The chapter of most interest to Seventh-day Adventists would probably be chapter 2, which discusses the work of George M. Price, a devout Adventist and “amateur geologist” who coined the expression “Red Dynamite”—using “dynamite” not to convey excitement or dynamism, but the destructive potential of evolutionary theory for traditional morals.
On the small island of Guam, 19 Pathfinders and their supporters are washing cars, selling meal tickets, and collecting yard sale items to raise money for their 6,500 mile trip to Gillette, Wyoming, for the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee.
We are ultimately citizens of the Kingdom of God, but that does not mean that we should be unconcerned about the dual citizenship we have in the earthly kingdoms that we live and work in.
Context is important when studying the Bible. This week’s Sabbath school lesson talks about standing for truth and realizing our own biases created by culture. (Commentary on the Adult Bible Study Guide for April 20–26.)
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Adventist Healthcare Announces CEO Terry Forde Is Leaving to Head Health First
In an April 22 news release, Adventist Healthcare announced that after 13 years leading the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based not-for profit health care system, President and CEO Terry Forde will leave in August to become president and CEO of Health First in Florida.
Adventist Healthcare board chair Emmanuel Asiedu called Forde a “tireless advocate” for the organization’s mission and said praised Forde for expanding Adventist Healthcare’s services. “We wish Terry and Health First the very best in their efforts to serve the heath needs of Florida community members,” Asiedu said.
Adventist Healthcare has served the greater Washington, D.C. area since 1907. Today it comprises six owned and managed hospitals and over 50 medical facilities.
Founded some 88 years later, Health First became a not-for-profit healthcare system when Cape Canaveral Hospital, Holmes Regional Medical Center, and Palm Bay Hospital joined forces in 1995.
Health First board chair Kent Smith described Forde as “an experienced and sympathetic leader.”
“The Space Coast welcomes Terry,” Smith said, “and looks forward to his guidance to further Health First’s legacy of providing exceptional quality and compassionate care.”
According to Florida Today, Smith will continue serving as Health First interim CEO until Forde takes over in August.
“I am so glad to have been part of an organization dedicated to being the best choice for both patients and team members,” Forde said, “and look forward to joining Health First to promote vibrant wellbeing in Florida.”
Southern California Conference Cancels Summer Camp Citing Facility, Staffing Needs
The Southern California Conference has canceled its 2024 summer camp program, stating that camp facilities—the playing field, sports courts, restrooms, and cabins—”require attention.” The conference also indicated that recent leadership changes in the conference youth department set back camp readiness in programming and staffing.
SCC holds summer camp at Camp Cedar Falls in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. After assessing the camp facilities, conference leaders determined they could not “run an excellent and safe camp for our children.”
The conference has experienced high turnover in the youth department (which oversees summer camp operations), previously split into senior youth and young adult ministries and youth ministries.
After Camp Cedar Falls was closed a year and a quarter because of the 2020 pandemic, the camp reopened its weekend family camp in 2021 under interim youth ministries director Kevin Morris. Salvador Garcia became youth ministries director in December, 2022, but only remained in the position until November 2023, according to his LinkedIn page. He was not replaced.
In May 2022, Iki Taimi left the role of SCC senior youth and young adult ministries director to join La Sierra University Church as lead pastor. One year later, Geoffrey Sewell, a former physician, moved from Hawaii to Southern California to serve as director of youth and senior youth/young adult ministries.
SCC anticipates reopening summer camp in 2025, and for parents who had planned on sending their children to camp this year, the conference recommends vacation Bible school programs at local churches and the international Pathfinder camporee in Gillette, Wyoming in August.
Oregon Conference’s 2024 camp meeting is the latest casualty of financial readjustments dating back to October, 2023, when the conference announced 20 percent staff cuts.
On April 19, the Oregon Conference executive committee disclosed plans to suspend this year’s English and Spanish camp meetings, stating that holding the events “would have required the conference to borrow approximately $380,000.”
In March, Oregon Conference president Dan Linrud survived a no confidence vote stemming from the conference’s budget shortfall that required dramatic belt-tightening measures. Historically low church attendance and inflation were blamed for the conference’s inability to meet its budget. The conference has offered pastors early retirement buyouts.
Now, with camp meeting suspended, Linrud says preliminary talks have begun to provide “regional convocations” to fill the summer programming gap. “More prayer and conversation will need to take place in this regard,” the conference said.
