Month: March 2021

By Frank Canizares

There has been a debate about the relationship between Christianity and society throughout most of civilization.  It has been carried out publicly as well as privately in our own minds: A quarrel between the church’s responsibility for social order and the desire to cut off Christ’s followers from social issues.  

As human beings, we are a complex species. We are defined by different cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and feelings and can’t escape our environment. 

The inevitable confrontation that we have with the social issues that envelop our surroundings on a day-to-day basis influences our behaviors, compelling us to believe we must act, take a stance or pick a side.  

According to Elder Allan Machado, director of the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and a professor of research at Andrews University, we end up complicating things with modern and post-modern thought by looking at the world and Christianity through our own lenses, relying on our points of views and not those of unity in Christ through love.

“We allow social issues to influence us and not a Christ-centered attitude to influence us about surrounding social issues,” Machado said. 

The impact such differences have on the generational divide is much deeper than we think. They develop and divide the Gospel into erroneous theologies that we end up practicing — be it on the pulpit with our testimonies and/or our lifestyles. How can we reconcile our surroundings with an identity in Christ? How do we interpret—with a Christ-centered vision— contemporary movements such as: Liberation Theology to advocate for the weak; Feminist Theology in favor of gender equality; Black Theology and its quest for racial injustice; Ecological Theology in the fight against global warming and the Social-American Gospel defined as the American dream?

According to Carmella Monk Crawford, editor of Message magazine and the podcast What’s the Message, as Christians we should be very involved in social issues. She believes in mobilizing to show people that we can work together and are willing to come alongside the community.

“I believe every time something happens a minister should say that from the pulpit, (such as): ‘We paused to think of the people who were gunned down so mercilessly and so senselessly this year, or this week, or yesterday,’” she said. “I think that it should be part of the conversation on a regular basis.”

Some Christian perspectives place hope in another world and appear to deprive Christians of the opportunity to take an interest in the relentless struggle with social issues around them, while society urges them to pursue human achievement. These contradictions raise the question: How much should the church get involved in social issues? 

H. Richard Niebuhr in his book, Christ and Culture, writes, “Christ did not undertake to reform the religious and national culture, eliminating what was archaic in ceremonial and civil law. He might’ve been a boon to his society; but, instead of reforming culture, He ignored it. … Jesus ignored everything concerned with material civilization. In this sense, He does not belong to civilization.” 

I am a firm believer that, before diving into any topic, context is always key. That’s why I think it’s vitally important to understand the background of the SDA faith with regards to politics before unpacking current generational trends.

For centuries, religion and politics have had a complex and intriguing relationship. Although Seventh-day Adventism is a relatively new denomination in the grand scheme of things, it is certainly no exception to this rule. From its founding years in the mid-19th century, official SDA church stances on sociopolitical issues offer a lens into the church’s relatability with the non-SDA world — and many times, an indication of where it’s headed. After the Great Disappointment, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially founded in 1863. Among the most prominent leaders of the SDA faith was Ellen G. White. Her writings are heavily focused on issues of social injustice, activism and care for human life. White pioneered social activism in the SDA Church from 1863 onwards, but the rest of the church’s history isn’t as clear-cut.

The women’s rights movement was backed by several Adventist leaders. Further, certain General Conference leaders have spoken out on various hot button issues. Some of the moments that stand out are the church’s adoption of a non-combatency stance during the second world war, the church’s view on voting, and Adventists’ involvement in the Civil Rights Movement (and, more recently, with the more recent social justice protests). An overview of some of the significant moments and statements coming out of the Seventh-day Adventist Church help to better understand current generational trends.

Click here to view the full timeline.

Before embarking on this project, I knew exactly who I needed to speak to. I sat down with my roommate, Richard Thomas, and discussed the role of politics and civic engagement in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Richard is a senior social work major who is passionate about community development and engagement. He also grew up in a conservative Adventist household, which has caused him to reflect a great deal on the issue of politics in the church, often a taboo one. 

What is striking about Richard’s experiences is the relatability they seem to have with Gen Z and Millennial Adventists in general. According to Richard, the apparent discrepancy between younger and older Adventists when it comes to politics extends beyond his own family — it was something observable in the church and in the wider SDA community.

In order to better understand his perspective and to examine the nature of this divide, I sat down with Richard and asked him to share his point of view on how Adventists should approach politics, why various generations’ approaches to politics often seem different, and what we can do to bridge that generational gap.

Here’s Richard’s story.

