OneVoice27: Trickling Down, Up, and Around

The church leader felt a sense of accomplishment.

He had presented to a group of regional church leaders about OneVoice27, an initiative of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church to use all means to proclaim the good news of Jesus in September 2027, about 2,000 years after what is considered the beginning of His ministry on this earth. He had explained what was planned, why it was important, and had appealed to regional leaders to join and engage in the initiative. Everyone had assured him that they were “in”—that they were already working on how to implement OneVoice27 in their own region.

Then he was invited to speak at a nearby local church.

Just to make sure that everyone was on the same page the leader surveyed local church members about OneVoice27. To his dismay, he found out that hardly anyone had heard about it or could have described what the initiative was all about. For all the lofty purposes and commitment of regional church leaders, the information hadn’t trickled down to grassroot levels—to reach local church members in the pews.

“It’s a recurring challenge,” acknowledged General Conference president Erton Köhler recently, as he addressed those attending the Global Adventist Innovation Network[*] (GAiN) Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, July 11. “We devise our plans, agree to follow them, but the information doesn’t reach the lower levels of church organization.” It’s an issue that clearly undermines our best efforts, he conceded.

Why OneVoice27 Could Be Different

Leaders believe, however, that with OneVoice27 there’s reason to hope for a better reach to all levels of the church.

For one, the promotion of the initiative is reaching levels never reached before. Since 2025 Adventist Church leaders have been promoting OneVoice27 in workers’ meetings and church events all around the world. It’s not a last-minute thought, but a careful long-term plan that has given every church region time to warm up to it. Also, it’s enlisting every area of the church—Hope Channel, Adventist Mission, and Adventist World Radio, to name a few—to work in synergy to implement the initiative as thoroughly as humanly possible.

A Customized Approach

At the same time, Köhler never ceases to emphasize the customized nature of OneVoice27. “This is not an idea from the General Conference telling you exactly what to do,” he stressed. “It’s a general idea that every church field will be able to adapt and implement according to their realities, challenges, and opportunities.”

Köhler believes—and rightly so—that in a church as diverse as the Adventist Church, a top-down approach to outreach and mission is detrimental to the potential outcomes. “How can we possibly know what could work in every part of the world?” he says. So unlike previous, more structured plans, OneVoice27 leaves room for every region to discuss and apply the methods they believe could work in their context.

From the Grassroots to the World

But there’s one more element that has the potential of upending the church’s long-term challenges in trickling down its initiatives to a local level.

“In this day and age, every church member can use their social media channels and other methods to spread the initiative,” Köhler said. “It does not need to wait for a church region to move forward.”

Köhler explained that every church leader is also a member of a local congregation. As such, beyond their responsibilities, every leader can work with their local church pastor and brothers and sisters at the local level to create awareness. “Every church member—be it a church leader or a layperson and even a young person—can use their laptop or cell phone to spread the word and increase impressions, comments, and shares. They don’t need to wait for higher levels of the organization, even as they work together with one loud voice.”

At GAiN in Auckland, several leaders emphasized the potential of this approach, as they highlighted the need to be everywhere to reach everyone. “Visibility creates opportunities,” said New Zealand Pacific Union Conference executive secretary Kheir Boutros, referencing a renewed focus on using digital channels in evangelism. The goal is challenging but simple: “turning clicks into disciples.” He shared a recent story explaining how from one ad 34 people were eventually baptized.

One Full Year Before

Such a realization becomes even more germane as the church prepares for the official launch of OneVoice27 on September 5, 2026, one full year before the special focus in September 2027.

“What are we going to do on September 5?” Köhler asked. “It’s not just a day to make announcements, but a day on which every member can become a missionary by using their social media to spread the word.”

It’s about working with your local pastor, with your family—everyone together but in a distinctive creative way—to let everyone know what is coming and the reason behind it, church leaders underscored.

“If we are ready to follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit and do our part to the best of our abilities, there’s no limit to the miracles God can accomplish through us,” church leaders emphasized. “There are wonderful miracles waiting if we let God use it to reach places we have never reached before.”

[*] Formerly known as the Global Adventist Internet Network.