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Saturday, April 13, 2002
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is growing worldwide
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| Seventh-day Adventist
Based: Silver Spring, Md. Congregants, worldwide: More than 12 million Congregants, New Jersey: 10,120 in 86 congregations Basic beliefs: Faith in God, as revealed by Jesus Christ and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus'death on the cross, human beings may be won back to love and trust God, and accept God's free gift of eternal life for all those who follow Him. History: Founded in 1863, by Protestant Christians (predominantly Methodists) influenced by William Miller, an American preacher who believed Christ's return was imminent. Holy books: Old and New Testaments Notable facts: Sabbath is observed on Saturday. Adventists avoid eating meat, and taking illicit narcotics and stimulants, believing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be protected. Adventists call their ministers "pastors," reserving the term "reverend" for God. Local trivia: The first camp meeting of the Atlantic Conference, which included New Jersey, was held in Mount Holly in 1891. |
JOSE F. MORENO/Courier-Post Rena Cliver of Pennsauken (front) sings with other choir members (from left) Erika Zeller of Westmont, Richard White of Sewell and Kathryn Block of Burlington Township.
By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Staff
Editor's Note: The first story in an occasional series profiling different religious groups and faiths in South Jersey.
Rena Cliver used to have a problem with God.
The daughter of a Pentecostal preacher, Cliver said a rough childhood and unanswered questions wrecked her relationship with religion for more than 20 years.
That was before she became friends with Bill and Catherine Schofield, both committed Seventh-day Adventists who invited her to church.
There, the light came on.
"So many things clicked," Cliver said. "All the questions I had had all those years were being answered."
For instance, why does God let bad things happen to good people? The church's answer?
"Satan is the one who is causing all these terrible things to happen," Cliver said. "So many bad things have happened to me in my life, I didn't know what I did to deserve that."
So, in 1999, Cliver joined Cherry Hill Seventh-day Adventist on Cooper Landing Road, an ethnically diverse congregation of about 100 people.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church calls itself one of the fastest growing churches in the world, with more than 12 million members. The Protestant Christian denomination says it has the second largest mission outreach in the world - defined as establishing Adventist congregations in areas where there were none previously - behind only the Roman Catholic Church.
Consequently, 92 percent of Adventists are outside the United States. An estimated 3,000 new members are added each day worldwide.
Locally, many new members are found among those who, like Cliver, weren't attending church, said Pastor Mike Gill, leader of the Cherry Hill and Deptford congregations.
The Deptford congregation, Laurelwood Praise and Worship Center, on Good Intent Road, has about 80 members. The two churches share a pastor so they can contribute more money to missions, Gill said.
Every week, Cliver and the Schofields sing together in front of the congregation, as part of the church's worship team.
Catherine Schofield, a 45-year-old teacher, joined the church with her husband just four years ago. Before that, Catherine was a Baptist who had drifted away from church.
Schofield started attending regularly after one visit and was impressed by the warm reception.
"I was hooked the minute I walked up into the door," she said. Today, the Deptford couple attend services each week in Cherry Hill and Deptford. On Wednesday nights, they host a Bible study and prayer group.
"We've brought three to four people to church through the group," said Schofield, who teaches at an Adventist school near her home. "They've found that people love them and that God loves them first and foremost. We've been blessed."
In the Adventist church, the Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. The tradition began in the church's early days under the influence of some founders who came from the Seventh Day Baptists, a small Protestant denomination that observes the Sabbath on Saturdays.
That's the way it was meant in the Ten Commandments, explained Gill. Adventist beliefs are often misunderstood because they observe the Sabbath on Saturday, as in the Jewish tradition, he added. But, like other Protestants, Adventists believe they are saved by the grace of God, through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, not by what rules they follow.
"We keep Saturdays for the same reasons other people keep Sundays: We're saved and we want to please God," Gill said. "The church changed the day hundreds of years after Christ ascended." For Cliver, Saturday is a "non-work" day. She spends her Saturdays at the church or with her family or resting at home. She does her housework on Sundays.
Adventists avoid eating meat, taking illicit drugs and stimulants, drinking alcohol and smoking. That's because Adventists believe the body is a temple and must be kept clean.
The potluck supper after the Easter service was vegetarian. Some Adventists are vegan, some eat meat except on the Sabbath and some eat meat and ask for forgiveness, Cliver said. Congregants often turn to natural remedies to treat illnesses, though they will follow a doctor's advice if necessary.
Cliver also prays for healing. One Sabbath, she had a severe cold and couldn't hear out of one ear. She couldn't sing but went to church anyway. Then, in the middle of the service, her ear opened.
"It happened when I asked God. I wanted to hear the blessings he wanted to give me," she said. "I believe he healed me and no one can tell me different."
The Cherry Hill congregation is multi-cultural, too. At the Saturday morning Easter service, the pews were filled with Filipino, black, German and Italian families.
"It's a little glimpse of what heaven's going to be," said Catherine Schofield. "All the nations, all of the people together."
New Jersey congregations tend to be more diverse than others in the United States, said LeRoy Finck, president of the New Jersey Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
That's likely due to a high population of immigrants here: 68 percent of Adventists in New Jersey are immigrants and the fastest growing ethnic group is Haitian. There are eight major languages in the New Jersey conference.
In 1995, about 60 percent of Adventists in New Jersey spoke English. Today, about 55 percent speak Spanish.
"Most of the people who come here from other parts of the world have a different philosophy of what it means to be a part of the church," Finck said.
They believe it is important to share their faith with others and "they actively work to make that happen."
That's how Cliver joined the church, when the Schofields invited her to their small-group meetings and then to church.
"We became friends," Catherine said. "One thing leads to another and you eventually get on to religion and politics."
Cliver is trying to do the same for her husband, John, and their two sons. So far, she said, John is happy she has found peace with God.
"I was so depressed all the time," Cliver said. "He sees a difference."
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