE