Erton Köhler Compares His Challenges to the Pope’s in AP Interview
15 July 2025 |
On July 8, Elder Erton Köhler, new General Conference president, sat for an interview with Luis Andres Henao of Associated Press (AP), an international news consortium. The article was entitled “Newly elected Seventh-day Adventist Church leader reflects on challenges and faith’s healthy living.”
As of 2016, Associated Press reports were used by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters, and AP has 235 news bureaus in 94 countries, as well as a radio network. “If I can choose one word that represents the challenge of this moment, the word is ‘unity,’” Köhler told AP. “It’s not easy to keep that unity because our members, they’re citizens, they’re living in the local society, they’re influenced by that.”
Köhler explained his job like holding a puzzle together and compared it to that of another recently elected church leader with South American ties, Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first U.S.-born pontiff who has dual Peruvian citizenship. “I’m not the pope of the church. I’m a pastor. We don’t have a leadership that’s vertical, that we can decide something and impose that for everyone,” Köhler said, noting the denomination’s various levels of authority. “We respect those voices. We receive suggestions from other levels, we discuss it; we discuss how to implement it together. My role is to try to keep all this puzzle together in a positive way.”
Challenges
Köhler says
“No. 1, I’d like to see more young people involved in the church activities, sometimes in leadership, sometimes sharing their opinions, their ideas, sometimes in the local community.”
He suggests that Adventists’ focus on healthy living would appeal to young people.
“Many church members are vegetarians and abstain from alcohol and tobacco as part of their spiritual discipline. Adventists also run a large network of hospitals and health clinics worldwide, and many church members go into the medical field. … ‘The new generation is looking for health, beauty. They’re taking care of their bodies… We have a message to show to them that we’re not only an institutionalized religion, we’re a body of believers that trust in the Bible with a message that can make our lives better.'”
As for women’s ordination,
“Köhler said he’s not opening discussion of women’s ordination…. ‘ It’s not the moment to do that,’ Köhler said. But he acknowledged that Adventist women ‘deserve more presence in leadership,’ and ‘their voice needs to be heard.’ The faith was influenced by the visions of Ellen White, who is considered a prophet.
Köhler acknowledges in the interview that Adventists are misunderstood.
“’Sometimes people present our denomination based on some elements that are strange for others, and they think that we’re people from another planet,’ Köhler said. ‘We’re human beings. We’re here to serve, we’re here to love, we’re here to make a difference.… Come to talk with us, come to visit us, interact with us,’ he said. ‘They’ll know who we are, and they can see how we can make a difference in a positive way for their present life and for their future life.’”
Associated Press is a major news outlet, published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters, with 235 news bureaus in 94 countries, several languages, and a radio network.
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