News Agency APD Switzerland celebrates 40-year anniversary Basel/Switzerland | 04.12.2014 | Media End of November the congregational Adventist News Agency of Switzerland (Adventist Press Service / German: Adventistischer Pressedienst - APD) celebrated its 40th anniversary. The agency was founded in 1974 on the initiative of the journalist Christian B. Schaeffler in Basel/Switzerland. APD appeals with its services primarily to secular media (print and online media, radio, television), the ecclesiastical press and other institutions of public information. In 2004 APD Switzerland was reorganise
Adventist Pastor in Ukraine released after 20 days of detention Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 17.10.2014 | International Sergei Litovchenko, pastor of the Horlivka Seventh-day Adventist Church in eastern Ukraine, has been released and is being reunited with his family after 20 days of detention. Local Adventist Church and family members would like to thank Adventists and others who have prayed for his freedom throughout the ordeal. “We are very happy to know that Pastor Litovchenko is in good health” said Garrett Caldwell, spokesman for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “We must continue to work and pray fo
Ebola deaths include 16 Adventists in West Africa Silver Spring, MD/USA | 13.10.2014 | International The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa has claimed the lives of 16 Seventh-day Adventists, a church official announced October 11. “The people are suffering,” said James Golay, president of the West Africa Union Mission, speaking from Liberia onto a video screen projected to hundreds of church leaders gathered at the denomination’s headquarters for the 2014 Annual Council. Golay would have attended the meeting, but stayed home. Global health organizations and church official
Nigeria Adventist leader says Boko Haram destroyed Adventist church Nyanya-Abuja/Nigeria | 24.09.2014 | International Terrorist group burned building in Northeast after Members fled A Seventh-day Adventist Church official in Northern Nigeria said the the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram destroyed an Adventist Church last month after members fled the area. The Magar Adventist Church in the Northeastern state of Borno was burned on Saturday, August 23, said Stephen H. Bindas, president of the Northern Nigeria Union Conference, based in Abuja. The incident happened after the congregation’s 67 members left
In India, Adventists seek inquiry after local members reconvert to Hinduism Asroi (India)/Silver Spring (MD/USA) | 03.09.2014 | International Reconversion ceremony prompts fears that hardline Hindus are compelling people to switch faiths Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders have appealed to Indian authorities to investigate the possible forced reconversion of Adventists to Hinduism in a northern Indian village. [img id=3167 align=left] Forced conversion is illegal in India, and a reconversion ceremony last week in Asroi, located about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south of India’s capital, New Delhi, raised fears in the wider Chri
U.S. Seventh-day Adventist Church Statement on Unrest in Ferguson, Mo. Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 21.08.2014 | Statement on... The President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America Daniel R. Jackson, issued the following statement in response to the ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014: “As a part of the larger family of America, Seventh-day Adventists grieve with Michael Brown’s family and extend our heartfelt condolences for their tragic loss. We are praying for our Ferguson community family who are in such great pain. “We pray that justice will replace injustice, that truth wi
Adventist Church recommends their staff and members not to travel to and from West Africa Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 10.08.2014 | International The Seventh-day Adventist Church's top health official urged Church staff and members not travel to and from countries in West Africa affected by the Ebola epidemic. This recommendation came on the day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak an international health emergency. Adventist Health Ministries Director Dr. Peter Landless also said officials at the Church’s world headquarters are working with two Adventist hospitals in West Africa to protect staff and patients from
Adventist Church president releases statement on persecution of religious minorities in Iraq, Syria Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 08.08.2014 | Religious Liberty It is with great sadness and deep concern that we have learned of the tragic situation where tens of thousands of Christians and others have been subjected to persecution, coercion, killings, intimidation and lack of religious liberty in certain areas of Iraq and Syria. I urgently call upon all Seventh-day Adventist Church members around the world to pray for the victims of this extremism in religious intolerance. We also need to pray for various religious minorities who are targeted because
Portugal grants two Adventists Workplace Freedom on Saturdays Lisbon/Portugal | 08.08.2014 | Religious Liberty Decision comes after years of Religious Liberty proponents working with government officials Seventh-day Adventists in Portugal welcomed a ruling from the Tribunal Constitucional , the nation’s highest court, last month that offers a step toward allowing greater workplace freedom to take a particular day off for religious observance. A decision handed down by the Constitutional Court on July 17 permitted two Adventists employed in a shift schedule the right to take off Saturdays for relig
