At 38 years old, Pastor Erton Carlos Köhler is the youngest president
ever to head the South American region of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church.
Members of the South American Division Executive Committee present when
Pastor Köhler was nominated on Oct. 29 to replace Pastor Ruy Nagel, who
retired, say that he reflects the youth and energy of one of the
Adventist world church's largest administrative regions. The South
America Division is one of 13 administrative regions of the world
Adventist Church.
When asked about his new role leading nearly 2.6 million Adventist
church members in South America, Pastor Köhler said: "I feel extremely
honored to serve the church in this function at this moment. I believe
that maybe I was called to fulfill Ellen G. White's prophecy that the
young people will finish God's work on earth."
Ellen G. White was one of the young founders of the Adventist church.
She, along with her husband James, John Nevins Andrews, Uriah Smith and
other young pioneers of the church, nurtured the small group of
Adventist believers in the church's infancy. In 1844 at the start of
the Adventist church, Ellen was 17, James was 23, and Andrews and Smith
were in their 20s. As the youngest regional president for the world
church, Pastor Köhler follows in the founding members' footsteps.
"In South America 58.8 percent of the church's membership is under 35
years old," Köhler continued. "I am 38 years old and this is a reason
for me to make a final call for all the young people to come to know
Christ."
"Pastor Köhler was chosen because he is young, because he is
enthusiastic," said Williams Costa Jr., communication director for the
church in that region.
Pastor Köhler held the position of youth ministries director for the
region for three years starting in 2003. "We want him to put the same
kind of enthusiasm and energy that he put into our young people into
the whole [region]," Williams continued, adding that Kohler is "also
very well-organized and he is very good with planning."
Köhler's election follows the retirement of Pastor Ruy Nagel, who
headed that church region for 11 years and served a total of 44 years
in church ministry. In his new role, Köhler is not only a leader for
the church in that region, he also becomes a vice president of the
15-million member Adventist world church, which is headquartered in
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Pastor Jan Paulsen, president
of the Adventist world church, participated in the proceedings.
Before becoming youth ministries director for the entire South American
region, Pastor Köhler was youth leader and then secretary for the Rio
Grande do Sul Conference in Brazil. He has served as a local pastor and
a youth leader for the church's local conference and in the Northeast
Brazil Union. Kohler graduated in 1989 with a degree in theology from
the Brazil Adventist College.
A new communication director was also elected for the church in South
America. Pastor Edson Rosa, former secretary for the church in Brazil,
will be filling the spot vacated by Costa, who earlier this month was
elected associate communication director for the Adventist world
church.
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