Adventist Review: News


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BY JONATHAN GALLAGHER, UN liaison director of the General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department

eventh-day Adventists need to be far more involved in the community-that's the message coming from the conference on the subject held at the General Conference (GC) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, October 14-16.

"We're known for a very active program that serves the community-education, health, ADRA," said GC president Jan Paulsen in his opening address to participants. "But it has to be more than this." Individually, "we need to remind ourselves that we have to make a positive contribution to society."

"While we are a spiritual community, we cannot afford to become preoccupied with the world to come, and lose interest in the world where we are currently placed," Paulsen added. "On the cross Jesus confirmed the value He places on humanity. We must make sure our mission is large enough to embrace Christ's care for suffering humanity. We are humanity; we are part of the world. This is where we live, this is where we work. God has placed us here for a purpose. We are expected by God to be instruments in His hands to reach into the community."

DOING WHAT'S RIGHT: Sir James Carlisle, governor-general of Antigua and Barbuda, talked about his decision not to serve alcohol at state functions. [photo: Jonathan Gallagher]
This brand-new venture affirmed the vital importance of community involvement by Adventists. "The recent world survey showed that among all church activities, community involvement is the lowest rated-less than 30 percent of members being involved," says Eugene Hsu, GC general vice president and chairman of the conference planning committee. "We need a paradigm shift-service is service, and the focus should be on the people. After all, the church is part of the community, and we should help people feel that our presence in the community makes a difference to their welfare."

Speakers including Baptist pastor, religious commentator, and author Tony Campolo; Antigua and Barbuda governor-general Sir James Carlisle; U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black; and Sligo Adventist Church pastor Peter Bath challenged the conference attendees from their perspectives to go beyond the usual.

Campolo praised the Adventist Church for some of its contributions-"The Adventist Church has done a good job of helping people give up smoking"-but argued that much more should be done.

On involvement in third-world debt, Campolo contended, "It's time for us to become a jubilee people and cancel this debt. Seventh-day Adventists must become part of the campaign. You can't love God without loving the poor, for if you reject the poor, you reject Jesus."

Governor-General Carlisle highlighted some of the issues he faces as an Adventist very much involved in community. "For example, I refuse to serve alcohol at state functions," he says. "I was accused of trying to force my religion [on people], but knowing the ill effects of alcohol on the human body, I would do nothing to encourage drinking."

LOVING THE POOR: Baptist pastor and religious commentator Tony Campolo told conference attendees, "You can't love God without loving the poor." [photo: Jonathan Gallagher]
A Sabbath issue led to a confrontation with the government-Carlisle's refusal to participate in Independence Day celebrations held on Sabbath. Eventually, at his urging, an amendment to the Public Holidays Act was passed that directed celebrations to be held the following Monday if Independence Day fell on either Saturday or Sunday. His conclusion? As Adventists in public office, you must be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Watch for the full story of Governor-General Carlisle's experiences in the December 9 World Edition of the Adventist Review.)

U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black presented the theme of his Sabbath morning message in two words, "Don't quit." He recalled his Adventist mother praying for his alcoholic father every day. By the time he got to college, Black decided there wasn't any point continuing to pray that prayer anymore. But his mother continued.

Imagine his surprise, he says, when holding an evangelistic outreach, his father responded to his altar call. "I did not even know he was there," says Black. Consequently, "don't quit; don't give up. Or, as the Scripture puts it, 'Let us not be weary in well doing.' "

"We need to make sure this [conference] doesn't lead to short-term enthusiasm or action, but to long-term action," said John Graz, GC public affairs and religious liberty director. "This should be a launch to more such events, at all levels of the church."

Nearly 300 persons attended this inaugural conference on Adventists in the community. The intention was not only to inspire and challenge those participating in the conference, says Hsu, but also "through the workshops, presentations, and reports to provide something they can take home with them, something tangible." The aim is for "every local congregation to catch this vision and do something to serve their community."

Young Adults Raise Awareness
of Adventists in Lithuania
More than 40 young adults from Adventist churches in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Lithuania participated in a weeklong community project in Kedainiai called "The Christian Youth Days-Kedainiai 2004." The project involved cleaning surrounding areas of the town, collecting money to pay for an operation needed by a local deaf boy, a presentation on the culture of Wales and Northern Ireland, and musical concerts. The event attracted hundreds of young adults who had an opportunity to learn more about Jesus and the Adventist Church.

