Adventist World News

2013-05-16 Webmaster World News  Going forward, the church’s Danish Union “will not distinguish between genders when appointing pastors, and wishes to see equality between genders in all areas of responsibility,” a statement voted at the union’s May 12 session said. The statement turns to the Bible to build a theological foundation for the move, beginning with mention that God created mankind—both men and women—“in His image and therefore equal.” The statement also challenges the roots of the “special priesthood reserved for men” by explaining that Christ’s sacrifice negates any need for a human priest, or intercessor. “All of Christ’s followers—both men and women—were lifted up to be a ‘chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, to declare His praises,’” the statement said, referring to a passage in the New Testament book of 1 Peter. Suspension of ordination is effective until 2015, when General Conference Session delegates could take action on the findings of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee. Established last year, the committee is tasked with delivering a report to the 2014 Annual Council, a business meeting of the church’s top governing body. The committee is a direct response to a request during the 2010 General Conference Session for a church-conducted study of the Biblical theology behind ordination. It first met shortly after independent actions taken by two of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s union conferences—Columbia and Pacific—both of which voted to ordain pastoral candidates without respect to gender. Top church leadership has since reiterated its request that unions await the conclusions of the committee. Delegates to the 2014 Annual Council are widely expected to recommend any action on its findings to the 2015 General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas. There are slightly more than 2,500 Adventists in Denmark. ————————— May 14, 2013; Silver Spring, Maryland, United States; ANN staff  Photo: Delegates to the Adventist Church’s Danish Union vote on May 12 to halt all ministerial ordination until 2015, when the General Conference Session could take action on the findings of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee. The committee is currently researching the Biblical theology and Adventist philosophy behind the Christian tradition of ordination. [photo courtesy Danish Union]

Danish Union suspends all ministerial ordination until 2015

Seventh-day Adventist church officials in Denmark voted this week to halt the ordination of all new ministers until ...

2012-11-08 Webmaster World News  “Please accept our sympathy and sadness for the devastation that has taken place, especially in New Jersey, the metropolitan New York area and the Caribbean,” Wilson said. “We will continue to pray for members, churches, church organizations and the wider community that has been struck by tragedy.” Seaside, New Jersey is among coastal areas of the U.S. that sustained widespread flooding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. [photo: Tim Larsen/Office of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie] No Adventist lives have been reported lost as yet, but 152 church members and one pastor in Cuba lost their homes, according to the church's Inter-American Division. Fifteen Cuban churches were a “total loss,” IAD said, and another 93 churches suffered partial damage. An additional 352 Cuban Adventists reported some damage to their homes from the storm. Hurricane Sandy was the largest storm by area to hit the U.S. in generations, resulting in widespread flooding, power outages and property damage. The so-called “superstorm” -- a hurricane-winter storm hybrid -- crippled the subway system in New York City and prompted the New York Stock Exchange to close for two consecutive days because of weather for the first time in more than a century. The death toll from Sandy rose to at least 82 across eight states today, with the largest number of fatalities occuring in New York, according to media reports. New York Harbor sustained a record 14-foot storm surge during the hurricane. Residents of the affected areas, among them Adventists, are reeling in the aftermath. It is estimated that at least 42 Adventist churches, with congregations totaling 4,500 members, are located in the most affected areas, a press release from the church’s North American Division Communication department said. Only eight of the church’s pastors had been contacted at the time of release. Don King, president of the church’s Atlantic Union Conference, said at least three New York City-area congregations were hit hard by the storm. Among those sustaining damage, King said, are the Macedonia Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wyandanch on Long Island, and the Solid Rock Seventh-day Adventist Church in the New York City borough of Queens. “The pews were floating,” King said of the Solid Rock church, where flood waters encroached from the Atlantic Ocean and Rockaway Beach, about a quarter of a mile away from the church. Extensive power outages continue to complicate communication to church offices in the region, especially on Long Island, where the church’s Greater New York Conference is headquartered on the North Shore. Adventist Community Services volunteers distribute emergency supplies in New York City borough of Queens. [photo courtesy Greater New York Conference Communication department] So far, five Adventist churches have reported that families in their congregations were affected by Sandy. Two Adventist churches in the Bronx are currently serving as shelters. So far, five Adventist churches have reported that families in their congregations were affected by Sandy. Two Adventist churches in the Bronx are currently serving as shelters. “We are working with [conference] administration to collect a special offering for the following two Sabbaths in all the Greater New York Conference churches,” said Reuben Merino, ACS director for the conference. Adventists in hard-hit New Jersey are also planning relief efforts. The New Jersey Conference’s ACS is “ready to help out wherever necessary,” said Claudia Ramirez, ACS disaster response coordinator for the region. The agency is currently collecting personal care kits, clothing and canned food items to distribute. The church's humanitarian organization, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, is coordinating with ACS to provide electric generators, hot meals, temporary shelter and emergency kits to affected residents along the East Coast. “It’s important for our church to be there to help people who have been affected by widespread devastation,” said Dan Jackson, president of the church’s North American Division. “We could be the Jesus that some of these people will only see and experience through these acts of kindness.” World church headquarters, near Washington, D.C. closed for two days this week while the region weathered Sandy. Wilson was on one of the last flights to Moscow before area airports were put on lockdown. Now in the church’s Euro-Asia Division for Year-End Meetings there, Wilson expressed solidarity with those involved in rescue and cleanup. “We are praying for you and your colleagues as you assist our church members in this difficult situation,” he said. “May God guide and encourage you and our members as you witness for Him during the challenging aftermath of the hurricane.” Members of the Boston Adventist Church in Northeastern Jamaica’s Portland Parish hold Sabbath worship services under a Gynep tree after Hurricane Sandy destroyed their church building. [photo: Danielo Daniels] Before slamming the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region, Sandy ravaged the Caribbean, killing more than 70 people and destroying homes and businesses. Much of the region remains without electricity and some roads are still impassable, due to downed trees and utility poles. In the Bahamas, electricity was out for days, while many agricultural areas of the Dominican Republic were flooded, collapsing local bridges. Before the storm, the Dominican Republic’s government asked the local ADRA office to help warn people about Dengue fever and how to prevent it, the church's Inter American Division said. ADRA is also distributing water, food and blankets to families in the Dominican Republic, where more than 1,200 homes were completely submerged in mud, a press release from the agency said. Adventists in northeast Jamaica reported that up to 75 percent of Adventist Church property in the island nation incurred damage, leading the Boston Adventist Church in Portland Parish to hold Sabbath worship services under a Gynep tree. Despite setbacks in northeast Jamaica, church members there are leading a humanitarian relief effort. ADRA has distributed blankets and continues to monitor the situation, assessing damange to homes and assisting in rehabilitiation effforts, the agency said. “Though we have been hit hard, the church is organizing assistance to persons in need of food, clothing and repairs to roofs through the community services department, service groups and ADRA in Jamaica,” said Damion Clarke, who pastors the Boston Adventist Church. —————————Nov. 01, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States    