By Frank Canizares

As I look back in retrospect, one of the happiest days of my childhood—despite the fact that it might seem difficult to believe—was the day I was baptized for the first time. I was baptized with a group of friends. We had been the best of friends for a long time. We were all about 11-years-old at the time and had attended the same church. I haven’t heard from them in over 25 years, apart from occasional messages from mutual friends about their separation from the church, which I was also until three years ago.

I have never been able to find out the reasons why they deviated. With peace of mind and sobriety, I can now attribute my separation from church to my arrival in the United States at the age of 14 and the strong cultural shock that came with it. As I reminisce about my friends and our active involvement with the church as children and early teens, and how now almost all of them have left the church, prompted me to consider and research what the statistics are for the decrease in membership among the Hispanic community.

A study commissioned by the Seventh-day Adventist North American Division Office of Education showed a decrease in the Hispanic population from 2008 to 2018. The research was presented by Monte Sahlin, director of the Center for Creative Ministry, to an Interactive Journalism class at Southern Adventist University in 2019, and later reported on a blog by Southern student Estefania Sanchez-Mayorquin.

Sahlin attributes the 2018 decline to the political environment in the U.S.

“I believe the reason why is that we had great difficulty getting input from immigrants that year,” he said. “And, if you think about the political environment in the United States then, you can understand why lots of Adventists who are immigrants did not want to answer any survey about information about themselves and their families, even though it’s anonymous.” 

Sahlin believes that there has been at least a small drop in the number of ethnic minorities.

“It probably is true that there has been a slight decrease in ethnic minority Adventists,” Sahlin said. “One study that I did in the interim period with one local conference, they discovered a significant number of immigrants who, during the recession, actually went back to Latin American countries that they had come from because the economy that they had come from was better there than their circumstances in the United States.”

In another presentation, this time to my Interactive Journalism class on Feb. 17, 2021, Sahlin presented other reasons for the drop in percentage among those who identify more with younger generations.

“Other reasons are not understanding why it is necessary for religion to have structure and procedures, a feeling particularly in the teenage years,” Sahlin said. “They feel that the church is unfriendly to people with different attitudes, different opinions. That you have to fit into a fairly narrowed pattern or you are not welcome.” 

After his presentation, I had the opportunity to ask questions and gather additional information that would assist my study. Here are a couple of the questions I asked and the answers that were given.

Q: Are there any reasons why young adults are abandoning the church?

A: In addition to the decline of Hispanics in the SDA Church is the abandonment of the church by young adults. This is attributed to the negative experience with institutions and organizations. This situation is a worldwide issue; organized religion has been abandoned by young adults not just in the U.S, but in Canada, Europe, and Latin America as well. In the United States, some patterns have to do with life experience. They graduate and move to another city, marriage, family, a lot of movement. One other thing that Millennial generation young adults do not understand about the Adventist bureaucracy is this business of transferring membership.

Q: Are there any other reasons to report, perhaps on older generations abandoning the church?

A: Some of the decline also has to do with life transition. We know that in the Gen-Xers group, people dropping out of church has a lot to do with divorce. Almost every case when that happens at least one quits attending church, if not both.” 

So, there you have it: Is the decrease among Hispanics in the Adventist church an abandonment of faith? Or, is this a reflection of a lack of accountability, which perhaps influences the statics?

Citation: Sanchez-Mayorquin, Estefania, “Adventist researcher reports drop in black, Hispanic church numbers. He blames national immigration debate.” (2019). Blog. 12.

By Megan Yoshioka

Lisa Bilbrey Hyder is the president of the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Chattanooga. She grew up as a Baptist and was baptized in the Adventist church about 10 years ago. Her roles as a wife, mother and president of the LWV of Chattanooga give her a unique perspective on women’s roles in marriage within the Adventist church and in society. 

Hyder observed that Adventist marriages, in general, tend to more closely follow traditional gender roles compared to marriages outside of the Adventist church. However, she also noted that more couples today are moving toward equal-partnership in Adventist marriages and generally in the United States. 

To hear the full interview with Hyder, click the link below.

By Megan Yoshioka

What was the driest sermon you ever heard preached in church? For me, it was a sermon I heard when I was in high school about the fruits of the Spirit. A very kind, knowledgeable pastor who looked to be in his 70s prepared a long, doctrinal analysis of each fruit. As much as I wanted and tried to be engaged with those important messages, I just couldn’t do it. 

