20 March 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Is Ted Wilson a bad person? Signed, Kinda Don’t Like Him. Dear Kinda Don’t, In the movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says to the Wizard, “Oh… You’re a very bad man!,” and the Wizard replies (truthfully), “Oh, no, my dear! I’m a very good man! I’m… just […]
14 March 2022 | Dear Aunty, Why do church leaders and pastors suddenly develop courage and speak up on critical issues as soon as they retire? Signed, Suddenly Brave, Dear Suddenly, While this is undoubtedly true of the church, it is true of all professions to some extent: the job of a leader in an […]
7 March 2022 | Dear Aunty, Please help me. I am confused about hair plaiting (braiding). I am an African woman, and here some preachers preach strongly against plaited hair. If I leave my hair without plaiting, maintenance becomes a problem. I don’t know whether plaiting is really prohibited in the Bible or not. Signed, […]
28 February 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy: Why are our congregations often racially segregated? Signed, Concerned Dear Concerned, Your question is one that is often asked. Aunty asked one of AT’s excellent African American writers, Christopher Thompson, to address it. “The simple answer is that we are naturally drawn to people with whom we have […]
21 February 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Your advice is always so kind—keep up the good words. My question is: Why do Adventists have so many dos and don’ts? Signed, Over ruled Dear Over ruled, As churches take on a distinctive identity, they naturally develop a list of beliefs that define themselves. Especially in conservative […]
14 February 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Recently my Adventist friend dropped off a plate of brownies at our house. I took one bite and I, um, kinda gagged. I didn’t know my friend was such a bad cook! Later she called and said, “How did you like the carob brownies? Just as good as […]
7 February 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy Should we go to weddings or funerals on the Sabbath? Signed, Not Sure, Just checking Dear Not Sure, The Bible’s pattern for Sabbath isn’t much like ours, so it’s hard to make a perfect comparison. There is little evidence, for example, that prior to the Babylonian captivity there […]
31 January 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, I don’t believe my church or my Christianity has anything to do with my opinion about my 19-year-old daughter’s nose piercing. She told me she is now an adult and it is her decision to get it, and she didn’t need to ask me. Anyway, I think it’s […]
25 January 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Is it appropriate to take communion/eucharist when visiting a church of a different denomination? As a musician I have been blessed to perform for various, God-fearing congregations of other denominations, but I am aware that many hold different beliefs as to what the communion emblems mean, and I […]
17 January 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, A couple of weeks ago I was listening to my pastor preaching, and it began to dawn on me that the sermon was almost identical to one I had just listened to on YouTube by a well-known evangelist. It was a good sermon, but he preached it like […]
10 January 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, This is a real situation. I am a 3rd-generation Adventist (not recently active) with 16 years in the Adventist education system, and a widower after 40+ years of marriage to one Adventist wife. About four years after her death, I began a monogamous long-term relationship with a Christian […]
3 January 2022 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, I am grappling with the church’s stance on abortion. Adventist.org offers little more than the vague suggestion to use your own conviction to make a decision. While they “do not condone” abortion outright, they take no stand in condemning the termination of life. On the flip side, they […]