Adventist Church president offers condolences in aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Seventh-day Adventist world church President Ted N. C. Wilson this week offered a message of condolence to residents...

2013-05-16 Webmaster World News  “We are again reminded that for religious minorities, of which Seventh-day Adventists are in many regions, things can actually be very difficult and, in many places, are getting worse,” said Dwayne Leslie, director of Legislative Affairs for the Seventh-day Adventist world church. The report from the independent commission categorizes offenders as tier 1, tier 2 or “watch list” countries. “Tier 1” nations are designated as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs), where religious liberty violations are defined as “systemic, ongoing and egregious,” and include torture, prolonged detention without charges, disappearances and “other flagrant denial[s] of life, liberty or the security of persons.” Countries re-designated as CPCs this year are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Newly categorized this year as “tier 1” nations are Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. While not yet officially CPCs, these countries do “meet the threshold” for “tier 1” designation, the report states. Countries designated as “tier 2” by the report are so listed for displaying “negative trends that could develop into severe violations of religious freedom.” These countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and Russia. A small third group of nations comprise a watch list, and the commission is “monitoring” them for violations. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Ethiopia, Turkey, Venezuela and Western Europe are on this list. Western Europe has drawn criticism in recent years for curbing religious expression among minority faiths. Laws in France and Belgium now ban the burqa and other full-face veils. Switzerland has barred the construction of new minarets, or prayer towers atop Muslim mosques. And so-called defamation of religion laws—which religious freedom experts say could restrict religious speech worldwide—continue to emerge in the region. In Iran, Leslie said, the government continues its oppression, arrest and, in some cases, torture of Christians, most recently American pastor Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran in September ostensibly for his religious beliefs. Pakistan, too, has made headlines in recent months for violence against Christians. In March, a mob torched the homes and businesses of a Christian community in response to alleged insults against Muhammad. Nigeria is another increasingly troubling area, Leslie said. There, the extremist group Boko Haram has unleashed sectarian violence on Christian communities in recent years, regularly bombing churches and leaving hundreds of worshippers dead. Since January, Adventists in the country have reported declining church attendance and some church closures amid the country’s worsening religious conflict. After reviewing religious freedom violations, USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the U.S. president, secretary of state and Congress. These recommendations can include arms embargos, restrictions on exports and, Leslie added, further talks with some offending nations.Countries such as Iran, Pakistan and Nigeria, Leslie said, are deeply entrenched in intolerance, and the report is unlikely to change their behavior. But for newly watch-listed countries, “dialogue can hopefully lead to greater freedom of belief,” he said. Beyond that, Leslie said, the report “constantly keeps religious liberty in the public eye, reminding people why it’s important for us to continue to fight for freedom for all people of faith.” ————————— May 13, 2013; Silver Spring, Maryland, United States; Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN  photo: Dwayne Leslie, director of Legislative Affairs for the Seventh-day Adventist world church, speaks at a religious liberty event in April at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. Leslie is among religious freedom advocates troubled by this year’s report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. [photo: Andrew King]

