Suchergebnisse

Problem. Military chaplains who are graduates of the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program at Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (SDATS) will require enhanced military chaplaincy training to identify and cope with the rapidly changing needs of modern military chaplaincy. Information relating to the United States (US) Navy Chaplain Corps will be presented within this project to illustrate the broader need within the military chaplain community. The needs within the US Navy are largely due to the implementation of four programs: The revised Chaplain Command Program within Secretary of the Navy Instruction (SECNAVINST) 1730.8B, Professional Naval Chaplaincy within SECNAVINST 5351.1, Naval Combat Operational Stress Control (NCOSC), and Clinical Training for Combat Stress within the Professional Development Training Course (PDTC). US Navy Chaplain candidates are now required to screen for selection to active duty. A primary factor in this screening is the examination of the candidate's professional education (see Appendices A and I) The move toward enhancing the current MDiv program at Andrews University SDATS with the latest in military chaplaincy instruction will create the possibility of producing a specialty degree from the existing military chaplaincy training. Graduates with this enhanced degree will achieve a sub-specialty code that will affect their professional selection and advancement opportunities and will make them more desirable as candidates. Several accredited theological seminaries throughout the country are in the process of shifting their MDiv programs from a broad scope of ministry to professionally-focused degrees in military chaplaincy (see Appendix C). Andrews University SDATS must not fall behind in this arena of education, so that its graduates can continue to be placed among the most highly trained chaplains in the military. Results. The result of this project document will be the identification of enhanced professional requirements within the rapidly changing profession of military chaplaincy. The primary reference literature of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps describes the need for enhanced educational requirements within the new Professional Naval Chaplaincy (PNC) Instruction as shown in Appendices A and L-M. A primary factor in the screening of military chaplain candidates is the examination of the candidate's professional education (see Appendices A and L). The move toward enhancing the current MDiv emphasis in chaplaincy at AU SDATS with the latest in military chaplaincy instruction will create the opportunity for a specialty degree. Graduates with this enhanced degree will achieve a sub-specialty code that will affect their professional selection and advancement opportunities and will make them more desirable as candidates. This specialized education will prepare students venturing forth into this increasingly complex field of military ministry with documented subspecialty education. The desired objective of this project document is to move Andrews University SDATS toward offering a Master of Divinity in Military Chaplaincy specialty degree that will provide these key advantages. Conclusions. The current MDiv emphasis in chaplaincy at AU SDATS must be upgraded with the most recent teachable subject matter to avoid the danger of falling behind in this competitive educational arena. As demonstrated in Appendix C, other accredited seminaries in the United States are advertising Master of Divinity in Military Chaplaincy degrees. This project will demonstrate that enhancing military chaplaincy training within the existing Master of Divinity at AU SDATS will prepare graduates for professional, comprehensive ministry and make them more competitive for selection into the active chaplain corps ranks.

This study investigates the process of reorganization of the administrative structures of the Seventh-day Adventist Church between 1888 and 1903. From the findings of the investigation are drawn some implications which relate to the need for contemporary denominational structures that accommodate and facilitate the mission of the church. The first three chapters present a documentary account of the process of reorganization. Chapter one places the study within the context of the nineteenth-century American Protestant missionary movement. Chapters two and three tell the story of reorganization on the basis of denominational archival materials. Chapters four and five analyze theological foundations and principles of reorganization which have been induced from the historical data. Chapter six applies the findings of the research to the contemporary Seventh-day Adventist Church with special emphasis on implications which are relevant to its international composition. The principal findings of the study reveal that it was a powerful missionary motivation that guided the reorganization of Seventh-day Adventist administrative structures between 1888 and 1903. That commitment to mission and concern for the accomplishment of the evangelistic task gave a strong impulse toward a functional conception of the church. It is suggested that this functional dimension of ecclesiology has continuing validity as the church seeks to remain responsive in both form and function to the changing circumstances of its life and mission. It is also suggested that the structures of the church should remain flexible, adapted to the needs of an international constituency, insofar as (1) they were reorganized in order to accommodate and facilitate the missionary endeavor of the denomination, and (2) the structures themselves were not closely bound to a formally defined ecclesiology which would confine them within a particular ecclesiastical framework. The principal implications which arise from the findings are: (1) The primacy of mission as the organizing principle which calls forth structures appropriate for the Seventh-day Adventist message and mission, (2) the need for an undergirding ecclesiological basis for structural forms which relate to a Seventh-day Adventist theology of mission, and (3) the need for flexibility and adaptability of administrative structures.

