Every five years, all Division publishing directors, and selected publishing house managers/presidents meet together at the General Conference (GC) headquarters for the World Literature Ministry Coordinating Board (WLMCB) meeting under the leadership of the GC publishing leaders. This time, the WLMCB in this quinquennium was conducted on April 26-29, 2018.
The responsibilities of the WLMCB, according to the GC Working Policy, are to serve as a central advisory, planning, mediating, and coordinating board for the total publishing program of the Church. It will make recommendations of development of publications that can be used in various parts of the world.
The main agenda items of the WLMCB this year include the following:
1. Total Member Involvement in literature distribution — challenges and opportunities, missionary book planning, literature distribution at 2020 GC session
2. Full-time and part-time literature evangelists — strengthening factors, full-time publishing directors at Union/Conference level
3. Student literature evangelists — How to develop student LEs, development of publishing leaders
4. Nurturing church / trade book circulation — local church publishing coordinator, translation and distribution of Ellen G. White books, new curriculum for Sabbath School quarterlies
Other agenda items include reports from each Division Publishing Ministries Department, publishing ministries communication tools, publishing department evaluation, 2018 four-division publishing director’s workshop, 2019 publishing house workshop and policy review, etc.
The board also recommends and approves some initiatives to strengthen the recruitment and training of literature evangelists and future leadership development and to review and update the responsibilities of local church publishing coordinator. A request was also made to the GC publishing department to coordinate the development of a world-wide Home Health Education Service (HHES) logo.
The participants spent an afternoon enjoying a field trip to visit a newly-opened Museum of the Bible in the Washington DC area. This was surely an eye-opening experience to understand the history and origin of the Bible.
“The world is to receive the light of truth through an evangelizing ministry of the word in our books and periodicals. Our publications are to show that the end of all things is at hand” (Colporteur Ministry, p.145).
Stanley Ng, director
Publishing Ministries Department