Santos Urges Adventist Leaders in Bogotá, Colombia, to Plant Churches for Non-Adventists

The Seventh-day Adventist Church must look beyond its existing membership and establish congregations that reach people who do not yet know Christ, General Conference Associate Secretary Gerson Santos told Inter-American Division (IAD) leaders during the division’s Annual Council on November 2, 2026, in Bogotá, Colombia.

“I believe the time has come to plant churches for non-Adventists,” Santos said during a midday spiritual reflection. He challenged administrators and executive committee members to rethink whom their congregations are intended to reach. Photo captions from the IAD report say more than 200 church leaders and invitees attended the council.

Santos said the church’s mission goes beyond maintaining congregations or increasing membership. He said it calls for making disciples who help others follow Jesus. “The story of the gospel is not simply the account of a past event,” he said. “It is a living mission that began with Jesus, has transformed millions of lives throughout the centuries, and continues to advance through His church.”

Reflecting on Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, Santos described it as the beginning of Christ’s public ministry and a sign that God continues calling people to take part in His work. He pointed to the upcoming commemoration of approximately 2,000 years since Christ’s baptism as an opportunity to celebrate God’s work and renew the church’s commitment to disciple-making and proclaiming the everlasting gospel. “We do not simply want to remember an event that happened nearly 2,000 years ago,” Santos said. “We want to celebrate a mission that is still alive.”

To illustrate mission in challenging settings, Santos described a missionary couple serving in Estonia, a highly secularized European country. The couple creates opportunities for young people to connect through small-group gatherings, where some participants attend to socialize, play board games and build relationships, and others have begun attending church. Some participants do not believe in God. Santos said the experience shows how friendship can open doors for the gospel where traditional evangelistic approaches face obstacles, creating a welcoming space for strangers (Matthew 25:35).

Santos challenged administrators to consider whether church planting primarily serves existing Adventist populations or intentionally reaches those outside the faith. “We already have many churches for Adventists,” he said, urging greater emphasis on establishing congregations that connect with non-Adventists.

Drawing from Matthew 28, Santos emphasized that Jesus commissioned His followers to make disciples, not merely to increase membership. He described discipleship as a continuing process in which believers share the gospel, accompany others in spiritual growth, and equip new disciples to reach someone else.

Source: Read the original report