"Hope Brazil" initiative empowered Adventists to serve, share mission during World Cup Brasilia/Brazil | 09.07.2014 | International Volunteers assisted with blood donation drives, distributed literature During the FIFA World Cup, thousands of Seventh-day Adventists in Brazil are participating in the Church’s local “Hope Brazil” initiative to offer ministry outreach and service to international football fans and tourists visiting during the tournament. At many of the Cup’s 12 stadium sites, Adventist volunteers donated blood and coordinated assistance ongoing blood drives, distributed a missionary book, and advocated
General Conference Session of Adventist Church starts one year from today Washington DC/San Antonio (Texas) | 02.07.2014 | International Global Adventist Spiritual Gathering, Business Meetings Set for July 2, 2015 in San Antonio (Texas/USA) [img id=3068 align=right]The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s General Conference Session is set to begin one year from today, July 2, 2015, and run through July 11, 2015. The 10-day meeting will be held at the 65,000-seat Alamodome and the adjacent Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio (Texas/USA). Session, which has been held every five years since 1970, is a spiritual gathe
Adventists urged to pray June 28 for peace in Ukraine Kyiv/Ukraine | 28.06.2014 | International Division President Biaggi asks members to help ADRA assist displaced residents The president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Euro-Asia Division is calling on all Adventists to pray for peace in Ukraine and has urged church members across the division to give a freewill offering in support of people who have lost their belongings in the unrest. President Guillermo Biaggi has declared Sabbath, June 28, as a day of prayer across the division, which includes Ukraine, Russia and 10 other
Jan Paulsen: Challenges for a global Church in the 21st Century Stuttgart/Germany | 02.06.2014 | International Pastor Dr Jan Paulsen, former President of the General Conference (headquarter of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist church) spoke in the Seventh-day Adventist church Stuttgart/Germany about the church’s challenges in the 21st century. He stressed that the decision about women’s ordination as pastors was one of the top priorities. A wide range of committees in the world church have tackled this question for the past 40 years. In 1990 the General Assembly of the General Conference (World Council
“Guilt and Failure” - Statement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church regarding the outbreak of the First World War Lüneburg/Germany | 12.05.2014 | International The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany has published a statement pertaining to actions it took in the context of the outbreak of World War I. The Southern and Northern German Union Conferences of the Seventh-day Adventist church adopted the statement on April 6 and April 13, 2014 respectively, and published it the May edition of the Church magazine “Adventisten heute” (Adventist Today), under the title “Guilt and Failure”. The Presidents of both Conferences, Pastors Johannes Naether (Han
Australian ambassador to the U.S. commends Adventist contributions in health, education Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 23.04.2014 | Religious Liberty Former Deputy PM Beazley says secular country supports religion Australia’s ambassador to the United States of America visited with Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders last week at the denomination’s headquarters, affirming the South Pacific country’s commitment to religious freedom and discussing the government’s ongoing financial support for private education. Kim Christian Beazley, the former deputy prime minister, thanked church leaders for hosting him in his first visit since he beca
Adventist church leaders from Russia and Ukraine urges peacekeeping, prayer Kiev/Moscow | 12.03.2014 | Religion + State A common statement released by top Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Russia, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries invites Adventist church members and “all people of good will” to participate in the “ministry of reconciliation” as political turmoil in Ukraine deepens. Pro-Russian separatists in Crimea voted last week to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, just days after thousands of Russian troops began patrolling the disputed Black Sea peninsula. A region-wide referendum for
USA: Cyber Criminals Target Adventist Church Funds Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 03.01.2014 | International Personal Information not involved; Federal Authorities investigating The world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventists Church, based in Silver Spring (Maryland/USA), has been the victim of cyber theft which has defrauded the church of approximately five hundred thousand dollars. The theft involved funds that were being transferred on behalf of a denominational entity. Adventist Church officials are cooperating with U.S. federal authorities in the ongoing investigation and working with
