Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Ansel Oliver/ANN]
Bring any group of editors together, and you’ll likely find a variety of opinions. Bring together 30 editors of Seventh-day Adventist Church books and magazines from around the world for a conference, and that variety of opinion will extend to the value of the conference itself.
“I have no question that our publishing work is critical to our life as a spiritual community and our witness as a spiritual community,” said Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, who addressed the group April 20. This belief underscored an Adventist publishing tradition, which dates back to the days of the Present Truth, a magazine now known as the Adventist Review, which was first published in 1849. The church currently operates an estimated 56 publishing houses around the world.
According to one editor, the Adventist message today continues to be as solid as it was back then. “What changes, however, is the way we express it now in order to be relevant and applicable to our readers’ situations,” he added.
On the one hand, editors appreciated the opportunity to come together and network, particularly since the event brought together editors of publications in a wide range of languages–including English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish and Hebrew–for the first time. However, several attendees had hoped for more bite with the bark.
Some attendees said the breadth of topics covered at the conference was both a strength and weakness. “Many of these people are from small, isolated organizations. … It’s an opportunity for people to study together, and grow and pray together,” said Ted Wilson, church vice president and chairman of the editorial committee. “It unifies the editorial group around the world.”
Interaction with editors from around the world gave “rich variety but also limited specific relevance,” according to Nathan Brown, editor at the Signs Publishing Company in Warburton, Victoria, Australia.
“More use could have been made of the sharing of resources and ideas, both between editors and publishing houses and with the [world headquarters],” Brown added. “Greater involvement with … leaders, departments and staff could have connected the gathering more with the world church.”
In one action, editors voted to establish a worldwide editorial database where all Adventist publishing houses could access articles, pictures and manuscripts.
“This will significantly decrease initial expenses of developing books and magazines,” said Howard Faigao, associate director of the church’s publishing department.
Delegates expressed a need for some investment by the Adventist world church publishing department to make the database a “useful reality.”
In hopes of making bigger impact among the publishing industry, the committee agreed to meet in 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany, in conjunction with the annual international book fair held there, which is the world’s largest.
The committee suggested training seminars for writers and editors in each of the church’s administrative regions worldwide. The committee will also recommend Griggs University, the church’s distance learning institution, create a curriculum to train editors. Also, more emphasis will be placed on creating materials for reaching Muslims with the gospel message.
Some delegates raised the concern of copyright–many Adventist Bible study guides are reproduced without authorization. Adventist magazines around the world have printed warnings against breaking international copyright law. “It’s a matter of supply and of customer service,” said Jose Luis Campos, publishing director of the Adventist Church, and committee co-chairman. “Many people feel they are doing God’s work by making copies and selling it at a cheaper price. They claim that some people wouldn’t be able to read it otherwise.”
“We need to make enough copies [and] then people making pirated copies will be discouraged to do so.” He also encouraged publishing houses to promote their materials adequately and to make sure each church is being supplied.
Copyright © 2004 by Adventist News Network.
