February 6, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Taashi Rowe/ANN]
Taking a three-city-block tour makes it clear what Adventism is all about. And it’s not just the buildings that make up the Historic Adventist Village in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Strolling through the village, visitors get a living, breathing history lesson–one that gives a very clear impression of the incredible passion and love for God’s message at the roots of what is now the 15 million-member Seventh-day Adventist church.
Last May marked the 25th anniversary of the organization behind the village, Adventist Heritage Ministry (AHM). AHM was organized by lay church members who wanted to preserve Adventist history–“not for the sake of just preserving old buildings, but because the buildings would become vehicles to tell about how the church came to be,” says James Nix, who is a founding member of AHM and as director of the Ellen G. White Estate at the church’s world headquarters helps safeguard the memory of Ellen G. White and her husband James, key pioneers of the Advent movement.
Nix tells the story of how AHM was inspired by the actions of one man: Garth H. “Duff” Stoltz. When Stoltz, a Battle Creek native, saw that the home of Deacon John White, James White’s father, was soon to be demolished, he saw an opportunity to save a piece of Adventist history. He didn’t have the $1,000 to purchase the property, so he called Nix and they raised the necessary funds. In May of 1980 the lay-led Adventist Heritage Ministry was born. Over the years AHM worked to purchase, replicate or restore properties key to Adventist history. In 2000 the three blocks West of downtown Battle Creek became a reminder of the powerful faith that brought the Adventist church into existence.
Each building of the Historic Adventist Village tour expands on a critical Adventist belief. The tour includes the home of James and Ellen White where Mrs. White wrote the first edition of “The Great Controversy” following a vision she received in 1858. Also on the tour lineup is an exhibit of William J. Hardy, the first African American Adventist, a 19th Century one room school, The Meeting House which emphasizes the organization of the church, and the Parkville Church. By touring these buildings visitors learn about how the church was first organized, the church’s strong belief in Christian education, its belief in prophecy and the Sabbath, among other things.
In the six years that the village has been open to visitors, Alice Voorheis, the immediate past president of AHM, says an average of 10,000 people a year visit the village, a third of whom are not Adventists.
“It’s not just for Adventists,” Voorheis confirms. “It’s a three block evangelistic experience. Every single building tells a different Bible truth, or the story of a different Adventist belief.”
“It is exciting to see the lights come on in people’s eyes when they see we have roots and can trace how God built this church,” says Voorheis, a retired teacher.
AHM’s current president, Thomas Neslund, says visiting the village is an especially meaningful experience for those coming from overseas. He tells of people who cry when they are visiting the White’s home. “I’ve asked them ‘Why is it that you cry?’ And they say, ‘it’s because of [Mrs. White] and that book that she wrote why I am in church today.’ The gratitude that people have when they visit the actual place and not just read about it in a book is amazing.”
Despite the many groups that come to the town, Neslund laments that since the project is mostly donor-driven it is difficult to “make ends meet” at times.
In 2004 the church leadership in North America held its year-end meetings in Battle Creek. After seeing the Village several unions and conferences made and kept financial commitments to keep it going. The AHM plans to add a visitors’ center sometime in September if they can raise enough funds to build it.
“[The village] is a place that you have to experience,” said Neslund. “It’s not about [theme park-like] entertainment but it’s an experiencing of the lives of Adventist pioneers like no other. They were moved by a passion that is difficult to find today in the church. You think of a handful of people that just were under this burden to share this message with the world. They didn’t have big budgets. They … just knew that the Lord was going to open the door and they moved forward.”
Some may wonder why the church would want to spend so much time focusing on its history. But the importance of a place like this is clear to Neslund: “People who lose their roots flounder around and don’t really know where they are going. I think all of us within the church need to understand where we come from.”
Gerald Karst, a vice president for the Adventist world church, explains, “As the church changes and grows it becomes hard for members to understand that we come out of a prophetic movement. A place like the Historic Adventist Village gives you a real sense of our history as a church.”
Neslund agrees with Karst, explaining that most Adventist church members see the Adventist church as just another church in the community. “This is a problem when we start looking at ourselves like that–without a prophetic role,” says Neslund. “We tend to go after what we see rather than where we come from.”
Voorheis says, “I think the Village is a ministry that can help with the growth of the church.” She adds, “Volunteers who do the tours are sharing their faith and telling people about our church.”
The Village is open daily April through October, Sunday through Friday, and on selected hours on Saturday. For more information or to volunteer see http://www.adventistheritage.org/index.php
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network.
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network.
