Adventist Church in Puerto Rico struggles through economic crisis

May 20, 2016 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD

As the debt crisis and economic recession in Puerto Rico worsens, the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the island is struggling to reassure its membership while strengthening its schools and institutions.

Seventh-day Adventist Church Headquarters in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Image by Jaime Crespo/Puerto Rican Union.

Reports show that more than 100,000 people left the island for good in 2015. Among them were more than 1,000 church members, said Luis Rivera, treasurer of the church in Puerto Rico during a telephone conversation with Inter-American Division leaders.

“There’s less people consuming, which has affected money circulating in the economy and our manufacturers and pharmaceutical industries have moved their operations to developing countries,” said Rivera. “Because the economy has not grown in nearly 10 years, the adverse situation has had a great impact in our church.”

Church membership
The church membership in Puerto Rico has dropped by 4,000 in the last two years, due partially to people leaving in search of better job opportunities, explained Rivera. Some of that decrease has to do with some auditing of the membership books as well, he added. “It’s getting to where we are processing dozens of membership transfer letters to the United States every month,” explained Rivera.

“We are definitely concerned,” Rivera repeated. “Although we have been able to meet out budgets thanks to the faithfulness of our church members and our institutions have been up-to-date with their tithe contributions, our tithing funds and offerings have not grown much since 2011.”

“We are in the middle of a process to scientifically analyze the problem in order to project the funds that will be needed in the future to fulfill the mission of the church on the island and continue with the contribution of resources for the church around the world,” said Rivera.

Luis Rivera, treasurer of the Adventist Church in Puerto Rico. Image courtesy of Puerto Rican Union.

The church is also relying on strategizing with its stewardship director for the island on educating church members to be partners in the mission of the church, he explained.

“We are thankful for the commitment of our members, who continue to serve the church and the community,” said Rivera. “The economic situation has not stopped our missionary plan and evangelistic campaigns have yielded many new believers this year,” added Rivera. “In the midst of uncertainty we can bring hope.”

Earlier this year, church leaders began to train local pastors and leaders to assist their members in using their resources in a better way during the crisis.

Adventist Hospital
Church administrators are concerned as they have witnessed the many hospitals on the island that have declared bankruptcy during the past 10 years due to the economic crisis, and challenges they see at the church’s Bella Vista Hospital—a flagship Adventist hospital on the island and in the Inter-American Division.

So far there are 17 openings for nursing positions, said Rivera, who is also acting as CEO of Bella Vista Hospital (BVH). “A lot of the salaries in the United States are an attractive incentive for our nurses who graduate from our Adventist University nearby,” said Rivera.

“We have already reached out to medical doctors completing their specialties to come to Bella Vista Hospital to work with us in several new health services that we are developing,” added Rivera.

Many elements have contributed to challenges with the hospital at the moment like how the health model on the island changed last year and that has brought some modifications as to the way in which patients go through facilities in all of the institutions across the island, said Rivera. Other problems have been the consolidation of the hospital network on the island, which is at a disadvantage for BVH, and the delay in payment for medical insurance services.

According to Rivera, the hospital board is interviewing candidates to fulfill the position of chief operating officer for the hospital in the coming weeks.

Hospital leaders expect to fill open positions with the well-trained nurses that graduate each year from Antillean Adventist University (AAU).

Adventist University
The nursing program at the Adventist university is recognized among the best programs on the island and each year a high percentage of students pass the nursing exams and immediately get offers and get hired after graduation, explained Rivera.

Some 700 students are enrolled in the nursing program and other health related degrees are enrolled in the university, added Rivera.

“We are happy with the expansion of the university and the steady enrollment every year,” said Rivera. AAU is undergoing the construction of a new church and additional offices and classrooms on campus at the moment.

There is some teacher turnover in the primary and secondary schools across the island, but it’s been something that has always been happening with bilingual teachers being recruited by school systems from the United States, said Rivera. “We have been able to fill teaching positions from our graduated teachers from our university, and we have a good core group of dedicated teachers who continue to serve in our schools,” he added.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Puerto Rico has more than 33,000 members worshiping in 333 churches and congregations. The church also operates a hospital, a clinic, a university, and 20 primary and secondary schools across the island.

For more on the church in Puerto Rico, visit upasd.org