4 March, 2016

Southern Adventist University takes steps over racially charged App posts

Southern Adventist University has blocked a social media app and organized a series of open discussions on race after insensitive comments were posted during a campus worship service led by an African-American seminary student. The anonymous comments appeared on Yik Yak as Corey Johnson, an Oakwood University graduate and seminarian at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, spoke at a Friday evening vespers on Feb. 26.

1 March, 2016

Andrea Luxton named president of Andrews University

Andrea Luxton has been named as the next president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s flagship Andrews University, offering what colleagues call a stellular track record in leadership as she joins a growing number of female presidents at Adventist institutions of higher education. The Berrien Springs, Michigan-based university announced Tuesday that its board of trustees had elected Luxton, the university’s provost since 2010, to replace Niels-Erik Andreasen when he retires after 22 years as president at the end of the current academic year.

23 February, 2016

Pilot Gilbert Cangy offers flight around world on Global Youth Day

Gilbert Cangy, youth director for the Seventh-day Adventist world church, will fly around the world in 24 hours next month — and he is inviting you to accompany him on the trip. Cangy will don a pilot’s uniform and embark on a 24-city tour that starts in the Fiji islands and soars through Australia, India, the Middle East, and Norway before touching down in the United States at the end of Global Youth Day on Sabbath, March 19.

22 February, 2016

ADRA Distributes Aid After Record Storm Batters Fiji

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) scrambled to distribute emergency aid after the most powerful storm in Fiji’s history tore through the South Pacific nation, killing at least five people and causing widespread damage, including to staff housing at a Seventh-day Adventist college. Authorities were assessing the damage Sunday after Cyclone Winston slammed into Fiji overnight with heavy rainfall and winds of more than 200 miles an hour (320 kilometers an hour).

20 February, 2016

Brad Thorp, Hope Channel’s visionary president, steps aside

Brad Thorp, who has steered the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Hope Channel from its origins as a NET satellite uplink in the 1990s to becoming a global television network, is stepping aside as president. Thorp told a meeting of Adventist world church leaders on Thursday that he felt that he had led Hope Channel to the best of his ability over the past 22 years and wanted his successor to take it to the next level, according to those present.

17 February, 2016

At the United Nations, Adventists help drive discussion of religious extremism

It’s not religion itself, but a corrupted understanding of religion that fuels violent extremism, said Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist world church, during a United Nations symposium earlier this month. The event, held Feb. 1 at the United Nations Secretariat in New York, drew some 130 representatives from various UN agencies, along with religious and non-governmental organizations, to discuss the role of religion and faith-based groups in international affairs.

15 February, 2016

Ted Wilson encourages members in Israel to help build God’s church

On Sabbath, February 13 almost 700 Israeli Seventh-day Adventist brothers and sisters were blessed with a beautiful sunny day. Gathered at the YMCA Auditorium in Jerusalem, congregants enjoyed peace and the blessings of a special Sabbath. Children and adult choirs, plus instrumental ensembles, praised God through music. Testimonies and reports inspired the audience and the congregation sang with emotion and enthusiasm.

11 February, 2016

In repositioning move, Adventist Radio Ministry to spotlight local congregations

One of the oldest Seventh-day Adventist broadcast ministries is repositioning itself to promote local congregations as a point of contact for listeners, beginning with a four-day streaming evangelistic series. "We’ve moved away [from the] traditional approach to media ministry, where a local church is there to support the media ministry," Shawn Boonstra, speaker/director of the Voice of Prophecy, or VOP, said in a telephone interview. "The new Voice of Prophecy is there to support the outreach ministry of the local church," he added.

9 February, 2016

Adventists in Kenya inaugurate a brand new union office headquarters

More than 3,00 leaders and members from the Adventist church’s East-Central African Division celebrated the inauguration of the newly built West Kenya Union Conference headquarters last week in Kisumu, Kenya. The state of the art complex includes a brand new media center, two cafeterias and a host of offices and meetings rooms. Special guests included His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, president of the country of Kenya.

8 February, 2016

In Iraq, Adventist Church leader prays for new church

Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, prayed at the construction site of a new church in Iraq as he made a weekend visit aimed at encouraging Adventist believers living 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Islamic State-occupied territory. Wilson, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and a small group of church leaders, visited the city of Erbil, the thriving capital of Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan, where high-rise construction was booming until oil prices fell and dining options include popular U.S. chains such as KFC and TGI Fridays.