The Executive Committee of the General Conference (GC) of Seventh-day Adventists officially adopted the World Church Strategic Plan for 2025-2030 during its Annual Council meeting on October 10.
Developed by the Future Plans Working Group, the new plan reflects the Church’s ongoing mission to spread the gospel and foster spiritual growth within its global membership.
First introduced at the 2023 Annual Council, the plan has undergone revisions based on feedback from church divisions around the world.
The new “I Will Go” strategic plan simplifies the Church’s previous approaches by replacing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with measurable goals. The 2013 plan featured 81 KPIs, while the most recent version contained 59. The newly adopted plan focuses on just 22 measurable goals to reduce complexity and enhance ease of application.
The plan’s goals are organised under four strategic priorities: Communion with God, Identity in Christ, Unity through the Holy Spirit, and Mission for All. Communion with God emphasises daily spiritual practices, such as prayer and Bible study. Identity in Christ aims to deepen understanding and practice of key Adventist doctrines, including the Sabbath, the state of the dead and the second coming. Unity through the Holy Spirit focuses on promoting cooperation across church entities, while Mission for All seeks to increase member participation in sharing the gospel, with a focus on urban centres and the 10/40 Window, a region with limited access to Christianity.
A website, iwillgo.org, has been created to provide church leaders with access to the plan’s measurable goals and resources for implementation.
The streamlined nature of the plan is intended to help the Church remain focused on its core mission in the years ahead.
South Pacific Division (SPD) president Pastor Glenn Townend commended the plan’s simplicity and precision.
“Over the years, the GC Strategic Plan has become more and more focused,” he said. “Strategy is about choosing what to do—and what not to do.”
He noted that the SPD would adopt and adapt the GC’s four priorities into “I Will Go” messages to align with our region’s needs. Progress will be measured jointly by the GC and SPD, with most objectives reviewed annually and others assessed over the full five-year period.
Pastor Townend highlighted the SPD’s unique position, with the highest ratio of Adventists to the general population—one for every 57 people—but emphasised the need to support other divisions with more challenging demographics.
“The SPD has a partnership with the Southern Asia Pacific Division who have millions of people who are Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu,” he said. “We will be meeting in their territory next month to discuss and vote our strategic plan, which will include a focus on mission. We will see mission opportunities and actually be involved in mission. We will be sending more missionaries there.”
For more news from the 2024 Annual Council visit the ANN website.
