The Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is providing to pastors and leaders of our church the necessary resources for training and empowering officers at the local congregation level where they serve as volunteers. The Elder’s Digest magazine, one of the 3 journals published by the General Conference Ministerial Association, is printed quarterly with a menu of relevant articles with leadership strategies, didactic tools, health tips for elders, SDA Church statements, news around the world, sermon outlines, worldwide initiatives of our Church, questions and answers, and other biblical-sound topics for leaders. The menu of the magazine now includes leadership tips for deacons and deaconesses! Elder’s Digest was founded in 1994. This magazine is precisely designed to attend the needs of local church leaders around the world and to keep them informed and connected. It is prepared to help elders and company directors to grow in their skills and abilities as leaders. It is recognized as the best way to share and promote church programs and initiatives at the local church level around the world. From its inception in 1994, approximately 5,000 copies of Elder’s Digest rolled off of the press and into the hands of local church elders and pastors each quarter. Today, about 100,000 copies in English are delivered each quarter. Elder’s digest is also printed in multiple languages around the world but with many financial challenges. Overall, more than 220,000 copies are printed each quarter and delivered to over 100 countries, including all of the world divisions. And we are still growing but with an unbearable desire to reach a great amount of local church elders who are not receiving this valuable resource. In a very special issue of the Elder’s Digest magazine (Q3, 2012) we dedicated 9 pages to promote the worldwide initiatives launched by the GC Administration and the Ministerial Association. In 2013 two special issues of the magazine (Q1 and Q2, 2013) have been dedicated to the 150th Anniversary of the GC/Church organization and to the MISSION TO THE CITIES initiative. We want to intentionally reach the grassroots of the church everywhere with that information. Translated Versions of the Elder’s Digest Magazine Worldwide Beside the publication of the magazine in English, the ED editorial office sends each quarter to all world divisions the PDF files in advance for translation purposes. The following are the translated versions as reported by the world divisions:
- South American Division (1) : Spanish (30,000 copies)
- South American Division (2): Portuguese (42,000 copies)
- Inter-American Division (1): Spanish (31,700 copies)
- Inter-American Division (2): French (3,300 copies)
- East-Central Africa Division: Swahili (10,000 copies)
- Euro-Asia Division: Russian (3,500)
- Polish Union Conference/TED: Polish (1,000 copies)
- Bulgarian Union of Churches Conference/EUD: Bulgarian (270 copies)
- Italian Union of Churches Conference/EUD: Italian (100 copies and is also available on their website)
- Quebec Conference/NAD: French
- Romanian Union Conference/EUD: Romanian
- Southern Asia-Pacific Division/West Indonesia Union Mission: (1): Indonesian
- Southern Asia-Pacific Division (2): Tagalog
- Southern Asia-Pacific Division (3): Bahasa
- Southern Asia-Pacific Division (4): Cebuan
- Northern Asia-Pacific Division: Chinese