William Johnsson has been the editor of The Adventist Review since 1982. We interviewed him in his office in Silver Spring, Maryland.

AT: What do you find most satisfying or most exciting about the Seventh-day Adventist Church today?

WJ: The people, the incredible variety of people. It's a feisty fellowship. We have people who are wonderful and people who are strange. We have a wide spectrum of opinions within this church, which I think has been true from the beginning. Adventists tend to be individualists, perhaps not as much as they used to be in the 19th century, but I think there is still a high level of individuality in this church. And it is this incredible diversity among God's people that most engages my heart.

AT: Give us a brief overview of the Adventist Review.

WJ: The Review is the church paper, which means we serve the whole church. But the church is active in more than 200 countries, speaks many languages and lives in many different cultures, all of which makes ours an impossible job.

In North America (NA), we publish four principal editions per month. The first edition goes to about 300,000 Adventist homes across North America. The other three editions per month go to about 50,000 paid subscribers. The second edition focuses on world issues. The third edition targets young adults. And the fourth edition addresses Adventist Heritage and Doctrine. Every issue aims at inspiration and includes news and at least two pages of letters.

In an endeavor to fulfill our mission as the paper for the whole church, we have developed many other editions: Pacific Press now publishes a Spanish edition for NA. Beyond that we have another 14 print editions. One that is just now being developed is a specialized paper for people in the 10/40 window. It is very simple, a single sheet both sides, written in third-grade level English which will be sent electronically to offices in Asia, India, North Africa, and people there will translate and distribute it.

We're in Spanish, of course, Korean, Telugu, French, Romanian, and German. Our on-line English edition receives 1.8 million hits per month from 106 different countries. So we're trying by a variety of means to be the church paper. I think it's apparent that while the subscriber base in NA is crucial for the health of the journal, it is only a part of the total Review story.

AT: What kind of control does your office exercise over all these various editions?

WJ: Back in 1996 when we created the "new Review," with four distinctive foci per month, the second edition each month was to be the "World Edition." The GC pushed the Divisions to print publish translations of this world edition. The Review office here was to have final control of all these editions. The world field did not buy into this, not surprisingly.

I had gone along with this earlier approach very reluctantly. But with the change of administration we scrapped the top down approach. Now, we tell the international editors, we're here to serve. If you want an edition, we'll help you. The GC will pay for the translation and all other pre-press costs for anything you reprint from the Review. We're not going to check your editing to see what you use or leave out.

The editions around the world now are localized, contextualized. The editors have a free hand to take anything they like from us. Some use nearly everything we send them, adding local news, their own letters and editorials. Others use much less.

AT: How do you see the relationship between Adventism as a whole and the Review?

WJ: From the beginning the relationship has been a very close one. It may well be unique among Christian bodies. The Review and the church have been side by side from the beginning. The church paper was the first thing we did, in 1849. In fact, in a sense the paper is older than the denomination. Certainly their prosperity is interrelated.

The Review has articulated the church. At times it has sought to be a prophetic voice for the church. It has given news and information about the church. However, the Review has not been the voice of the church. Its contents are not approved by the GC officers or Executive Committee. True, it reports the official actions of the church. It carries the minutes of the GC sessions. But beyond that, the editor retains final say over the content of the paper.

Occasionally, at an Annual Council, someone will propose a motion that would mandate specific content for the Review. But no such action has ever passed. The first time it was attempted during my tenure, Neal Wilson, the GC president, immediately stated it was out of place, saying, "We cannot tie the hands of the editor." I've had mostly good relationships with the presidents of the church, especially with the current one.

AT: But your office is in the GC building. Aren't you affected by the place where you work?

WJ. We operate within a context. I am an invitee with voice and vote to the Administrative Committee, which is comprised of about twenty to twenty-five members. There are obvious advantages to this: it keeps me aware of the plans and thinking of church leaders and I can respond to questions about the operation of the Review. Of course, as an active participant of this crucial committee, I could be pulled into "the circle of power." I am not immune to that. But again, I must emphasize the formal responsibility for the content of the journal rests fully on my office. The GC committee does not edit the Adventist Review. They can fire the editor; they cannot dictate content. I would resign rather than be dictated to as editor.

AT: I understand you read every letter to the editor. Looking back over your years as editor, what changes have you noticed in the letters?

WJ: We receive fewer angry letters. The letters in the1980s were so much involved with theology and heavy-handed administration. That was the most terrible time in my ministry. And we received many very angry letters. It came as an amazing insight that I would get an angry letter, and often it would be only after I had turned the page that I would discover which side they were coming from. Either the left or the right theologically. The spirit would be identical-anger with the church and its leadership.

There is less anger now but more pain. We have encouraged this by publishing articles that have laid bare areas like sexual abuse. So people feel free to express that. Recently, I received a letter from someone telling me how she was abused. She mentions people who are still employed by the church. I don't recall getting letters like that. The letters now are more gut wrenching.

AT: What are the greatest challenges facing our church structurally?

WJ: The growth of the church. We have grown beyond all expectations of our pioneers. The growth is mostly in developing countries where people are less affluent, less educated. Since we have a basically democratic system for electing leaders, increasingly the representatives to the world council and the nominating committee will not come from the West. We are seeing the church creaking and groaning under the stresses already. I predict that the stresses will become much more pronounced. I think a critical moment will come, and it may not be many years away, when the church elects a non-Caucasian, non-Western president. I think this will be a defining moment.

A huge need among us right now, and I think our president is trying to help us in this area, is to accept differences. You hear him emphasize "quality of life," which includes accepting that we don't have to all be the same. He talks about obedience in our own culture, obedience to the Lord where we are.

AT. Do you envision that a Third World president will be an activist in attempting to "reform" or "purify" the NA church theologically?

WJ. That could happen, however, if there is division I think it would occur first in regard to money. We are facing financial stresses. The giving is not drying up, but the church is growing so much faster. In addition the GC is downsizing itself. Each year the NA treasury sends on a smaller percentage of its tithe. This was not so noticeable while the economy was booming, but now it is having a significant impact on the church. NA has more money available, but in areas where the church is growing and they need churches, schools and hospitals, the money just isn't there.

AT: Do you lie awake at night worrying about the theological or financial threats to the future of a united Adventist Church?

WJ. I don't. I have faith that the Lord is head of this church. I'm glad he is. There is no way any human being could handle this church. Do I see ready solutions to our problems? No. But then my NT background prepares me for surprises. God surprises us.