What is enditnow® Emphasis Day?
enditnow® Emphasis Day, the fourth Sabbath of August, provides an annual opportunity for local churches to address this issue, to educate church members and leadership, to facilitate awareness in their communities, and to let victims know that their church cares about them. Go to enditnow Emphasis Day
Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day began in 2001
The Annual Council voted on September 16, 2001, to add an Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day to the annual worldwide church calendar of special days as the fourth Sabbath in August. Women's Ministries will coordinate resource packet material to be used for the special day in local church congregations.
Comments at the launch of the Church initiative in 2001 and recorded in the news brief are listed here.
- Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day represents a "step in the right direction," said Karen Flowers, associate director of Family Ministries at the General Conference when the special day became established. Family Ministries has already developed a range of resources on this subject that will be of great value as they become more well used at the local level.
- In her remarks to the delegates at the Annual Council about this day, Stenbakken said that "We want this to be done in an educating, healthy way, not condemning anyone because both men and women abuse; and men, women, children, and the elderly are victims.
- "We must face this evil and name this challenge for what it is—sin. Something that comes from the devil himself. We need to meet this evil with spiritual weapons as well as with support, anger management, shelters, counseling, and the other usual tools," she concluded.
- In August 2001 Women's Ministries helped to sponsor Helen Pearson of Great Britain, TED, to attend an inter-faith meeting on domestic violence in Dundee, Scotland. The leadership was so impressed when they saw what resources Pearson had from the Adventist church that they invited Karen Flowers to attend, also.
Delegates at the Annual Council 2001 meeting came from all parts of the world to share resources; they developed nine principles of action intended to raise awareness of the abuse issue and to encourage churches to develop effective programs.
Renamed enditnow® Emphasis Day in 2014; Revised logo byline
Renamed in 2014, it is now known as enditnow® Emphasis Day. The original logo byline read "Adventists Say No to Violence Against Women," however, the representatives of the seven sponsoring departments voted in 2016 to revise the logo. By dropping the final phrase, the new logo reads simply, "Adventists Say No to Violence."
The sponsoring departments produced the save-the-date postcard (without a specific date) to use in local church districts for enditnow® Emphasis Day.
Download Save-the-date postcard | Printer's PDF
Download enditnow® logo formats:
high-resolution JPEG | Vector PDF
Annual sermon packets of resource material
Women's Ministries directors in the local churches should plan very early so that this day can be part of the local church planning. Work closely with the pastor, keeping him or her informed.
The annual resource packet prepared by Women's Ministries includes a sermon, seminar, PowerPoint slide presentations for both scripts, and other resource materials as appropriate. A suggested order of divine service is included and often a children's story.
Go to archive of packets
We want to encourage all women to be involved in this special day. Women's Ministries leaders in local churches should plan very early so that this day can be a part of the local church planning by working closely with the pastor, keeping him or her informed.
Photo credit: Unsplash.com | Pablo Verela