Marriage is an institution that God established in the garden of Eden on the sixth day of Creation week. Marriage has entered a troubling era of change with the rise of divorces and same-sex marriages. There are religious and political groups that reject it, but some accept it. This is also an issue in both Christianity and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. That is why it is necessary to review the Bible's principles of marriage so that Christians understand the correct principles of marriage in the Bible. Marriage in the Bible is between one man and one woman according to their nature. Marriage and same-sex intercourse are abominations before God. The researcher found out that there are two models of same-sex marriage emerging at this time. First, same-sex marriage between man and man or woman and woman by nature. Second, same-sex marriage between man and "woman" as a result of genital surgery or woman with "man" as a result of genital surgery. The second type can bring confusion to the church. The researcher suggested that the church and pastors need to take steps medically to ensure that the prospective partners are naturally different, not the result of genital surgery. The Seventh-day Adventist Church rejects same-sex marriage in both the first and second models.Keywords: Marriage, Same-Sex, Nature

Purpose of the study The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational orientations--structure ,human resource, political, and symbolic --of the K-12 school leaders in the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and the relationship, if any, to their personal variables of age, gender, experience, and their professional variables of grade levels served, educational attainment, enrollment, support, feelings of success, and job satisfaction. Method A self-administered Organizational Orientations survey instrument, based on the multiple orientation framework of Bolman and Deal, was used to gather information about the school leaders. The population surveyed provided 56 usable responses, which were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and test of correlation coefficient. Sixteen orientation use (patterns) hypotheses were tested at an alpha level of 0.05. Sixteen orientation level (means) hypotheses were tested at an alpha level of 0.01, except for support, feelings of success, and job satisfaction (0.05). Findings from the content analysis--qualitative data--were compared to the findings from the survey data. Results As a group, Adventist school leaders in the Columbia Union Conference rated the human resource orientation highest followed by the structural, symbolic, and political. The findings indicate that high-school configured school leaders were more politically oriented than Grade 8 configured school leaders. School leaders of small schools were more structurally oriented than school leaders of large schools. Structurally oriented school leaders felt more supported by their pastors and school boards than other school leaders. Multi-oriented school leaders felt more supported by their conference personnel. Qualitative findings indicated that school leaders were more symbolically oriented than they reported on the survey. Conclusions School leaders use the human resource orientation more than other orientations when making decisions concerning their organizations. High-school configured school leaders are more politically oriented. A significant number of structurally oriented school leaders of small schools feel supported more by the school board and pastors than do the other school leaders. In contrast multi-oriented school leaders felt more successful, satisfied, and supported by their conference personnel. The differences between support of school boards and pastors, and conference support to school leadership organizational orientation may be of concern.

Problem The 1992 Annual Council of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists noted that "too often Adventist students on public campuses feel like second-class citizens; not only do they not fit in with the lifestyle of their secular campus, but the local church often ignores their needs, sometimes overtly suggesting that they are inferior to students who have chosen an Adventist education" (General Conference, 2005, p. 250). Kisii University serves as an example of a public university with low participation in spiritual activities by students from an Adventist background. Method A critical analysis of Bible texts on involvement of young people in ministry, a review of Ellen White's writings concerning young people's participation in ministry, Seventh-day Adventist literature, and other Christian writers were consulted and the political, cultural, and religious background of the location of the project was described. A Gantt chart and logical framework approach was used to organize the project and describe the linkage of activities in the development and implementation of the project. The project implementation involved conducting a survey, developing a training curriculum on spiritual gift-based ministries, conducting the training, and monitoring and evaluation. Results The Kisii University Church experienced a tremendous increase in the number of students attending meetings, growing from 300 to 600 (100% increase) as witnessed during Sabbath services. During special meetings such as choir days the number went up to between 800 and 1,000. Conclusions Effective campus ministries extended to public universities for students from a Seventh-day Adventist background will create a vibrant presence of Adventism in secular universities. Establishing such a ministry in every public university will be a step forward in reaching out to thousands of Adventist students in those institutions.

