three-year trademark infringement suit between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and a West Palm Beach, Florida, congregation, over the use of the name Seventh-day Adventist in identifying the church, has finally ended with a court-approved settlement.

On February 15, 2001, attorneys for the General Conference and pastor Raphael Perez of the Eternal Gospel Church, filed a settlement agreement in U.S. District Court in Miami, Florida. The case had been under appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The settlement comes 10 months after federal judge James Lawrence King ordered Perez and the church to stop using the words Seventh-day Adventist, the acronym SDA, or the Spanish equivalent, to advertise or publicize their congregation.

According to the terms of the settlement agreement the church will be able to identify itself with a two-line logo as follows:

On the Record

Carson Clears the Air (audio) On Settlement Terms (audio) On Case's Importance

Carson emphasized that the "tag line" permitted by the agreement merely described persons who organized the Eternal Gospel Church and was not considered a part of the group's name.

"Church attorneys saw this as a basis on which the dispute could be resolved without affecting in any way the viability of Judge King's decision," Carson said. "Our attorneys were extremely confident that the court of appeals would affirm Judge King's ruling. But they expressed the opinion that the agreement reached out of court among the parties would be permitted under the law with or without the ruling."

Carson expressed hope that other independent congregations who may be tempted to infringe on the church's trademark might find this solution as a basis to change their names. Carson said that the church will carefully monitor Mr. Perez's activities to insure his full compliance with the court-approved agreement.

"We would hope they [other independent groups] consider selecting names that would come within the fair use exception utilized in the settlement agreement," he said.

According to court documents, The Eternal Gospel Church was formed in 1991 by Perez and 40 to 50 supporters. In 1991 and 1992 Perez attempted to gain admission to the Southeastern Conference and later the Florida Conference. Each time the conferences denied Perez membership.

In 1994, Perez ran newspaper advertisements around the United States using the Seventh-day Adventist name, or SDA. The names have also been used widely in his group's fliers, billboards, audio tape recordings, and on radio broadcasts.

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Settlement Documents (pdf)   Ruling Favors Adventists	Federal Judge Hears Case Eternal Gospel Church Web Site

First Adventist Church Building in South Sudan
A group of young volunteers and local church members have finished constructing the first Seventh-day Adventist church building in war-torn South Sudan, according to Beat Odermatt, president of the Adventist Church in the region.

The church was built by a group from Outpost Centers, Inc. (OCI), an international lay organization headquartered in Apison, Tennessee, United States, that supports the work of the Adventist Church. The OCI team, all under age 30, worked closely with local Adventists who provided onsite labor, bricks, rocks, and sand.

While there are other temporary Adventist structures, this is the first made with "permanent" construction materials, says Jabel Busl, who led the church-building team. Constructed with hand-made brick, the church is located in the village of Bar Olo, along the main road between Maridi and Mundri in Western Equatoria.

News Notes

Bernard Kinman (below), a retired pastor in Great Britain, recently received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Baptist College in Indiana, which is affiliated with Liverpool University in England. Kinman is 90 years old. Affectionately known as "Mr. Temperance," Kinman received a master's degree from Brunel University at age 83 and became one of the oldest postgraduate students in the United Kingdom, says Bronwen Atkinson, an assistant communication secretary for the Stanborough Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Watford, England.