Mandeville, Jamaica…[Rhoma Tomlinson/IAD]
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventist, church and university leaders from across the church in the West Indies Union region, which includes Jamaica, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands, turned out at the first Spirit of Prophecy Convention in Inter-America, on Oct. 8, at the Northern Caribbean University gymnatorium campus.
Under the theme, “The Light Still Shines”, Spirit of Prophecy coordinators from the region gathered for the convention which highlighted the writings of Ellen G. White and her contribution to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Presentations spanning the writings of Mrs. White on last day prophetic events, Christ’s encouragement to His people and nutrition were at the center of the day’s discussions.
The idea to bring thousands of Seventh-day Adventist and other Spirit of Prophecy enthusiasts together in one place to celebrate the gift of prophecy to the church was the brain child of Pastor Basil Reid, director of the Ellen G. White Research Center at NCU.
Pastor Reid said the Spirit of Prophecy contains two parts; the academic, which is the whole operation of the Holy Spirit, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which utilizes the writings of Mrs. White.
Guest speaker Pastor Carlyle Bayne, Personal Ministries and Sabbath School director for the church in Inter-America, charged church leaders to hold on to the teachings of Ellen White, which has guided the church forward over the last 150 years. Expounding on church’s belief that her writings are “the lesser light” leading to “the greater light”, the Bible, Pastor Bayne called on Seventh-day Adventist everywhere to re-kindle interest in her work, particularly as it speaks to last day events.
Commenting on the day’s theme, West Indies Union Secretary Dr. Wendel MacMillan said the teachings of the Spirit of Prophecy will never be obsolete. Appealing to parents to share the teachings with their children he said “had it not been for the Spirit of Prophecy, we’d not be what we are today.”
NCU President Dr. Herbert Thompson, who described the convention as a “celebration of Seventh-day Adventist heritage,” said “post modernism has sought to do us some damage…to modernize things to the point where we say that the Spirit of Prophecy is no longer relevant…Thank God, the light still shines.”
Dr. Thompson called on Seventh-day Adventists everywhere to help maintain the high standards of the church’s teachings on the Spirit of Prophecy.
“For those who’d seek to put away our heritage, I ask you to help us hold the line so that we do not lose our way,” said Dr. Thompson.
The Ellen White Research Center at the NCU campus was established in 2003 and is the second such center in the IAD territory. The other EGW Research Center is located on the campus of Montemorelos University in Mexico.
For more information on who Ellen G. White was and her writings, go to the official White Estate website at www.whiteestate.org
