Spirit of Prophecy, Publishing Summits Call Church to Prepare for Christ’s Coming

From August 27 to 31, an estimated 150 delegates, including district pastors, publishing directors, lay members, and literature evangelists, gathered at the Mountain Provinces Mission, the Seventh-day Adventist administrative office in Baguio City. The event marked the second Spirit of Prophecy (SOP) seminar in the North Philippine Union Conference (the first was in 2022) under the theme “Lest We Forget, Jesus Is Coming. Get involved in the Literature Ministry.”

Among the guest speakers was Edgar Bryan Tolentino, SOP director in the Adventist Church’s Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD). He encouraged the delegates to deepen their understanding of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

“A lack of understanding and ignorance of Ellen G White’s writings has left many Seventh-day Adventists vulnerable to deception,” Tolentino said. He also warned about the dangers of time setting in relation to the Lord’s coming.

Donny Chrissutianto, director of the Ellen G. White Estate at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS), addressed issues of plagiarism, vegetarianism, and health principles. He challenged delegates to understand the Spirit of Prophecy in light of Bible truths. “Spirit of Prophecy writings are instrumental in preparing [people] for Christ’s soon return,” he said.

At the same time, Abraham Del Rosario, publishing director in the NPUC, underscored the critical importance of seminars like this one.

“Publishing ministries are a divinely appointed means of reaching a broad audience, including the affluent, educated, and even those deeply entrenched in worldly pursuits,” Del Rosario explained. “Everyone — regardless of age or education, and including pastors, teachers, students, and lay members — has a role to play in this ministry.

“We must carry out this action,” he said, “because it allows everyone to participate and ensures that no one is left out of the mission to spread Christ’s message.”

Inspired by the seminar, John Rowell Eda, a district pastor in the Northeast Luzon Mission, said he has now felt the conviction to join publishing ministries. “I want to further encourage our church members’ involvement,” Eda said.

Academy Summit for Publishing Leaders 

Immediately after the SOP seminar, an Academy Summit for Publishing Leaders brought together about 100 area Publishing Ministries leaders, publishing directors, and branch managers from around the NPUC. Key resource speakers for this event were Almir Marroni from the Adventist Church’s General Conference and Tercio Marques from the Middle East and North Africa Union Mission. Both underscored the importance of effective supervision and introduced new techniques to motivate literature evangelists. Marques shared successful recruiting and retention strategies, while Marroni focused on effective publishing leadership in modern times, challenging leaders to keep their teams motivated. 

Vivencio Bermudez, retired SSD publishing director, discussed the duties of publishing leaders toward their literature evangelists. On a similar note, Arnelio Gabin, SSD vice president for Nurture, Discipleship, Retention/Integrated Lifestyle Evangelism (NDR-IEL), shared the topic of Jesus’ natural leadership style in relation to canvassing work — a work that he called “second to none.” SSD Interfaith director Abner Dizon, on the other hand, spoke on evangelizing and reaching the Muslim community.

On Saturday (Sabbath), for the Sabbath School program, a special segment titled “Miracles of Grace” featured inspiring experiences of literature evangelists. Delegates went home accepting the challenge to fulfill their appointed tasks, motivated by the belief that “the work must be completed because Jesus is coming soon.”

The original version of this story was posted on the North Philippine Union Conference news site.