After church, I asked my mom what she thought of the sermon. She said it was different from what was usually preached, and she didn’t mind it. She said it was just “old school” and commented, “I haven’t heard a sermon like that in a long time.”

Apparently, different generations have different styles of ministry.

Southern Adventist University Religion Professor Elie Graterol has 17 years of pastoral experience in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church and has witnessed to many people of varying ages. Over the generations, he noticed a change in the effectiveness of different ministry approaches.

For older generations, such as the Baby Boomers, acceptance of religious doctrines precede church membership and involvement, according to Graterol. However, in order to witness to younger generations, he saw a need for method adjustment.

“For Millennials, it’s mainly, ‘Yeah, what the Bible says is cool,’ but that must be preceded by a very strong sense of fellowship and belonging,” Graterol said. “Fellowship and belonging will open the door for a Millennial to embrace the Bible. In the past, it was the opposite. The Bible opened the door for a Boomer to belong in that particular group or church.”

Interning Pastor Xavier Baca also recognizes relationship building as an effective ministry tool. Baca has been interning for the Wahiawa and Waimanalo SDA Churches in Oahu, Hawaii, since August of 2020. Although most of his experience has been witnessing to younger people, he found a common denominator across all ages regarding ministry.

“I think the most important aspect, no matter what age, is giving people an experience with God,” Baca said. “If people have no experience with God in any type of religious activities or social gatherings in church, then it’s going to be harder for them to want to stay in a Christian church.” 

Baca found that building relationships with others is a successful way to help people experience God. He explained that once somebody forms a connection with another person, it allows that person to be an influence for God.

“Once that relationship is built up, then I truly believe that the influence can be put in,” Baca said.

In regard to witnessing to any generation, Graterol also emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong connection with God.

“When you are connected with the Spirit, you will attract people,” Graterol said. “If you are a genuine Christian, you will earn the respect of all the generations, regardless of their perspective and worldviews.”

By Frank Canizares

This podcast was recorded to showcase an SDA congregation’s efforts to bridge the generational gap. The soundbites were recorded at SuCasa Church— the Spanish-American Seventh-day Adventist church in Collegedale, Tennessee. Join me as we learn how SuCasa church bridges its demographic reality and congregation’s generational gap.

As you enter SuCasa church, and you go through the COVID protocols in the lobby, you are greeted by a reverent atmosphere, which reveals an older generation’s congregation. At the same time, a youthful spirit coming from the lower level invites you down. The lobby’s reverent atmosphere leads you on through to their main room where an older generation gathers for Sabbath school. But If you had allowed the youth spirit to navigate you to the lower level you would have found a younger generation’s Sabbath school gathering.

As I enjoyed my Sabbath experience during one of the intermissions, I had a chance to ask Carolina Bonilla—SuCasa’s youth director— what is her take on the generational gap and what they have done and are doing to bridge it?

“Our church is a very diverse church,” Bonilla said. “There are more than ten nationalities here. We have children, teens, young adults and adults. We have been successful, specifically throughout the past six years, at being able to give more participation to the youth. Before it was an adult-dominated church where the youth were mostly visitors. Now, they have more participation and even leadership roles.”

SuCasa church’s goal is to train its youth to lead.

“We are trying to disciple the younger generation so that they can lead our church,” Bonilla said.

She shares the first step she took to assess the younger generation’s needs.

“In my first year as a youth director, one of the first things that I did to know how the youth feels in relation to our church is I developed a survey,” Bonilla said. “And some of the questions that I asked were: ‘How do you feel when you come to our church?’ Fortunately, many of the young people said they felt welcomed and part of the family.”

She explained the church’s adoption ministry and how they try to fill the void students feel by being away from home.

“The previous youth director created this adoption program where students and young adults who don’t have family nearby can be adopted by our church family,” Bonilla said. “They invite them for lunch and just kind of take care of them as if they were their parents here. To make sure that if they need anything that there is a family here who is taking care of them.”

SuCasa’s administrators try to make themselves available to supply every student’s need — be it physical, spiritual, as well as emotional.

“We try to make sure that if there’s any young person struggling with something, they could come to us and to know we are there to help them,” Bonilla said.

They try to tackle the needs stated by the younger generation by assuming a proactive role.

“We have decided to create programs based on the needs they have stated they have,” Bonilla said. “There are young people who are struggling with depression, addictions. We are trying to tackle those topics with the people we invite or the programs we are making. Last month, we had a livestream. One of our youth directors is a psychologist. We were talking about how to take care of ourselves during this time of pandemic. They did such an amazing job. I am very impressed by the youth that attends this church. They are very capable, and they are willing to step up and help.”

