August 1, 2005 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Mark A. Kellner/ANN]
“Hope is not an intellectual exercise for me, or an academic topic; it is the essence of life for me,” Seventh-day Adventist theologian Dr. Angel Manuel Rodriguez told Adventist News Network, describing the new theme for the 2005 to 2010 quinquennium, “Journey of Hope.”
The theme, which also will be reflected in the 2006 Annual Council and Week of Prayer readings in October, is one of five for the new five-year period. “Words of Hope” will be the theme for 2007; “Signs of Hope” for 2008; “Mission of Hope” in 2009; and, finally, “People of Hope” for 2010. Each is related to a Bible passage and each focuses on the Christian’s life-long journey toward an eternal future.
“Without hope,” Rodriguez added, “I do not exist. I may breathe, but I do not exist.”
He said the themes are “very traditional, in a sense, but it [also] describes Adventism. For nearly 150 years, since the time when early church pioneer Uriah Smith signed correspondence with the complimentary close, ‘Yours in the blessed hope,’ Seventh-day Adventists have … been known as those who anticipate the soon return of Jesus Christ — the ‘blessed hope’ referred to in Titus 2:13.” Rodriguez said the purpose of these annual themes was to “keep and constantly nurture the hope of the church” for members.
“Fear raises the question of hope, and I think hope is going to become more and more reasonable” to people inside and outside the church, he said. In the wake of terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York and Washington; March 11, 2004 in Madrid, Spain; and July 7 in London, he added, “hope has become relevant in ways we didn’t anticipate in a secular society.”
Michael Ryan, a general vice president of the Adventist world church and chairman of the committee that developed these themes, said the effort is designed to reflect that Adventism’s message is “centered” on hope.
He said the objective is to ” keep before our people — and certainly among new [church] members — that Jesus’ coming is the great hope of our future, and is made sure by the victory of Christ on the cross.” He added, “People need to begin to believe it who are not Adventists.”
More recently, the “hope” theme was encapsulated in a vision statement for the communication strategy of the world church: “Seventh-day Adventists will communicate hope by focusing on the quality of life that is complete in Jesus Christ.”
The strategic approach, adopted in 1995, recognizes local congregations as being the focus of the church’s internal communication, and regards each church member as communicators for their faith community. Rajmund Dabrowski, communication director at the church’s world headquarters, explained, “As Adventists, we often refer to ourselves as a ‘people of hope.’ The quinquennial emphasis will put accents on how to live a life of hope every day, and everywhere, while bringing into focus the desire of a Christian life to have our hope ultimately fulfilled in Christ’s promised return.”
The themes will be expressed in Week of Prayer readings published annually in the Adventist Review, the church’s official paper, as well as in materials provided to world church regions, which, Rodriguez said, would be encouraged to adopt these themes.
Copyright © 2005 by Adventist News Network.
