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The Michiana Adventist Forum meets this Saturday, April 20, at 3:30 P.M. at the Berrien Springs Courthouse (1839 County Courthouse) in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Retired pastor John McClarty will be the speaker. His title: “From Reformer to Contemplative: A Clergyman’s Journey to Late-life Happiness.”
McLarty wrote about the event on his Facebook page, saying,
“It seems to me that a young person thinking of a career as a pastor ought to have fire in their bones and a dream of making ‘a better church and a better world.’ But at some point in our lives, it ought to become clear that the capacity of people to change is small but our capacity for affection and admiration is large. As we age, devoting more of our energy to the cultivation of our own affection and admiration for the cosmos is wise.
“There comes a time when our convictions (opinions, notions, ideas) about how society and the church should be structured become irrelevant to the actual course of the future. People young enough to be our children or grandchildren will be making the decisions. It’s smart to leave it to them.”
McLarty served for 40 years as an Adventist pastor. He says that he began with a young zealot’s dreams of saving the world and fixing the church, full of theological and philosophical conviction and angst. He devoted his life to the church, and characterizes the institution as being uncommonly good to him.
Since retiring three years ago, he has focused on cultivating spiritual and religious practices compatible with his current station in life as a self-described “retired, institutionally-irrelevant old man.”
McLarty’s presentation will describe his current spiritual practice and some of the insights and convictions that have grown from that practice.
This is the second part of Alexander Carpenter’s interview with Kyle Portbury, director of The Hopeful, about why he chose to tell this early Adventist story for a wider public.
Portbury is an Emmy® Award-winning, 3-time Australian Directors Guild nominated writer/director who has taught at Southwestern Adventist University. He worked with Hope Channel International’s (HCI) cinema branch, Hope Studios, to produce this 90-min drama about the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
If you missed part one of this conversation, watch it here or listen to the podcast here.
The Australian Union has announced that Lyndelle Peterson has been appointed to replace former union ministerial secretary Brendan Pratt. In February, Pratt accepted a call to serve as director of the General Conference Global Mission Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission. Peterson is the first woman to serve as the union’s ministerial secretary. She previously served as associate ministerial secretary and Sabbath school and stewardship director for the Australia Union.
The Adventist Record reported that Nicu Dumbrava, currently the personal ministries director and pastor for Hughesdale Seventh-day Adventist Church in Melbourne, Victoria, will succeed Peterson as associate ministerial secretary. “Dumbrava will continue serving as personal ministries director while also undertaking this new role,” the Record noted.
The Record reported that “Peterson is the first woman Seventh-day Adventist pastor to be employed to work across all areas of the Ministerial Association, including ministry development, resourcing, and working with conference Ministerial leaders to develop and implement strategies to support and inspire pastors around Australia.”
Peterson will continue to lead the Australia Union Sabbath school and stewardship departments.”
“I am honored and excited to be able to serve in the Ministerial Association,” Peterson told the Record, “and I’m looking forward to working with the team of Ministerial secretaries across Australia.”
She noted that women make up 10 percent of the pastoral workforce. “Being able to have representation in these types of conversations is a good step forward,” she said.
Jared Wright |“Spinning at Spectrum,” a playlist of the latest music in and around our community. Curated by Maxwell Aka.
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.
Don Barton reviews a film about a man possessed by a demon on death row. A psychologist must figure out if this man is sane or not.
The General Conference proposes creating a new assistant to the president or field secretary in every world division who will oversee hiring religion faculty and directing theological education curriculum. The GC will fund the position for the first year before the cost shifts to the division.
Pulse features challenging articles, humor, inspiring quotes, poetry, quizzes, reviews, and links to interactive videos and podcasts. The magazine’s tagline is “A Collaboration of Adventist Activists.” With topics both timely and timeless, the tone is more advocacy than accusation.
In China we cannot teach United States history, U.S. government, or religion. In place of that we have modified our curriculum so that we can offer an approximation of these subjects and still be on the right side of Chinese law. We don’t want the government to shut us down, after all.
European Adventism is numerically very small, and also quite divided linguistically and culturally. But there is a cultural view of life and history that distinguishes Europeans, and consequently European Adventism. It involves attention to “small local realities.”
Growing up in Moldova, I was blessed to be surrounded by strong women who embodied resilience, compassion and purpose. My grandmother, a nurturing matriarch, not only ran a successful flower business but also cared for our family with unwavering love and dedication. Her life was a testament to the power of purpose-driven work.
The suffering in this world is inevitable. This week’s Sabbath school lesson discusses the will of God on earth. (Commentary on the Adult Bible Study Guide for April 6–12.)
The financial irregularities in Brazil—estimated around $6 million—currently under investigation by Adventist Risk Management occurred within a South American Division centralized insurance structure created by its previous president, Erton Köhler. A case study of one union in Brazil shows how this process worked.
Some churches in the East Kenya Union Conference agreed to begin reading portions of the church manual every Sabbath in church. Union, conference, and field presidents lead with regular Thursday Zoom meetings.
