“Turn on your light” was the call given to the approximately 800 attendees at the New Zealand Pacific Union Conference’s (NZPUC) launch of OneVoice27 on July 10 at Papatoetoe Seventh-day Adventist Community Church in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Friday night event gathered people from across the Union, as well as listeners online, and featured video reports from each conference and mission, along with several special music items and a dedicatory sermon by General Conference (GC) president Pastor Erton Köhler. Presidents of four out of five missions and conferences were also present.
OneVoice27 is a global Adventist Church initiative relying primarily on media that will run through 2027 to commemorate 2000 years since Jesus’ baptism.
Introduced officially at the launch of South Pacific for Christ in April at the Watson Park Convention Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, the OneVoice27 campaign aims to unite Adventists in sharing the message of Jesus with one voice, while giving each territory the flexibility to modify it within their contexts.
Pastor Köhler explained that the heart of the project was to announce Jesus. “Those who speak with Christ, speak of Christ,” he said, emphasising that OneVoice27 was not “an organisational movement, but a movement involving members of the Church.”
“We were dreaming of this day, when the local church and church members would hear about OneVoice27 and embrace it.”
NZPUC president Dr Eddie Tupa’i explained that each territory will work with the initiative—which will be called OneVoice in NZPUC—within their context, using “what is important to them”. He highlighted Church members’ excitement for the movement. “We can see people really getting it,” he said. “It’s making sense; they realise how simple it is and how they can really get involved.” He explained that while “the purpose of OneVoice is to engage people with Jesus, we’re not stopping there, but ensuring they are empowered for mission.”
New Caledonia Mission president Dr Hatsarmaveth Venkaya explained the importance of OneVoice within the region, which has experienced social unrest in recent years. “Amidst these dual allegiances we want our people to be united, worshiping the one true God,” he said. “Worship helped us get out of the hatred, resentment and anger we were surrounded by.”
“We are a mosaic of cultures in New Caledonia, but we remain united in our faith and in our mission because our allegiance is to Christ. We want to use that unity to reach out to the different communities in one voice and bring them to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”
Keryn McCutcheon, a Papatoetoe church elder and Master of Ministry student at Avondale University was excited for a unified Church movement.
“It’s not about leadership or entities,” she said, “But about every single Adventist being part of sharing the gospel.” Ms McCutcheon aims to align her research proposal with OneVoice, “equipping people to evangelise by telling their story” through a practical training session, helping people learn how they can “share the gospel, connect with people and make friends with non-Christians already in their sphere of influence.”
During the event, the OneVoice website website was introduced, which encouraged NZPUC members to submit their names which then showed up on a map as a light, symbolising that “New Zealand Pacific is lighting up, one person, one group at a time.”
“We are just at the beginning,” said Pastor Köhler. “We can’t imagine where it will go, but the Lord is behind it, and I believe many people will hear about Jesus and the second coming as a result of OneVoice27.”
“When I ask, ‘Are you in?’ I can see if people are excited or not, and here the people are very excited.”