Topic Today in many ways our world has been unified, not by a political empire but by a way of thinking. People today find common ground in a shared experience of living guided by a set of values that spans the divide of culture, language, and history. The process of this transformation is best described by the term "secularization." Secularization best describes the far-reaching changes we find in our communities and in our personal lives, and is one of the greatest challenges the Seventh-day Adventist Church faces as we begin the twenty-first century. Purpose The purpose of this project was to design, field test, and evaluate a seminar that will enable the East Lansing Seventh-day Adventist Church to understand the process of secularization and allow it to begin to design an evangelistic approach that will appeal to the secular community surrounding the church. Sources Sources used to understand the factors and effects of secularization came from sociologists who have written about the phenomena of secularization. Sources used to build an appropriate response to the challenge of secularization are the Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White, and Christian writers who have reflected on the challenge of secularization. Conclusions Each aspect of secularization, in addition to posing a threat to the continued existence of organized religion, also presents new and exciting opportunities for Christian mission. Bridges need to be built to cross the divide left by the sea change that has transformed our world through the process called secularization. We cannot depend on institutions, leaders, programs, or even doctrinal truth to be the primary bridge in reaching the secular world. The life and witness of the body of Christ are the bridge by which our mission to secularized people can be accomplished.

Problem Conflicts have affected the church of God in recent times. The Seventh-day Church in Kenya and especially after the 2007 and 2008 post-election violence was very negatively affected. Some members still cannot co-exist or enjoy Christian fellowship in the same congregation because of lack of forgiveness and reconciliation. Co-existence became difficult because church members fought each other and even destroyed homesteads belonging to rival tribal groups. Tarimo admits that "those churches that happen to be multiethnic with a national outlook are plagued with internal inter-ethnic conflicts" (2008, para. 4). Although conflict management has been done by the government including the setting up of a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission to create harmony, ethnic conflicts continue to affect the harmony of church members. Therefore, forgiveness and reconciliation remains vital to create ethnic harmony. Method A logical framework and Gantt chart approach was used to organize the project and the linkages were described showing the activities in the development and implementation of the project. Implementation involved administering questionnaires to assess the attitudes of forgiveness and reconciliation among Nairobi East members. A multi-ethnic support group was created that represented the make-up of the ethnic groups in the church. Seminars were conducted to equip the members with a strategy of forgiveness and reconciliation modeled on the principles in the Bible in order to bring harmony. After implementing, monitoring and evaluation was done to ensure that the desired goal was achieved. Finally, a report on the project was done, starting with the lessons learned, conclusion, and recommendations. Results After the implementation of the intervention of forgiveness and reconciliation strategy in the church, harmony was increased among the ethnic groups there has been a reduction of ethnic conflicts from 46% before the intervention to 20% after, showing a reduction of 26%. Before the intervention 60% of the members surveyed felt that each ethnic group should be represented in the leadership, but after the intervention this ethnic bias was reduced to 23%, a 37% reduction in this attitude. Leaders from one group that enjoyed support from other ethnic groups was 57%, but after the intervention it rose to 67%, showing an increase of 10%. When asked if ethnic conflicts in the church had been adequately addressed, those satisfied increased from 34% to 56%, a 22% increase. Conclusion When the church enjoys harmony much can be accomplished in the body of Jesus Christ. For example the Nairobi East Seventh-day Church was able to go out for mission to another multi-ethnic unentered group and three companies were planted. Around the Eastlands community the Nairobi East members established four multi-ethnic branch Sabbath Schools in public schools. This project has clearly shown that when members have harmony they can invest their energies to mission for others.

