The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, its emphasis on the imminent Second Coming (advent) of Jesus Christ, and its annihilationist soteriology. The denomination grew out of the Millerite movement in the United States during the mid-19th century and it was formally established in 1863. Among its co-founders was Ellen G. White, whose extensive writings are still held in high regard by the church.
The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a Protestant Christian denomination in the Sabbatarian Adventist movement that formed from a schism in the European Seventh-day Adventist Church during World War I over the position its European church leaders took on Sabbath observance and on committing Adventists to the bearing of arms in military service for Imperial Germany in World War I.
The North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in the United States, Canada, French possessions of St. Pierre and Miquelon, the British overseas territory of Bermuda, the US territories in the Pacific of Guam, Wake Island, Northern Mariana Islands, and three states in free association with the United States - Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Founded in 1913, its headquarters in the same building as the General Conference, moved to separate quarters in Columbia, Maryland in 2017. As of June 30, 2021, the Division's membership was 1,267,711.
The Inter-European Division (EUD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in a portions of Europe, which include the nations of Andorra, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Its headquarters is in Bern, Switzerland.
The Euro-Asia Division (ESD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in the nations of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Founded in 1990, its headquarters is in Moscow, Russia. The Division membership as of June 30, 2021 is 102,829.
The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in portions of Northern Asia, which includes the nations of Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Its headquarters is in Goyang City, South Korea. Founded in 1919 as the Far Eastern Division. The Division membership as of June 30, 2021 is 285,242.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. It was founded in 1956, and it is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) is a non-sectarian and non-political organization promoting religious freedom. It was originally organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in 1893 to campaign for religious freedom for all when the danger of restrictions from blue laws became apparent. Its headquarters are in Silver Spring, Maryland in the United States.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church had its roots in the Millerite movement of the 1830s to the 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening, and was officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included Hiram Edson, Ellen G. White, her husband James Springer White, Joseph Bates, and J. N. Andrews. Over the ensuing decades the church expanded from its original base in New England to become an international organization. Significant developments such the reviews initiated by evangelicals Donald Barnhouse and Walter Martin, in the 20th century led to its recognition as a Christian denomination.
The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembles early Protestant Christianity, combining elements from Lutheran, Wesleyan-Arminian, and Anabaptist branches of Protestantism. Adventists believe in the infallibility of the Scripture's teaching regarding salvation, which comes from grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The 28 fundamental beliefs constitute the church's current doctrinal positions, but they are revisable under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and are not a creed.
The Medical Cadet Corp (MCC) is a program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It started in the 1930s in the United States with the intention of preparing young men of draft age for military service in noncombatant roles. The training included drill, first aid, military courtesies, organization of medical corps, defense against chemical warfare, principles of anatomy and physiology, physical exercises and character development. The program was temporarily suspended at the end of World War II. It was reactivated in 1950 then a few years after was adapted internationally. The program was deactivated by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in early 1972 but continued independently in a few locations with an emphasis on rescue and disaster response.
Robert Howard Pierson was an American president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists during the 12½−year period June 16, 1966, to January 3, 1979. While in the line of duty, Pierson served in North America, Asia and Africa. He interacted with 3 U.S. Presidents and the Presidents or Prime Ministers of 8 foreign countries, plus many governors, mayors, and other governmental dignitaries. He received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan in the United States. As of 2018, Pierson is the third longest-serving church president after A. G. Daniels, and James Lamar McElhany.
The Seventh-day Adventist educational system, part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is overseen by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists located in Silver Spring, Maryland. It is considered as the largest Protestant educational system and second largest Christian educational system in the world. The educational system is a Christian school-based system.
Generation of Youth for Christ, formerly the General Youth Conference - not to be mistaken for Adventist Young Professionals (AYP), is an annual conference and expression of Adventist theology and 28 Fundamental Beliefs, which organizes and coordinates Bible studies, online sermons, regional youth conferences, mission trips, global networking opportunities for young people, week of prayers and youth camp meetings. It began with a small group of Korean students studying their Bibles together all night. It developed through middle-of-the-night text-messaging between two university students, one in Massachusetts, the other in California. They decided to call people together for a small conference in the woods of California. At that first conference, held in 2002, 200 people were invited; 400 attended. Since then, the popularity of the conventions has grown, and even the President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ted N. C. Wilson has attended and praise the conventions. It has sermons that have been published in hardcover and the 2010 convention registered 5,100 participants.
The Trans-European Division (TED) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which coordinates the Church's operations in 22 European countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, the Faeroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Its headquarters is in St Albans in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1928, the division membership as of June 30, 2021 is 88,273.
Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International is a support organization that provides a spiritual and social community to current and former Seventh-day Adventists who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual and/or intersex (LGBTI), and have felt hurt or rejected because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. SDA Kinship offers them the compassion and support perceived to not be available within the organized Adventist Church.
The International Missionary Societyof Seventh-Day Adventist Church Reform Movement (IMSSDARM) is an independent Protestant Christian
The Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which coordinates the Church's activities in the nations of Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam. Its headquarters is in Silang, Cavite, Philippines. The Division has 1,868,258 members as of 2022.
Neal Clayton Wilson served as the president of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1979 to 1990. Wilson was head of the North American Division when elected on January 3, 1979, to take the place of the ailing former General Conference president Robert Pierson, who had resigned for reasons of health.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada (SDACC) is a constituent entity of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA). Its territory consists of all Canada and the French possessions of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. As of 2022, the SDACC consisted of seven local conferences, 388 churches, and 74,191 members.
