Our Publishing Houses

The first institution in the Seventh-day Adventist Church was a print shop. Our literature was printed first in various places—Topsham and Paris, in Maine; Saratoga Springs and Rochester, New York. In 1855 we began in Battle Creek, Michigan. Some friends contributed means to erect a small wooden building for the Review. Before long, to the original hand press was added a steam power press.FSG 364.3

In 1861 the Review and Herald Publishing Association was incorporated in Michigan. Fourteen years later the Pacific Press Publishing Association was founded in Oakland, California.FSG 364.4

This latter move met with strong opposition by some who claimed that it was cheaper to print in one place and that one institution was sufficient for one country. But from the very beginning, God’s signal blessing rested on the Pacific Press, as it has through all the years since. The messenger of the Lord earnestly urged that a publishing house be started in California.FSG 365.1

In 1875 J. N. Andrews started to print French literature in Switzerland, and in 1877 J. G. Matteson began to publish a paper in Oslo, Norway. The first Adventist book to be printed overseas was a small Danish hymnbook, published in Denmark by J. G. Matteson in 1876. Before this, however, some foreign-language literature had been printed in the United States. As far as we know, the earliest Adventist literature ever printed in any other language than English was a pamphlet on the Sabbath in German.FSG 365.2

When we speak of the rapid progress of the advent cause in all the earth through the years, we always name the printing press as one great agency which under God has made the message known. Adventists are literature minded. In every land we have entered we have placed the production and circulation of literature in the language of that people at the head of our mission program. There is not to our knowledge any church or missionary society that uses more literature than we do. We are printing our message today in nearly two hundred languages, and our goal is to have Adventist publications in every tongue in which the Holy Scriptures have been translated. Scores of times other mission groups and leaders have commended our zeal and success in our literature ministry. To many the success of our self-supporting colporteurs looks like a miracle. Again and again they have tried to adopt our plans and to learn the secret of the skill of our canvassers. Few, however, realize that our success in the publishing endeavor is due to the instruction and messages which have come to us through the Spirit of prophecy. With the exception of gospel preaching and preachers, there is perhaps no mission subject concerning which the Testimonies speak so freely and so fully as the publishing work in all its phases. That this instruction has not been in vain is shown by the fact that up to the end of 1945 we had circulated literature valued at $161,956,924. Think what that means.FSG 365.3

In our publishing activities—that is, in both the production and circulation of Adventist literature—a few basic principles, set forth in the Spirit of prophecy books, have been our guide. These might be summarized as follows:FSG 366.1

1. The printing of Adventist literature is not to be done by some private individual. We discourage all production of Adventist reading matter as a personal concern. According to our policies, no individual member is supposed to print literature of his own on the message. We grant, of course, that every man has a right to do so, but we urge that all books, pamphlets, papers, be published by the church. This rule has been so generally followed that we have had almost no literature printed by private persons. We do this to preserve unity of doctrine and spirit in our publishing.FSG 366.2

2. Since all our literature is done in the name of the church and for the church, as the governing bodies in the church direct, no individual has any personal business interests in our publishing houses. Thus, for instance, in some countries it is the custom that the manager of a printing house is paid a percentage, usually five per cent, as a personal bonus by the store or business firm from which he purchases supplies. In a large publishing house this practice gives the manager quite a profit. In the beginning some claimed this advantage, but as we studied the matter it was decided that no individual should profit in any way because of his office but all should be on the same basis of a missionary wage.FSG 366.3

3. In the exceedingly large sale of our literature it was natural that the question of royalty for our writers should arise. At first there were those who asserted that no author should have any compensation of any kind for his work aside from his regular salary. There were others again who held that every writer should receive a definite royalty on all he produced aside or in addition to his regular wage, and that this should be paid even on subscription books, the sales of which depend on the colporteurs rather than on the writers. The Spirit of prophecy gave instruction on this matter too so that all are properly protected.FSG 367.1

4. The supreme question in our publishing mission is the contents and spirit of the literature printed and distributed. On this the messenger of the Lord gave very much and detailed information. Though the matter is fundamental and though much might be quoted on this the reader is referred to the many testimonies on the subject. In a word, the instruction given is twofold-purpose publishing houses are not to print worldly literature even for profit, and especially demoralizing stories, skeptical articles, and such like, but are to use their presses only in printing high-class, Spirit-filled messages, literature that exalts Christ and helps His people. This, of course, includes reading matter not only on doctrine and holiness but on such subjects as the home, education, temperance, missions, liberty, and kindred topics that make for purity of character and integrity in living.FSG 367.2