By Tysan, May 29, 2017: Tribalism in society, politics and economics has been a significant challenge that Kenya has faced and still faces. And this virus has entered into the Adventist Church. It raises its ugly head when a Luos congregation will not cooperate with a Kikuyu district pastor and vice versa. And it circulates […]
by Larry Downing, May 29, 2017: Here is another memorable moment from from my parish ministry. See part 1 here. A Case of the Errant Vapors If you have not personally experienced the vapors, you perhaps cannot appreciate Fred’s predicament. If you have, you will identify with his dilemma. Several weeks had passed since I’d seen […]
Fifth of an 8-part Series By Cleran Hollancid, May 29, 2017: The die is cast. Segregation, insensitivity, hypocrisy and the racism (institutional racism, covert racism, color-blind racism, soft racism, smiling-face racism) inherent within the deep recesses of the Adventist denomination have to stop now. Let the sanctuary be cleansed. No more soft-pedaling around the issue. […]
by Larry Downing, May 29, 2017: One of the questions inquiring Adventists ask is, “What do pastors do all week?” It is common understanding that we work only one day a week. What about the other six? One partial answer: we do visit people. There are occasions when a pastoral visit provides far more information […]
by Kenneth Field, 05/28/2017 Just before Christmas a few years back, my wife and I bought one of those furniture kits from our local Fred Meyer. A “gourmet cart, natural finish.” It’s a small table on wheels with a drawer, a small cupboard and two folding extensions to either side. We wanted to replace the jury-rigged affair we’d been using, […]
by Peter Marks, 05/26/2017 My reflections here are intended to provide a window into the Adventist organization in Australia and New Zealand, which many may find difficult to understand when hearing about the recent summary dismissal of evangelist Gary Kent. These reflections are wholly personal. They reflect my understanding and experience, as someone who was in […]
Fourth of an 8-part Series By Cleran Hollancid, May 26, 2017: There were two Adventist churches on the same street, in an area outside Houston (where I lived for a while in the late 20th century), with members living like Cold War enemies. One church belongs to the Regional Conference and the other to the […]
Third of an 8-part Series By Cleran Hollancid, May 25, 2017: Does any of this resonate or have any impact on Seventh-day Adventist culture? Whether it’s these sentiments or other thoughts on race, these ideas have entered the church fully clad and armored, and in fact are being handed down to the next generation. Think […]
By Dan Day, May 23, 2017: The continuing controversy over women’s ordination within the Adventist faith has sometimes been positioned as a debate between those who seek more centralized authority and those pursuing the greatest mission effectiveness. But it is also about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the […]
Second of an 8-part Series By Cleran Hollancid, May 23, 2017: Yes indeed, race and its foul corollaries have impacted the church in a much deeper and extensive manner than perhaps many are aware of. There is a history of anti-Black prejudice and anti-Black discrimination, including deep-seated segregation attitudes and practices in American religious history […]
by Lindsey Painter Recently, the hashtag #Thingsonlychristianwomenhear surfaced on Twitter and quickly went viral. Women seemed to come out of the woodwork to share the harmful messages the church sends only to women, and to call the church to do better. The hashtag was so popular because it points out a major problem in the […]
First of an 8-Part Series By Cleran Hollancid, May 22, 2017: Considering the place of what I prefer to call notions of ‘race,’ ‘ethnicity,’ and ‘culture,’ in the Christian church and in the world at large, first calls for clarifications. It should be noted that these three notions are all constructed in nature; and of […]