“We’re here to serve with purpose, to have passion in work that we do to spread the gospel, and to build partnerships with communicators,” said Libna Stevens, president of the Society of Adventist Communicators (SAC), about the 29th annual convention.
Nearly 300 dedicated professionals and eager students attended the annual convention, which was hosted at the headquarters of the North American Division (NAD) in Columbia, Maryland, October 18-20, 2018.
Stevens’s statement unpacked the convention’s new tagline, “Purpose. Passion. Partnership.” The tagline reflects the organization’s clarified vision — “to expand and strengthen our global network by developing leaders who pursue excellence in communication.”
“We wanted to highlight that we have a purpose to be part of this mission of spreading the gospel. Whoever we are, whatever responsibilities we have, we need to make sure that our identity is focused on that,” continued Stevens, who is also the assistant communication director of the Inter-American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “We have to do it with passion because we care. We need to be passionate about God’s church and our role in communicating. In addition, we need to focus on networking because we’re all on the same big team.”
“I hope by the time we’re done, you’ll each have 40 new networking relationships established,” said Daniel Weber, SAC executive director and NAD communication director, during announcements.
Ivan Ruiz-Knott, a second-year board member of SAC, who also attended the convention as an exhibitor, spoke on the necessity of networking, especially when it comes to creativity.
Shane Hochstetler (center) accepts the Cutting Edge Award of the Society of Adventist Communicators (SAC) for his work on the Gulf States Camp Meeting Campaign, “Forgiven to Forgive.” The award is presented by Libna Stevens (left), president of SAC, and Daniel Weber (right), executive director of SAC. Photo by Pieter Damsteegt, North American Division News
“Without a place like SAC, it’s [easy] to create in a vacuum and not have a lot of feedback. It’s good to have this community,” said Ruiz-Knott, principal at Types & Symbols, which showcased its redesigned Conflict of the Ages series by Ellen G. White, co-founder of the Adventist Church.