Some 2,000 years have passed since the first followers of Jesus began looking for his return. We’re not talking here about an extremist fringe that merely speculated that Jesus might come back in their lifetime or soon thereafter. No, we’re talking about such spiritual luminaries as the apostles Paul, Peter, and John.
A crisis of faith leads pastor and theologian Tony Jones to a life more focused on paddling a canoe, hunting with his dog, and butchering deer. Can the merging with the untamed environment lead to spiritual rebirth?
The vivid values Valen Næss employs make her images easy to recognize. Some have described her as one of Norway’s foremost colorists. She thinks that’s an overstatement. “Perhaps I’m one of the boldest,” she offers.
The most attention-grabbing item, a plan to exert more control over Adventist educators, came on day two, but other business included financial reports, more presentations from a sexuality taskforce, and new leaders elected.
An important, recurring, theme in Fortin’s book is Butler’s relationship with other leaders, and in particular with the White family, which often proved to be quite problematic. In the earlier part of his career Butler had to deal with James White, his predecessor as General Conference president.
If we recognize that there is fallibility to knowing, and are suspicious of certainty, doubt can be a welcome relief. But we sacrifice our innate curiosity when we cling to comfortable beliefs, and with it, lose the freedom to think beyond current orthodoxy.
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Is it ok to question our faith? This week’s Sabbath school lesson opens a conversation about idolizing church policy and doubting our faith. (Commentary on the Adult Bible Study Guide for April 13–19.)
In many ways Jesus answered what it means to be truly pro-life in the gospels. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who use you badly,” he said.
We have two goals: first, sharing information about current research in the United States—including Berrien County—surrounding informed care for LGBTQ+ individuals. Second, we’d like to invite community comments.
The Faith and Reason Sabbath School meets Saturday, April 27, at 10:00 A.M. Eastern. Socializing starts at 9:30 a.m. This Sabbath, Sigve Tonstad’s title is “Beyond the Remnant: Rethinking Adventist Identity in the Twenty-first Century.”
This Saturday, April 27, the Andrews Dialogue Sabbath School class starts at 10:30 am (EDT), and the zoom session starts at 10 am or soon after. The discussion leader will be Andrew Tompkins, assistant professor of Mission and Intercultural Theology at the Andrews Theological Seminary.
The Asheville Adventist Forum meets this Sabbath, April 27 at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Greg Hoenes presents “Representation, Race, and Nomenclature: Challenges Surrounding Whiteness.”
The Fireside will meet this Sabbath, April 27, at 10:30 A.M., PST. The topic is “”Christians and Authoritarianism – A Match Made in Church,” and Simona Vuletic will moderate the conversation.
On Sunday, April 28, Women’s Literature will present graduating Oakwood University seniors Hanna Browning, Sharon Castang, and Makayla Mattocks in A Poetic Celebration.
On April 30th Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland will host a day-long conference, put on by the Center for Law and Public Policy, titled “Evangelicals and Politics: Current Issues in Historical Perspective.”
The Society of Adventist Philosophers invites you to submit a paper proposal for this year’s conference on the theme “Called to be Free: Philosophical Reflections on the Contours of Freedom” taking place on November 21st, 2024, in San Diego, CA. Students and teachers from all fields are welcome to submit a proposal until July 1st. Accepted papers will be notified by September 1st.
Adventism’s high educational standards must start with recognition of its shared heritage, creating courses that reflect the nonwhite Adventist experience. It should not be left only to Oakwood University and regional conferences to acknowledge Black Adventist history.
Adventist educators—Black and white—should be stewards of Adventism’s full history. They should take it upon themselves to learn and embrace the less-known stories. Local churches need to enlist historians to help them tell unfamiliar Adventist stories.
The territorial overlap between most regional and state conferences makes essential collaborative efforts between neighboring congregations to commemorate Adventist heritage locally. Consider the many ways Adventists have been active anti-racists in their communities. How might churches find space and time to celebrate contemporary history makers?
No longer should Adventists silo themselves. Adventist education and Adventist communities depend on the church’s ability to critically engage in the hard work of remembering and commemorating. Will the Adventist Church be left behind and simply celebrate centuries-old legacies, or will the denomination take the best parts of its legacy and allow its liberating message to flourish into the 21st century? Worse, will the church completely forget its mission and seek to join the fundamentalist evangelical project?
I hope a prophetic proclamation of the Three Angels’ Message will prompt Adventists to be better stewards of the church’s past, and encourage future changemakers and liberators to upset traditional ways of shaping and sharing Adventist history. Adventism’s best 19th-century values and legacies must bring renaissance and re-discovery of its true heritage in the 21st century.