As the Sabbath service continued throughout the day both generations gathered in the main room for the worship service where they sang, prayed, and listened to the word of God, as one congregation closing their generational gap.

By Frank Canizares

I arrived in the United States at age 14. And, while I was absorbing, questioning, and subconsciously building my core values, I developed into an Americanized reflection of my native Cuban culture. Yet, while I assimilated, I never felt that I fully belonged to the corresponding American generation for my age group, affectionately (and sometimes not so fondly) called the Millennials.

According to Chuck Underwood, an American generational expert,  my experience is not uncommon. During a recent presentation to Interactive Journalism students at Southern Adventist University, Underwood said the more of your formative years spent in America, the less you’ll belong to your native generation. The opposite is also true.

In one of his studies, Underwood states that there are four permanent phases of generational study: The formative years which mold our core values; the generation to which you’re born,  whose characteristics defines its members; the generational values that guide our decisions; and, the pre-generational years when we do not belong to a generation–from K-12. 

As we go through the  building years of our youth –  keeping and discarding some values- we ask ourselves these questions: Who are we? What do we believe? Finding the answer to these questions will determine how we’ll grow into adulthood and our set of core values. Inevitably, in the process we’ll become a reaction to the older generation. 

As an immigrant who has spent most of my life in the U.S. living in and surrounded by Hispanic culture, I have witnessed the loss of identity among immigrants, especially those who arrived at a young age. The stigma that the immigrant carries when trying to maintain his or her  roots while,  at the same time, engaging in American culture, is a daunting and complicated endeavor, and the results aren’t always predictable.

Some of the fundamental values ​​of my Cuban generation were lost in translation — a generation without hopes and aspirations where education has no value or meaning because it does not justify an economically stable future. By 1980–which marks my native Cuban generation—the Cubans that had stayed on the island because they sympathized with the government or couldn’t find a way to leave, had realized “The Revolution” failed. The biggest trademark of that failure was economics. Therefore, many in my cohort realized that education, because of the way the system worked, would not provide a prosperous economic future. They turned away from education and ventured into the black market and underground commerce.

It’s not fair to generalize, but a good chunk of that generation chose that route. After immigrating to the United States, my encounter with American culture dissolved the negative values ​​that seemed to define me. Because of the values I’ve adopted from American culture, I now have hopes and aspirations; and, I work towards them. I believe in the outcome of education and the kind of future it promises. I find meaning and purpose in life by nurturing my self-esteem. 

At the same time, I’ve managed to rescue some of the positive values of my native generation ​​because they align well with the values of my American cohort.  Like so many Millennials, I maintain a close relationship with my parents, remain active in the community and find meaning in contributing to society. At the same time, some values that define the Millennials, such as patriotism, activism and citizenship, clash with the extremes that were forced upon me while growing up under a dictatorship communistic regime. The impact of those negative experiences has prevented me from fully assimilating to American culture.

That’s why it’s not always helpful to define people by their peer groups. The core values defining a particular generation should not be a reason to typecast. Everyone is an individual, and the core values that we develop are defined by various experiences. I am a living example of one who does not fit the stereotype.

By Zach Roberts

The Seventh-day Adventist Church says it does not stand for racism. The denomination’s statement in an article posted on Adventist.org begins with an analysis of racism as a sin and how it remains in effect today. The third paragraph reads, “The Seventh-day Adventist Church deplores all forms of racism, including the political policy of apartheid with its enforced segregation and legalized discrimination.” 

That’s pretty clear. However, how does the denomination fare with racial landmarks? Based on my research, it seems they were pretty hit or miss. Ellen White, the denomination’s most prominent co-founder considered a prophetess by most members, said things that seemed like she, and the church as a result, were against racism in every facet. However, the denomination has struggled with segregated churches and other issues.

In a dissertation on SDA’s and race relations, Cleran Hollancid writes, “Racial division in the church is not only embarrassing to the faith, but actually impairs the quality of relations in society.” 

Division in the church, and everywhere, is seemingly at an all-time high right now. Within the church, division over women’s ordination and leadership remains a heated discussion. But since racial issues have become somewhat intertwined with politics, the division there, albeit probably more private, remains tense.

Here is a timeline of the intersections between race and the Adventist church:

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2492031

Sources:

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2412&context=dissertations

https://www.adventist.org/articles/racism/