"Seventh-day Adventists are not an island in this world. We want to know other faiths better, and we want them to know us better," Dr. John Graz, director of the Adventist world church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, said January 23.

With a global membership fast approaching 15 million, the Adventist Church is far from being isolationist. However, its leaders believe a concerted effort to cultivate conversations between the church and major faith groups--Muslims, Buddhists, and others--is vital as Adventists continue in their vision to Tell the World about Jesus' message of hope.

To that end, church leaders voted January 22 to change the Council on Inter-church/Inter-faith relations to the Council on Inter-church/Inter-religion affairs. Much more than a name change, the update is meant to usher in what Dr. Michael Ryan, a world church vice president, called "a relationship of mutual relating" between Adventists and adherents to other faiths.

"In the past, we simply haven't understood each other," said Ryan, who also acts as the Council's vice chair. "Now, we're better positioned to dialogue with world religions so that we can better understand them and they can better understand who we are and what we believe."

A conversation that aims to connect in a meaningful way is crucial, Graz, the Council's general secretary, agreed. "If you don't talk, they don't know what you may believe and may even think you're dangerous or are pushing a threatening political agenda," he said. "In today's climate of confusion, with creeds, sects and religious fanaticism, it is important to anchor our dialogue."

Both Graz and Ryan believe frank conversations between Adventists and other faith groups will level the prejudice that often riddles inter-faith relations. "When [other religions] really understand us, word gets out into the community and it makes a difference," Ryan said.

Mutual understanding does not, as some Adventists might fear, invite the watering-down of doctrine, church leaders assure. "Engaging in dialogue does not mean we are pursuing an ecumenical agenda. It is saying that we want to reach beyond the Christian community and talk with other faiths. It is saying that we want to have good relations," Graz said.

"It will give Adventists the opportunity and the guidelines to talk in a way that connects with other faiths," Ryan added.

Along with the name change, council members at Adventist world church headquarters also voted to expand Council membership to include more representation from the office of Adventist Mission and other mission-oriented church organizations to keep outreach at the forefront of church agenda.

Dialogues with WCC and Christian World Communions

Between representatives of the World Council of Churches [WCC] and Seventh-day Adventists regular theological conversations took place on an annual basis in the Geneva region from 1965-1971.

More recently the Adventist Church held official bilateral dialogues with the Lutheran World Federation [LWF] (1994-1998), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches [WARC] (2001), The Salvation Army (2004-2005) and the World Evangelical Alliance [WEA], a roof organization of 420 million evangelical Christians (2006-second round in 2007). Also exploratory conversations were held with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul (1996) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (2001-2003).

In November 2006 North American Adventists started a bilaterlal dialogue with the 2.4 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on a national level. Adventists had another national dialogue with the Council of Ecumenism of the Conference of Bishops of the Roman-Catholic Church in Poland (1984-1999).

As a recognized Christian world body, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is represented since 1968 at the conference of secretaries of Christian World Communions (CWC), a loosely structured group who meets informally every year but issues no joint statements. [Editors for ANN/APD: Elizabeth Lechleitner and Christian B. Schäffler]