News reports from the Biblical Research Institute, Kettering Health, North American Division, South Pacific Division, Trans Pacific Union Mission. 

A Heavy Issue

The Elephant in the Room: Church Schools Are Drowning—Champions Needed! a potent account of a career educator’s evaluation of educational trends within Christian schools was written by Sadrail Saint-Ulysse, PhD, MDiv, an educator and ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for nearly 25 years. He currently serves in the New Jersey Conference of Seventh-day Adventists as a superintendent of schools and pastor.

Saint-Ulysse said, “I write this book to do something that most would consider unwise as a current employee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I call or appeal for systematic change—change in policies that have kept the financial support from tithe and other sources to Adventist elementary and other sources to Adventist schools at minimal.”

Totally App-licable

The Trans Pacific Union Mission (TPUM) launched a new digital resource to equip church members to share Jesus with their family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. The app, called Resource Basket, was developed by the Union and launched on May 9, 2022, during the TPUM executive mid-year meetings.

Features of the app include a Daily Devotion, which notifies users each morning of a daily reading from the TPUM 2022 devotional book, I Will Go to My Family. Another is an events calendar that will help users keep track of important dates and events happening around the TPUM territory, including the South Pacific Division and the General Conference special dates.

What Retirement?

The South Pacific Division (SPD) Education Medallion of Merit Award has been presented to a husband and wife, reportedly for the first time.

Peter and Glenda Roberts were recognised in May 2022 for their coordination of the untrained teachers’ program in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu for a decade while in retirement. They took 19 trips to the Solomon Islands and 13 trips to Vanuatu, certifying 350 teachers in that period.

Let’s Talk About Sex

A new volume published by the Biblical Research Institute (BRI) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sexuality: Contemporary Issues from a Biblical Perspective, includes most of the issues currently discussed in contemporary society, such as prostitution and human trafficking, female genital mutilation, rape, and child sexual abuse. It also delves into topics such as queer theology, homosexuality, transgenderism, cybersex, and robotic sex, among others.

The 625-page volume is a collaborative effort of Seventh-day Adventist scholars and theologians from around the world. Edited by Brasil de Souza and retired BRI associate director Ekkehardt Mueller, it is the result of seven years of painstaking research, discussions, and revisions, editors said.

“Sexuality is a gift of God to be treasured. God created sexuality. This is important for us because it takes quite some room in our lives. We are all sexual beings in one way or the other. It affects us all,” Mueller said.

News That’s Hard to Beat

Several Adventist publications based in North America received recognition for their work in a variety of categories at the Associated Church Press (ACP)* “Best of the Church Press” awards held May 12, 2022.

Twenty-four awards total, ranking at honorable mention (third place), award of merit (second place), or award of excellence (first place), were earned by six different Adventist publications in a broad range of categories. These include the Lake Union Herald, Canadian Adventist Messenger, NAD NewsPoints, Adventist Review, Ministry magazine, and The Journal of Adventist Education.

Honors in writing categories included news reporting, science, poetry, biographical profile, scholarly article, service journalism, and devotional. Visual communications awards were designated for magazine cover design, magazine spread or story design, magazine design entire issue, newsletter design entire issue, illustration, publication website, news story video, and documentary short video.

These Hospitals Really Deliver

Newsweek magazine published a list of “America’s Best Maternity hospitals” compiled for it by Statistia, a leading polling and research company. 12 Adventist hospitals are on the list:

–Adventhealth Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel, Florida
–Adventist Health Castle, Kailua, Hawaii
–Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, Loma Linda, California
–Loma Linda University Medical Center Murrieta Branch
–Parker Adventist Hospital, Parker, Colorado
–AdventHealth Central Texas, Killeen, Texas
–Adventhealth Orlando, Orlando, Florida
–Adventhealth Tampa, Tampa, Florida
–AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center, Hinsdale, Illinois
–Centura Health Littleton Adventist Hospital, Littleton, Colorado
–Kettering Health Main Campus, Kettering, Ohio
–Soin Medical Center, Beaver Creek, Ohio

Smitten Kittens

Kettering Health has been selected as the official healthcare provider of the Cincinnati Bengals, a National Football League (NFL) team in the U.S.

As part of the 10-year partnership, Kettering Health and the Cincinnati Bengals will work together on the NFL’s Crucial Catch “Intercept Cancer” program, highlighting the importance of cancer screenings. They will also collaborate to promote the NFL Youth Flag Football program, as well as other cooperative initiatives, to set the groundwork for a healthier future.

Still Fruitful

This year marks the 55th anniversary of An Apple a Day cookbook published in 1967 by the Women’s Auxiliary to the Alumni Association of Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The cookbook quickly became an Adventist classic. It was followed in 1983 by An Apple a Day, Volume 2, and An Apple a Day, Volume 3, was published in 2009. Now called Loma Linda University Medical Auxiliary, the volunteer-led organization focuses on mission and scholarships. Merle Hildebrand, the current president of the Auxiliary, shared that their goal is to bring the healing and teaching ministry of Jesus around the globe through the service of their alumni and to enable future doctors to begin their education at Loma Linda University through scholarships. Since 1967, they’ve published all three volumes of the Apple a Day cookbooks, along with their latest offering, Open Table Cookbook.

(Photo: Peter and Glenda Roberts are the first couple to receive the SPD Education Medallion of Merit Award. Photo via Adventist Record website.)

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