The religious and theological basis of the components of the teachings of a healthy lifestyle of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, namely the principles of hygiene and appearance of the faithful of this denomination, are analyzed.
The purpose of the article is to determine the theological basis of the principles of hygiene and appearance of the faithful of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The peculiarities of the Adventists' interpretation of the Holy Scriptures regarding the application of the Old Testament hygienic instructions in the conditions of modern realities are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on a number of principles in Adventism regarding the contents of a Christian's wardrobe. It is highlighted that from the Adventist point of view, it is the clothing and appearance of a person that is an important indicator of a Christian character and a silent testimony to the values ​​that a person adheres to. It is emphasized that important in the appearance of a person are gender differences in clothing, which clearly indicates a male or female identity. Emphasis is placed on regular consumption of sufficient water to prevent and improve physical condition, and good health in turn is a reliable basis for the perception of high moral values, including spiritual ones. The analysis of the theological basis of the principles of hygiene and appearance of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church presents a holistic concept of Adventists, namely: human health is three interrelated components: physical, mental and spiritual. The key thesis of the theological basis in Adventism on hygiene and appearance is the following statement: there is no point in disturbing the Lord's prayers if one ignores the moral principles and laws of hygiene and appearance that are already set forth in the Scriptures and understandable because most diseases is the result of a wrong way of life and a departure from moral and ethical Christian values.

This article discusses the findings of an empirical study that investigated the attitudes of different sections of the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church to the socio-economic and political struggles in Nigeria. The study sought to explore how this denomination's theology and missional orientation have limited its role in the holistic development of Nigerians. The article argues that proclamation of the SDA Church's unique message and its involvement in transformational development should not be mutually exclusive. There were three major findings of the empirical research. First, although SDA members, clergy and church leadership thought the church had a role to play in national development, there was a level of inhibition in their minds and actions. Second, SDA members, clergy and leadership upheld that involvement in national development should ultimately be for evangelisation purposes. Third, Nigerians who were not members of the SDA Church felt the SDA Church had not made any really significant impact on Nigerian society. Based on these findings, the article concludes by upholding the paradigm of transformational development as theological vision for the SDA Church becoming an actor of holistic development in Nigerian society.

Dedication -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- The Seventh-Day Adventist Church in its historical, socio-economic and religious context at the time of the 1989 regime change in Hungary -- The development of missionary thinking behind the activities of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church -- Adventist missionary thinking in Hungary at the time of regime change in the light of publications and training programmes -- Adventist mission activities in the years of regime change in Hungary, 1985-1995 -- Final conclusions -- Bibliography.

Many times pastors in their ministry face the task of leading their congregations through a church-building project. Often with little to no formal preparation for such a task, pastors and congregations experience challenges and pressures not anticipated. Sometimes the magnitude and extent of these challenges and pressures produce an adverse effect on the morale and spiritual conditions of the pastor and congregation. Since the emphasis in the Adventist Church in Bermuda is on evangelism and mission, one can expect that there will be an ongoing need for church buildings. The development of this strategy for guiding the pastor and congregation through a building project has come about by documenting some of the crucial processes, pressures, and decisions from personal experiences of three church-building projects. In addition to my own experiences, other sources were utilized which allowed me to draw on the experiences and thoughts of others who have been involved in church projects. This study is, therefore, designed to bring together in one document a complete strategy setting out guidelines and church and government policies for church-building projects in Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. At the same time it provides an opportunity for pastors with no formal church-building preparation the opportunity to orientate themselves and their congregations should they have need to engage in a building project. With such orientation both pastors and congregations will be in a better position to anticipate the challenges and pressures that will normally take place as a result of their engagement in such a building project. It is further anticipated that this strategy will minimize potential problem areas, such as financing the project, involvement of the congregation in decision making, and constructing a building to reflect the church's theology and religious practices. A seminar on this strategy was recently presented to a group of church members who formed a new congregation and church family. Their response is included as a part of this strategy. They indicated that they felt more prepared for establishing a new congregation and building a church home after the seminar.