Acapulco, Mexico…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
During the first day of the the Inter-American Division's (IAD) year-end executive committee meetings, IAD's Publishing House (IADPA) unveiled its newest publication, the newly revised Church Manual for Inter-America.
“This is basically a new translation,” said Francisco Gelabert, IADPA's editorial director.
The existing Spanish translation previously printed underwent intense revision for months and is now available for the church's Spanish regions, according to Pastor Pablo Perla, president of IADPA.
The manual incorporates all the latest revisions and changes voted during the General Conference Session in 2005, and includes an eight-page supplemental section on managing church property and legal issues, suggestions on wills and donations, practical indications for communion service, ordination of special cases, and the use of jewelry.
Part of the changes to the new manual include eliminating archaic verbal forms as much as possible, using the latest of the 1995 Reina-Valera Bible Society, including some Biblical quotes of the writings of Ellen G. White. The new new grammar rules of the Academia de la Lengua have also been applied, and nomenclature is now uniform throughout the manual. It also includes an easier to read layout and typeface and a thorough index, according to Gelabert.
The revised manual is an important step to unifying the leadership and procedures of the church throughout Inter-America, said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America.
Pastor Leito told leaders that, as part of its strategic plan, the Division will provide the revised manual free to every church head elder throughout the thousands of churches in the 11 Spanish-speaking regions.
“The church manual is the opinion of the world church, let's promote it,” he said. He reminded the attending leadership that the manual is important for defending the church against the threats from many new members who are not familiar with Adventist culture and principles, and against churches which have become congregationalist.
According to Pastor Perla, an English version of chapters 6-8 of the church manual along, with the IAD's new supplemental section, will be printed and available for the English-speaking fields in January 2007. The French version is being revised and will become available at a later date.
Orders for the newly revised Inter-American version of the church manual may be placed through local unions or regional headquarter offices. For more information go to http://www.iadpabooks.org/www.iadpa.org.