Annual report highlights worsening freedom of belief worldwide

This year’s report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has Seventh-day Adventist huma...

2013-05-16 Webmaster World News  Lectures and workshops challenged participants to consider healing in the context of the biblical worldview and the Adventist philosophy of health. Organizers say the conference was meant to unite Adventist health leaders across Europe in promoting a message of hope and healing to the region’s increasingly secular population. In his keynote address, Dr. Viriato Ferreira, Health Ministries director for the church’s Inter-European Division, explored the emotional and spiritual suffering that often accompanies physical illness. He noted that while some people experience relief from their physical symptoms—seemingly in answer to prayer—such intercession is often the exception rather than the rule, leaving many others to wonder whether a lack of faith or other spiritual deficiency is preventing God from acting on their behalf. “We need healing from life—not just physically, but also spiritually and emotionally,” Ferreira told delegates from some 40 countries across Europe. He urged them to accept complicated realities and recognize that “suffering may be part of healing.” A joint effort by the Health Ministries departments of the church’s Inter-European, Trans-European and Euro-Asian divisions, the European Health Conference also urged local leadership to engage in health evangelism. Already, leaders across the region are finding that health outreach resonates with their communities. Bohomil Kern, Health Ministries director for the church’s Czecho-Slovakian Union, described a system of “health clubs” that for years has served to break down barriers and build relationships in communities across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Meeting in community centers, schools, civic building and other neutral venues, the clubs offer support for local residents who want to stop smoking, learn to cook more healthfully, reduce health risks associated with obesity, treat addictions or receive counseling for mental health issues. The ministry model has been so successful that it has been exported to many countries in Eastern Europe, Kern said. In the Czecho-Slovakian Union alone, more than 260 instructors in nearly 90 health clubs are promoting the Adventist lifestyle. Through a partnership with Loma Linda University, based in the U.S. state of California, health club instructors twice a year receive intensive training in nutrition, physical therapy, addictions, counseling and other specialties. Kern said the health clubs are followed up by small weeklong “camp meetings,” where participants enjoy outdoor activities and attend lectures on health and wellness, as well as evening spiritual programs. Many new Adventist believers in the region made first contact with the church through its health outreach, Kern said. Also at the conference, delegates tackled two issues that can often divide Health Ministries leaders—where the ministry should be practiced, and what characteristics practitioners should demonstrate. Europe is home to just two Adventist-owned and operated healthcare centers—La Lignière in Switzerland and Waldfriede Hospital in Germany.Advocates of small, lifestyle centers that focus on natural remedies and emphasize the importance of the spiritual realm in physical healing said they find it hard to imagine that large, institutional healthcare settings could preserve that environment. Others said that in some cases, Adventists who work in European healthcare centers are prohibited from sharing their faith on company time. Another topic that sparked discussion was whether Adventist health advocates should practice veganism and vegetarianism, or if the consumption of clean meat is permissible. The issue becomes disruptive when, according to some delegates, the matter of diet becomes a test of faith. One Health Ministries director said he was concerned over how some vegetarians in his congregation treat newer members who eat meat, reminding everyone that theoretical discussions become real-life challenges when delegates travel home. The Adventist Church has emphasized healthy living since it was established in the 1860s. The health ministry of the church includes a global network of hospitals, clinics and medical universities. ————————— May 13, 2013; Prague, Czech Republic; Stephen Chavez/ANN staff Photo: True healing involves emotional and spiritual restoration, as well as physical recovery, said Dr. Viriato Ferreira, Health Ministries director for the church’s Inter-European Division, during his keynote address at the European Health Conference last month. The conference brought together Health Ministries leaders from the Adventist Church’s three divisions in Europe. [photo courtesy EUD]  

First European Health Conference sees renewed interest in health outreach

Seventh-day Adventist medical experts and health advocates want to better understand and share the ministry of heali...

 

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