"Even when organizing the project I could see God working," says Mantas Kucinskas, pastor of the local Adventist church in Kedainiai and communication director of the Lithuania Field. "We were supported by local government, other Christian denominations, and individual people. The goals of the project-service, sharing, communication, and promotion of a Christian way of life among the youth-were simple and understandable."

The mayor of the town, speaking with journalists, said, "This is a great help to the community. I would like to invite you to organize projects like this next year too."

"This kind of impression is very important in a country such as Lithuania," says Giedrius Rimsa, secretary for the Adventist Church in Lithuania, "because here the church is given the image of being a sect, and the state government will be considering the status of the church in the near future." --Trans-European Division communication/AR

GC Women's Ministries Celebrates
10th Anniversary of Scholarship Program
The General Conference Women's Ministries Department awarded its first higher-education assistance scholarship in 1994. Ten years later the program continues to provide tuition funds to help Adventist women around the world attain their educational goals by attending Adventist colleges and universities. So far, 829 scholarships totaling US$323,418 have been presented to women in approximately 90 countries.

A devotional book is produced each year by the GC Women's Ministries Department, and the profits from the sales of this book fund the scholarship program. From these funds US$3,000 is allotted annually to each division of the church. In some divisions the money doesn't stretch very far; but in others, as little as US$330 can pay tuition, room, and board for a semester.

The scholarship program has had its challenges-the biggest one being the department's inability to supply scholarship funds to all the applicants. Because of limited funds, only about half of the applicants receive financial help. In the fall of 2003, women's ministries leaders developed a new fund-raising program called "Scholarshipping Our Sisters," or SOS, through which an additional US$17,000 has been raised.

"What joy this has brought to our women's ministries division directors to learn that we will increase their funds for 2005," says Heather-Dawn Small, director of the program and associate director of the GC Women's Ministries Department.

Women's Ministries plans to continue to find ways to increase the sales of its devotional book, and to develop new fund-raising programs so more women can receive the financial help they need to pursue their educational goals.

For more information about this scholarship program, e-mail the GC Women's Ministries Department at [email protected].

Adventists Address Humanitarian Issues at U.N.
Rachel Bostic and Christopher Banks, U.N. liaison volunteer assistants for the Adventist Church, were among more than 2,000 people who attended the fifty-seventh annual Department of Public Information/Nongovernmental Organization Conference at the United Nations, September 8-10, 2004. The conference theme, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), is a list of eight humanitarian milestones to be reached by the year 2015.

Addressing the delegates via videoconference, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "There is no time to lose in ending extreme poverty and putting the world on a more humane and just path."

The MDG campaign is built on the foundation of civil society, according to the secretary-general's executive coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals Campaign, Eveline Herfkens. "Civil society has insisted on a rights-based approach, demanding government action and claiming participation," said Herfkens.

Bostic and Banks attended meetings on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of the goals and how to bring the MDG campaign to the grassroots level and get people excited about the goals. The purpose of their attendance was to heighten the event participants' awareness of the nature and mission of the Adventist Church and its affiliating organizations, such as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, children's health in various countries, economic relief, and women's issues.

"Adventists have consistently worked for the betterment of society, here and now," says Adventist Church UN liaison director Jonathan Gallagher. "We're committed to direct involvement and are happy to promote positive issues that are of benefit to all."

Goals of the MDG Campaign are: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental stability; (8) and develop a global partnership for development.

For more information about the work of the Adventist Church at the United Nations, visit un.adventist.org. --Public Affairs and Religious Liberty/AR

How Do You Use the Adventist Name?
Church leaders in the North American Division are urging members to refer to the denomination in a way that helps people understand its mission and message.

In the Adventist Church's full name-Seventh-day Adventist- the words "Seventh-day" indicate the church's belief that Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday), and that God should be especially honored and worshipped on that day. "Adventist" indicates the church's belief that Jesus is coming again soon.

The full name, Seventh-day Adventist, has often been abbreviated as SDA; however, there are two reasons why this abbreviation should not be used, leaders point out:

The English-language initials aren't appropriate for a world church. In Spanish the acronym is IASD, the initials for Inglesia Adventista del Septimo Dia. In Polish it's KADS for Kosciol Adwentystow Dnia Siodmego.
Other organizations have similar SDA initials: Singapore Dental Association, Soap and Detergent Association, Speed Demos Archive, and others. Therefore, using the initials will lead to confusion.

The SDA abbreviation also does not convey any message of beliefs. If the church name must be abbreviated, then after the first full-name reference (Seventh-day Adventist), the word "Adventist" could be used.