Adventist Leaders Speak Out on Unrest in Ferguson, Missouri

by Monte Sahlin

From News Release, August 21, 2014

Pastor Daniel R. Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in North America, released a statement early Thursday morning (August 21) about the ongoing civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. “As a part of the larger family of America, Seventh-day Adventists grieve with Michael Brown’s family and extend our heartfelt condolences for their tragic loss," he said. "We are praying for our Ferguson community family who are in such great pain." 

“We pray that justice will replace injustice, that truth will replace deceit, that inequality will be replaced by equitable brotherhood and that God's peace will prevail. We pray that the deeper issues made obvious by this situation will be addressed with immediacy, courage and effectiveness. We acknowledge that the pain being experienced today has not emerged out of this single incident but is rather a part of a much larger universal cry for justice." 

“I pray that we will all hear with our ears and our hearts the words of a wise man who once said:  ‘He has shown you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ We will keep praying.” The quote is from Isaiah in the Bible's Old Testament.

There are 16 Adventist churches in the Saint Louis area, none of them in the suburban town of Ferguson itself. Seven of these are historically African American congregations with a total membership of 2,300. The membership of the other nine congregations totals 1,400.