Adventist Church to mark 150th anniversary of its name
Heritage leader urges reflection on its significance, modern impact
21 Sep 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Ansel Oliver/ANN
As the Seventh-day Adventist Church prepares to mark 150 years of the denomination's name on October 1, leaders are urging members to reflect both on the name's significance and the impact they've made in their local community.
When church pioneers met in 1860 to name their movement, David Hewitt introduced the name "Seventh-day Adventist," which became the name of the publishing work, and ultimately the church itself. [photo courtesy White Estate]
It was in 1860 that pioneers meeting in Battle Creek, Michigan chose the name for a movement that had about 2,500 adherents in Northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Today, that movement has more than 16 million adult baptized members and operates the largest Protestant network of schools and hospitals worldwide.
Regarding the name selection, Adventist Church co-founder Ellen White later wrote, "The name Seventh-day Adventist carries the true features of our faith in front, and will convict the inquiring mind."
"Seventh-day" refers to the denomination's day of worship, taken from the Fourth Commandment in the book of Exodus. "Adventist" refers to the Second Advent of Jesus, or the Second Coming.
"I think the name has been used through the years in a very positive way because its members have decided to make a difference here and now in anticipation of the Second Coming," said Jim Nix, board chair of Adventist Heritage Ministry, a church corporation that preserves denominational historical sites.
Nix, who is organizing the anniversary commemoration, said he hopes members will spend time on Sabbath, October 2 reflecting what it means to continue the legacy of the name leaders took in 1860. Additionally, he is urging members to consider what difference the name is making in their community.
"I'm afraid that if some Adventist churches closed, nobody would notice," Nix said. "Some people may not like that conclusion, but if that's the case maybe they can think about what they can do to make a real difference in their local area."
Though the name came to describe the church, it was originally chosen for the early movement's publishing work. In 1860, leaders called a general meeting, which brought together 25 ministers, with church co-founder James White urging the formation of an organization that could legally own a publishing house. Without a legal name, however, it could accomplish little.
Many favored "Church of God," including White, but some soon found the name presumptuous. Besides, other movements were already employing the name.
David Hewitt, a Battle Creek resident, then introduced and formally proposed the name "Seventh-day Adventist," which would come to brand not only the publishing work, but the movement itself.
Nix says he is proud to belong to the 150-year-old movement. "You go to a family reunion and you're all Jones or a Smith and you feel a sense of pride. We're all Seventh-day Adventists, and that's my spiritual family name," he said.
"This church has done some great things over the past 150 years. Let's use this anniversary to think about how we can do more," Nix said.
For more information, visit
150sda.org.
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Sadly things like this trademark infringement will further diminish our witness in the world because the leadership thinks that they are protecting the Truth by bringing litigation against commandment keeping brethren who have separated from the apostasy that the the GenCon leadership have neglected to reprove..
SDA NEWS RELEASE and EMERGENCY RELIGIOUS LIBERTY CONFERENCE INVITATION
February 16, 2010, a Day of Infamy at Guys, TN
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist attorneys, escorted by a Federal Marshal and Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church defense attorney will visit the CSDA Church house located at Guys, TN on Old Hwy 45 (at Stateline) on February 16, 2010. Their purpose will be to enforce a Permanent Injunction and Contempt Order handed down by Judge J. Daniel Breen, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Eastern Division. It is so ordered that the Plaintiffs (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists) take down the CSDA Church signage and remove all “offending articles” including “all labels, signs, packages, wrappers, receptacles, and advertisements bearing the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST mark, or bearing the words SEVENTH-DAY or ADVENTIST, or the acronym SDA, either together, apart, or as part of, or in combination with any other words, phrases, acronyms or designs, or any mark similar thereto or likely to cause confusion therewith, and all plates, molds, matrices, and other means of making the same” with all expenses charged to the Defendant.
From Tennessee:
Creation church of Seventh-Day & Adventist church property is destroyed and incarceration of members threatened through direct legal trademark enforcement by the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists.
An excerpt of an appeal by the CSDA church:
…,
we stand convicted by conscience, and find ourselves compelled to protest the actions of the General Conference in both registering its trademarked name and bringing litigation against those it considers to be heretical, thus employing the strong arm of civil government against conscientious dissenters such as ourselves.
The GC of SDA retained the law firm of Adams and Reese (it’s Nashville office) to prosecute this case. Ellen G. White has the following to say regarding such lawsuits:
When troubles arise in the church we should not go for help to lawyers not of our faith…These men [SDAs who hire lawyers not of our faith] cast aside the counsel God has given, and do the very things He has bidden them not to do. They show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and in heaven their names are registered as one with unbelievers. Christ is crucified afresh, and put to open shame. Let these men know that God does not hear their prayers. They insult His holy name….III SM 299
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Below is a link to the news story:
http://dailycorinthian.com/view/full_story/6372953/article-Creation-Seventh-Day-Adventist-Church-members-protest-court-order?instance=main_story_leftThe defendant has been ordered to pay attorney’s fees and costs of $35,567 to the plaintiff. Sad, sad times. How low will the GC go?
(Excerpt)
.Source.
