Adventist Church Research Articles

The narratives of faith-based organizations on migrant education in Serbia after the closure of the formalized migration corridor in 2016

In this paper we will present narratives of the representatives of faith-based humanitarian organizations of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The narratives provide description of the activities of these organizations regarding education of migrants in Serbia when, from the year 2016 – after the closure of the formalized migration corridor and new securitarian turn of the migration policy – migrants’ integration programs took primacy over those focused on urgent reception. The material has been obtained through semi-structured interviews and will be presented in two sections, the activities of the faith-based organizations in relation to the elementary school education, as well as the activities related to high school education and education of the adults.Key words: faith-based organizations, migrant’s education, Serbia, narratives

Multicultural Urban Ministry in the Post-apartheid Era:A Search for Identity and Unity in Diversity

"This article explores the cultural-ethnic diversity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa and its development in urban centers since the end of Apartheid. It examines challenges and opportunities for the transition to multicultural churches, and concludes by arguing that the culture of racial prejudice and suspicion can only be eradicated with the weapons of trust, faith, hope, and love."

In These Cities Are Jewels: Lessons from Adventist City Missions—1880–1915

"As Ellen White’s words of 1909 imply, urban-focused mission has a long history in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It goes beyond the work of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Chicago, the one exemplar which is reasonably well known but which comes with proverbial baggage, given what happened with Kellogg. I will touch on the Chicago mission, but it was not unique; in fact, our pioneers established many city missions. And while they stressed practical experience they also valued analytical approaches. For example, in 1910, the first two days of the annual council were given over to what was essentially a scholarly conference, with papers read by various proponents and veterans of city missionary activity, crystalizing their experiences and lessons learned for church leaders to take away and apply."

Foreign Missionary Program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Foreign Missionary Program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

General Conference Secretariat and the Mission Enterprise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

General Conference Secretariat and the Mission Enterprise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Chaplaincy Work at Valley View University as A Correlate of Church Growth in Northern Ghana

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a worldwide Protestant Church with a mission to propagate to all people the everlasting gospel of God’s love. As part of its methods of reaching out to the entire world, the Adventist Church owns and operates several educational institutions at all levels with the aim of providing wholistic education to transform its students into the image of God. Valley View University, Ghana's premier private University, based upon the Adventist philosophy of education: seeks to integrate faith and learning and to restore its students into the image of God. This paper aims at figuring out the role the Chaplaincy Department of Valley View University plays in church growth in the Northern part of Ghana. It is a historical evaluation of the Chaplaincy ministry of the Techiman Campus of Valley View University. The paper discovered that there is a strong link between Chaplaincy work at Valley View University (Techiman Campus) and church growth in Northern Ghana, although the Chaplaincy department has its challenges. It was discovered that the Chaplaincy department could contribute to church growth through evangelism, counseling, training, community services, church administration and financial assistance.

Building Missionlogical Bridges in Japan

Although the first Japanese contact with Christianity happened in the 8th century, this country still figures as one of the biggest missiological challenges. In 2018 the Seventh-day Adventist Church has elected Japan as one of its primary missionary contexts. Based on the understanding about the importance of critical contextualization for mission, this study intends to suggest elements to build missiological bridges between Christianity and Shintoism, the Japanese cultural religion. Shintoism, a syncretistic religion, has shaped the Japanese culture and worldview. The aim is to study the values of the Japanese culture connected with Shintoism and develop channels, so Christians can reveal the gospel in a contextual way. Cultural Anthropology provides tools that are especially relevant to develop the process of critical contextualization.

The Global Influence of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Diet

The emphasis on health ministry within the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) movement led to the development of sanitariums in mid-nineteenth century America. These facilities, the most notable being in Battle Creek, Michigan, initiated the development of vegetarian foods, such as breakfast cereals and analogue meats. The SDA Church still operates a handful of food production facilities around the world. The first Battle Creek Sanitarium dietitian was co-founder of the American Dietetics Association which ultimately advocated a vegetarian diet. The SDA Church established hundreds of hospitals, colleges, and secondary schools and tens of thousands of churches around the world, all promoting a vegetarian diet. As part of the ‘health message,’ diet continues to be an important aspect of the church’s evangelistic efforts. In addition to promoting a vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcohol, the SDA church has also invested resources in demonstrating the health benefits of these practices through research. Much of that research has been conducted at Loma Linda University in southern California, where there have been three prospective cohort studies conducted over 50 years. The present study, Adventist Health Study-2, enrolled 96,194 Adventists throughout North America in 2003–2004 with funding from the National Institutes of Health. Adventist Health Studies have demonstrated that a vegetarian diet is associated with longer life and better health.

Quantitative Text Mining Analysis of the Testimonies for the Church: Implications for Non-Native English Readers

With its international constituency, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a large a membership that primarily comprises non-native English speakers. Students have had challenges in understanding and appreciating the writings of one of the church’s co-founders, Ellen White. The purpose of this study was to analyze the Testimonies for the Church and to quantitatively identify the difficulties with comprehending White’s writing. The results reveal that the readability is consistent with a middle school reading level; the text is moderately formal in nature; the sentiment of the text is neutral; and White’s writing style varies little over time.

The Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventist Church on‎ Food According to Ellen G. White

This study aims to understand the concept of food according to Ellen G White ‎based on the teachings of Seventh-day Adventist Church. The object of this ‎research is all about healthy lifestyles following Old Testament as a reference. ‎Ellen recommends her pupils to consume healthy and nutritious food, as well as ‎prohibits consuming foods that can disturb their condition. In order to achieve an ‎objective mentioned above, this research utlizes a theological-normative approach; ‎with an intention to reveal Ellen’s interpretation for the doctrine of food regarding ‎the authenticity values founded within Old Testament. Accordingly, both descriptive ‎and analysis method are executed to analyze this topic altogether with religious ‎notions and the ideas of nutritionists. This research results a number of ‎conclusions: First, the types of food nutrients are good elements for health of ‎human body in accordance with the Biblical rules are: fruits, grains, vegetables, ‎and any other crops. Second, Ellen also permitted another type of meals besides ‎what has already mentioned above such as bread, cake, egg, milk, cheese, and fruit ‎juice because these dishes sanify and affect good behavior for human. Moreover, ‎those foods are also easily to be obtained among the poors. The types of foods ‎prohibited by White, however, are tea, coffee, meat, tobacco, and alcoholic ‎beverages, for instances. The reason behind it is that those meals are derived from ‎animal nutrients and possibly causing illness to the body.Those diseases are: ‎tuberculosis, cancer, and complications toward entire organs of human body. The ‎tea and coffe, in the other hands, affect headache, wakefulness, heart palpitation, ‎indigestion, trembling, and even leads to deviate behavior.

Funeral Rites among the Akans of Ghana: A Biblical Response

Each society has its own culture which is usually dearly cherished. A typical example of a people who genuinely admire their unique cultural practices is the Akans of Ghana. There are many unique rites within Akan culture. Among them are birth rites, puberty rites, marriage rites, death and funeral rites. This paper considers funeral rites among the Akans and its impact on the Adventist Church. The article, therefore, seeks to answer these questions: How are funeral rites performed among the Akan? What effect does Akan funeral rites have on the Adventist Church? It also provides a biblical response to the Akan worldview of the immortality of the soul. The paper identifies that the Akan worldview of Saturday God is a favorable factor in the spread and growth of Adventism among the Akans. However, modernization of some aspects of Akan culture particularly funeral rites have changed the story. The celebration of Akan funeral rite services on Saturdays instead of the traditional Thursday is posing a threat to Akan Adventism. It, also, came out that the Akan worldview of the immortality of the soul has no sound biblical foundation.

A Biblical Approach for an Inner Healing Discipleship Cycle for Migrants and Refugees

"Within the Adventist Church many immigrants struggle silently with the consequences of emotional pain, fear, failure, anxiety, stress, inadequate parenting, rejection, and abusive relationships. Many try to cope with the ongoing results of involvement in the occult or other false religions, and the effects of physical illness, accidents, and trauma continue to impact their lives. It is God’s desire that we prosper and be in good health (3 John 2) because he created us in his image. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Therefore, if we are to reflect his image we must experience inner healing and extend it to others, for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). Spiritual and emotional healing provides a deep sense of meaning and purpose and transforms our immigrant friends into an extension of God’s healing hands for the salvation of the lost, the last, and the least. This is the “whole” life God wants for His foreign children."

Overcoming Barriers to Effective Missions

"Much today is known regarding the Great Commission of Christ to the church before his ascension for which every member is called to actively engage in missions until Christ’s Second Coming. The Greek word ethne, translated in English as “nation” is better understood as people groups (Matt 28:19). The challenge and responsibility of the Adventist Church, therefore, is to reach the diverse and numerous people groups proximal and distant, by employing all possible means and methods that God has provided for this task. The assignment undoubtedly may appear daunting, however, it still is “mission possible.” For this goal to be achieved the church, especially its leadership, needs to overcome certain barriers inhibiting effective mission. This paper seeks to highlight a few of those barriers; however, it is not exhaustive in scope due to certain understandable limitations. Its objective is to enlighten and arouse mission leadership concerning obstacles to be overcome in order for more effective mission to be conducted in all respective territories. It seeks to create awareness of the reality of the mission situation, the acknowledgment that there might be barriers occurring within our territories, and engender action plans to rectify the present scenario. Other literature may provide several different perspectives on this subject; however, from the present Adventist standpoint the focus is on five issues I consider crucial at this point in time. The five barriers to effective missions discussed in this paper include knowledge, timidity, identity, spiritual, and logistic barriers."

Who Gave You Authority to Baptize?

