St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands — Eight months after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the Philadelphia Adventist Church building in St. Thomas, worshipers returned for services in the lower level of the church on Sabbath, May 19, 2018. Since the category-5 storm hit last September, the 1,400-member Philadelphia church merged with Shiloh Adventist Chu
In Acts 10, we witness the first public conversion of a Gentile group to Christianity. One chapter later, Peter—the apostle who crossed age-old boundaries and entered Cornelius’ home—is brought into conflict with the Jewish leaders, who believed circumcision should be required of Gentile converts. The matter is settled for a brief period of time, b
I remember the General Conference vote in San Antonio, Texas—the 1,381 No votes to the 977 Yes votes. I remember my friends and I prayerfully awaiting the church’s reaction to the Women’s Ordination decision—especially considering how much emotion had been invested in it. We had friends and family who fell on both sides of the debate, and much pray
This past weekend (October 21-22), I attended The One project gathering in Atlanta, GA. As you may know, this event is the third-to-last conference before The One project shuts down. As a student of systematic theology with particular interest in hermeneutics (biblical interpretation), I was particularly drawn to this gathering, given the theme ann
On September 15, 2017, Elder Dan Jackson, President of the North American Division, held a live webinar with ministerial directors and church administrators from across the NAD. The webinar centered around a number of topics, including the issue of union/division compliance with the General Conference (in the context of the 2015 women’s ordination
In this final and cumulative consideration of the global reality of God’s church, we look at the climax and centerpiece of what it means to be a part of a universal family. I say cumulative because without the gift of faith and a covenantal worldview the way we perceive Jesus will be radically different, hence, the plethora of Christian denominatio
The gift of faith was the focus of our previous effort in this brief series to address the nature of the global Christian community. Here we begin to look at the connection between the gift of faith we receive as a global community and the nature of that faith expressed in God’s Word that brings disparate minds into the unity of faith and of the kn
The Worldwide Church? The world is becoming increasingly smaller in some ways (i. e. technology- media, information access, social accessibility) and larger in others (information overload, social isolation, cultural heterogeneity).[1] In varied ways, this can create blessings for a global community of faith as well as impediments to true koinonia
On May 20, 2017, Adventist lay members from across the Upper Columbia Conference (UCC) gathered together at the Chewelah and Stateline Seventh-day Adventist churches for an event entitled “World Church Affirmation Sabbath.” The afternoon program included seven presentations loosely organized around the theme of “Forward—With Yesterday in Vie
One with the Church Above For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Ephesians 3:14, 15. The church of God upon the earth is one with the church of God above. Believers on the earth, and those who have never fallen in heaven, are one church. Every heavenly intellige
