Adventist Church President Calls for Integrated Mission at Riviera Maya, Mexico, Leadership Summit

Pastor Erton C. Köhler, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, delivered a devotional message on integration on the second day of the “I Will Go—Living the Mission” Leadership Summit in Riviera Maya, Mexico, on 2 March. He spoke to presidents, executive secretaries, treasurers and department leaders of the Inter-American Division (IAD). According to the report, Köhler presented integration not as an administrative strategy but as a spiritual necessity for the church in the 21st century.

Köhler contrasted the church’s calling with conditions in the world. Referring to ongoing global conflicts, including war in the Middle East and four years of war in Ukraine, he described a planet “losing control.” “The world is disintegrating before our eyes,” he said. “To a world that is disintegrating, the Lord calls His church to work in the opposite direction—integrated.”

He said that if the church wants to remain salt and light, it must demonstrate something the world cannot produce on its own. “If we live and work as they live and work,” he said, “they will tell us they do not need us.”

Köhler linked his appeal to the church’s global emphasis of being grounded in Scripture and focused on mission. He explained that this phrase summarizes the IAD’s four emphases: communion with God, identity in Christ, unity through the Holy Spirit, and mission for all people. These fall under the General Conference’s overarching focus. “There is no Bible without communion,” he said. “The Bible generates identity. And when we unite the Bible and mission, unity becomes the consequence. Mission is the best medicine for unity in the church.”

Turning to Acts 2, Köhler outlined what he described as the sequence of the early church: first unity, then the Holy Spirit, then a revolution in mission. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place,” he said, quoting the passage. “Unity opened the door. The Spirit descended. And three thousand were baptised.” He added, “Everything begins with unity. If there is no unity, there is no Spirit. If there is no Spirit, there is no revolution in mission.” Unity, he said, is what Jesus prayed for in the church’s life together (John 17:21).

Köhler warned leaders against functioning like “an archipelago,” which he described as islands sharing the same name but disconnected. “The church is not an archipelago,” he said. “It is a body.” He noted that departments remain distinct, including personal ministries, Sabbath school, education and communication, but that integration means alignment. He clarified that integration does not mean uniformity. “It means everyone moving in the same direction with shared purpose and common commitment.”

He concluded his remarks by saying that when this happens, “United we are stronger. We go further. We arrive faster. And we open the door for the Holy Spirit to work among us.”

Source: Read the original report