f James White were starting the church paper in 2005, what would it be like?

One year ago General Conference president Jan Paulsen gave the Adventist Review staff a challenging but irresistible assignment: develop a plan, with costing, to place the Review in homes of members around the world who can read English. That task has occupied our hearts and minds ever since. We poured our best energies into it.

From the outset we decided that, rather than fine-tune what we already produce each week, we should go back to square one. We tried to put ourselves into James White's shoes as he worked on the Present Truth, which soon changed to the name Review and Herald.

When James White launched the church paper, the Adventist group that later would adopt the name Seventh-day Adventist numbered only about 100. All lived in close proximity in the northeastern United States. Today, Seventh-day Adventists have spread to the ends of the earth. We count some 14 million baptized members, in more than 200 countries.

But the purpose for which James White started Present Truth in response to his wife, Ellen's, vision still holds: to bind together the Adventist people as we await Jesus' second coming, providing articles of spiritual nurture, teaching in doctrine, and counsels for daily living, along with news and information about the growing church family.

Thus the new international edition of the Adventist Review will seek:

1. To strengthen the esprit de corps of the world church, keeping it informed, energized, and inspired.
   
2. To foster the unity of the church in an increasingly fractured world.
   
3. To create a sense of identity and solidarity in the message and mission entrusted to us.
   
4. To help provide materials for preaching, witnessing, and personal growth.
   
5. To educate believers in the quality of life advocated by Seventh-day Adventists.

What sorts of articles will the new edition feature? On a regular basis:

• A cover feature on mission, highlighting the way God is working in our midst.
  
• A section of news and information.
  
• A Bible study in simple English that can be torn out, copied, and used for teaching purposes.
  
• Fundamental beliefs
  
• The Adventist life
  
• World church initiatives
  
• Editorial
  
• Devotional
  
• World Health
  
• Spirit of Prophecy
  
• Bible Q & A column
  
• Christian service

Throughout last year we explored possibilities and costs of global printing and distribution. The developing plan was refined by counsel from church leaders at the General Conference and in the world divisions. At the same time the GC treasurers worked hard to find the funding to make it all happen.

The Annual Council, which convened in October, discussed the plan and gave it a strong vote of approval. Its chief features are:

1. Issued once a month, in English.
   
2. No charge to members.
   
3. Each issue 32 pages, with color.
   
4. Printed simultaneously in several locations.
   
5. Print run of at least 1 million copies per month (estimated readers: 5 million).
   
6. The General Conference to cover printing costs; the divisions to be responsible for distribution costs within their territory, plus costs of any printing in other languages.
   
7. The new edition to replace the current World Edition (second issue of each month).

Because of the special nature of the new edition, it will carry a new name--Adventist World, with a tagline linking it to the Adventist Review.

Adventist World will be unrolled at the General Conference session in St. Louis, and launched globally with the September 2005 issue.

The NAD Edition will continue unchanged. Subscribers to the weekly will still receive the church paper every week, but Adventist World will replace the World Edition (second issue of the month).

Now we are in the midst of working through challenges of distribution, negotiating contracts, and developing a cadre of international writers with manuscripts. It's a busy, exciting time! We solicit your prayers.

When Ellen White in 1848 told James to start a "little paper," she predicted that one day it would spread like beams of light around the world.

With Adventist World, that day is now.