by Björn Karlman | 10 July 2025 | Anyone who thought Ted Wilson planned on retreating to the shadows post-presidency was proved wrong today when Adventist News Network (ANN) published “Reflections From Our Former President Pastor Ted Wilson”—a lengthy interview with Ted and Nancy Wilson, hosted by Sam Neves, the newly elected associate director of […]
by Loren Seibold | 9 July 2025 | A collection of thoughts and ideas and observations that have been piling up on my mental desk: I have seen my church… …and it’s not white anymore. All ya gotta do is walk around this building, and you’ll see mostly faces of some shade of brown. Prepare, […]
Pictured: Stephen Bohr and Björn Karlman by Björn Karlman | 9 July 2025 | Sitting in the nosebleed seats of the America’s Center convention center—AKA the assigned General Conference Session “external media” area—I found myself next to a new friend whose publication sits firmly on the ultra-conservative wing of Adventism. We laughed about how we […]
by Loren Seibold | 8 July 2025 | Please forgive me: I’m going to whinge a bit. Because I’m fed up. The General Conference (GC) Session brings people from all around the world into one place. These are, presumably, some of the most faithful, generous, mission-minded Seventh-day Adventists in the world, which is why they […]
Image: L-R: GC Treasurer Paul Douglas, GC Associate Director of Communications Sam Neves, and GC Executive Secretary Rick McEdward by Björn Karlman Yesterday, the announcement of division presidents for all 13 world divisions doubled as a sad reminder: not a single woman among them. At the July 7 General Conference (GC) Session press conference, I […]
by Loren Seibold | 7 July 2025 | This is a big noisy meeting in an inferior space—spread out and confusing and noisy with bad acoustics. But as I look around, I’m moved by people from all over the world—not the big conference and union and division people with fancy suits and ties, but the […]
by Loren Seibold | 6 July 2025 | We started out today with an “orientation” session for the delegates by Hensley Moorooven. Good solid principles—but this is the 4th day of the event, so ya gotta wonder why this wasn’t done first thing. Hensley quotes this interesting passage from the Church Manual: “It is not […]
by Björn Karlman | 4 July 2025 | Yesterday, Pastor Erton Köhler was named the new General Conference (GC) president. In his initial remarks, Köhler thanked and praised outgoing president Ted Wilson, who was not present. “Pastor Wilson is not here now. Later he will come,” Köhler said. At yesterday evening’s press conference, a delay […]
Pastor Erton C. Köhler’s first press conference as General Conference (GC) president was a clear break from the Ted Wilson era. The event (when Köhler finally arrived after fending off well-wishers and others on the way to the press area) was brisk, multilingual (he spoke in fluent English, Spanish, and Portuguese), and—most notably—open. Köhler took […]
by Loren Seibold | 4 July 2025 | This afternoon kicked off with the report from General Conference (GC) treasurer Paul Douglas. Short version: the church is making good money. Slightly longer version, courtesy of Bjorn: World tithe is up about 16% over the last five years. World tithe is over $3 billion annually. Douglas […]
by Loren Seibold | 4 July 2025 | Happy Independence Day, Americans! We kicked off the morning with the anti-vaxxers trying to bring up the same stuff they lost on yesterday. This was a result of Elder Wilson’s backpedaling on what he said yesterday. Indeed, he was correct in—but he was also wrong, because what […]
by Loren Seibold | 3 July 2025 | All denominational meetings I’ve ever attended are a mishmash of three things. First, there is the business—the hiring, the committees, the Church Manual changes, the policy updates. Second, there are promotional items: that is, promoting things that the General Conference (GC) is doing to help us and […]