"This paper will explore the age-old, yet still relevant question, “And who gave you authority to baptize?”(Mark 11:27-33; John 1:25). First, biblical authority will be examined regarding who is allowed to baptize. Second, the writings of Ellen G. White, as they relate to biblical authority for baptizing, will be considered. Third, a counter-argument will be discussed. And finally, two baptismal tracks within the current conventional Adventist church system will be compared. This paper will conclude with a missional way forward that is faithful to Scripture, sustainable, scalable, and missionally effective in light of current cultural trends."

The Activity of Protestant Communities in the Altai Territory in the Mid-1970s — 1980s

The article is devoted to the study of peculiarities of the Altai Territory Protestant churches’ position in the in the mid-1970s — 1980s. During the period in question, state-confessional relations were modernized, both in the USSR on the whole and in the Altai Territory in particular. The active process of registration of Evangelical Christian Baptist organizations (adherents of the All-Union Council), Mennonite and Lutheran communities took place. The authorities also tried to control the religious organizations (Council of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists, Pentecostal Church), who did not agree to legalize their activities, allowing them to hold church services in the same place and at same time. The relation of the state to the religious groups in the region is analyzed in the article. The article also reveals peculiarities of Protestant communities’ position, especially the registration process, economic, demographic changes within the communities and religious education of children. It is concluded that during the analyzed period there has been a change in the state-confessional policy in relation to Protestant organizations; the registration of communities is resumed; there was a revitalization of the Pentecostal, Lutheran and Seventh-day Adventist churches.

Jewelry in Hinduism: A Mission Challenge

"The issue of adornment and jewelry is a point of contention between Western and Eastern Christians. When Hindus accept Jesus Christ, they are expected to dispose of all adornment and jewelry before becoming members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. To Hindus, this is one of the confirmations that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an agent of Western culture trying to replace their Eastern values and way of life. The Adventist position on adornment and jewelry is a challenge to many Hindus because of the different cultural ideals and meanings behind adornment within the South Asian context."

The development of the healthful lifestyle by the seventh-day adventist church in the period of the second commonwealth

The article is devoted to a complex investigation of the development of the healthful living ideas by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the period of the Second Commonwealth. The healthcare activity of the Adventist Church is investigated in the inter-war period, the methods of its work among the Polish population are revealed. On the basis of the archival sources analyzed, it is proven that by using medical and humanitarian means of helping the population, the Adventists simultaneously distributed the religious literature and engaged in the issues of spiritual enlighten on the basis of the biblical principles

IDENTIDADE, RELIGIÃO E MÍDIA: O ADVENTISMO BRASILEIRO EM “ATÉ O ÚLTIMO HOMEM”

O presente artigo analisa os movimentos realizados pela Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (IASD) no período de lançamento do filme “Até o Último Homem”. A abordagem do tema se deu através da análise de algumas ações evangelizadoras relacionadas a história do personagem Desmond Doss, cuja vida exemplar representaria, segundo o momento, a identidade ideal para os adventistas. O objetivo foi explanar como os adventistas aproveitaram o contexto cinematográfico da história do herói cristão para elaborar estratégias missionárias atípicas diante dos padrões comumente utilizados pela denominação. Essas estratégias ampliam discussões relacionadas ao uso de meios midiáticos no cenário religioso, tais como HQ’s e conteúdos digitais (que, nesse caso, foram produzidos e utilizados como elementos de pregação pela IASD). O presente artigo pretende evidenciar algumas consequências da utilização dos meios comunicacionais na exposição do evangelho, ou seja, discutiremos, através do exemplo elencado, alguns dos processos comunicacionais utilizados em novas abordagens missionárias e comunicacionais.

Fitzi, True-Believer: The Legacy of M. Eleanor Fitzgerald

Abstract M. Eleanor Fitzgerald (known to friends and colleagues as “Fitzi”) was the long-time business manager of the Provincetown Players and the subsequent incarnations of the group that continued until 1929. This article traces her legacy from her humble childhood in northern Wisconsin, experiences with the Seventh Day Adventist Church and Dr. Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium, to her work and relationships with anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman and their publication Mother Earth. Beginning with the Players in 1918, she ultimately served as their business manager, as well as becoming their chief organizer, protector, guiding spirit, and conscience. Her work continued with the Group Theatre, Federal Theatre Project and, finally, the Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research, run by German playwright and director Erwin Piscator. Because of her passion and devotion to her work and those she worked with, she developed close and influential friendships with O'Neill, Berkman, Goldman, Piscator, and the many playwrights and actors she shepherded over the years. Malcolm Cowley wrote, “The story of the new American theater cannot truly be told without mentioning Fitzi's part in it” and this article attempts to do just that.

Stories from Sunnyside: Ellen White in Australia 1891-1900

I’d never been to “Sunnyside” until a few weeks ago. So, the opportunity to tour Ellen White’s Australian home excited me. As a guide ushered our large group through the historic building, I saw not only the room where the Seventh-day Adventist Church pioneer wrote a large proportion of her writings, including The Desire of Ages, but also other items she’d used in the running of her household. Our guide interspersed historical facts with interesting snippets and captivating stories of everyday life.