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Age demographics in the NAD from 1980 to 2018

Image credits: BRO.vector/Shutterstock

In the past 15 years, the North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) has been experiencing a shift in generational demographics. The Baby Boomer generation surpassed senior generations as the NAD’s largest age group in 2013, according to a General Conference (GC) survey reporting age demographics of SDA members in North America.

Members from senior generations — those born before the year 1946 — are declining in numbers due to increasing age. The percentage of members belonging to the Millennial generation is also decreasing in the NAD. Generation X and younger generations — those born after 1994 — fluctuate in membership percentages.

According to Monte Sahlin, vice president for Creative Ministries of the Columbia Union Conference of the SDA denomination, fluctuation could be due to survey method differences between the GC and the NAD. 

These results differ from the NAD’s 1980, 1989 and 1996 demographics. During that time period, members from the Greatest Generation, also known as the World War II generation, started declining in membership percentage, and the Silent Generation, the generation between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers, fluctuated in percentage. However, the combined percentage of the World War II and the Silent generations was still greater than the Baby Boomers’ increasing numbers. Along with the Baby Boomers, Gen Xers increased in percentage each year. Data was not gathered for Millennials and younger generations during that time, as most members from those generations were not born yet.

I created a timeline of the NAD’s generational demographics from 1980 to 2018. The 2008 and 2018 NAD survey percentages and the 2013 GC survey percentages were provided in a presentation by Sahlin to our Interactive Journalism class. The 1980, 1989 and 1996 percentages were obtained from Sahlin’s 1998 report, “Trends, Attitudes and Opinions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America.”

Click the image below to view full details of the timeline. The timeline is interactive, so make sure to click each tab for more information.

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A Brief Glimpse of Prophecy

By Sam Oliveira

Let’s take a quick look at some events that occurred throughout history that have led the Seventh-day Adventist denomination to where it is today. You will see on the timeline different events outlined throughout Adventist history showing how prophecy was very prevalent and at the forefront. To create this timeline of events, I researched different publications. Most of the information was found in the book Seeking a Sanctuary. 

The first event is dating back to 1844. On October 22 of that year, followers of William  Miller, founder of the  Advent movement,  were certain that Jesus was coming back that day. But when Christ didn’t show up, it led to what is known as The Great Disappointment.

In 1851, J.N. Andrews, a Adventist minister, wrote an article for the Adventist Review suggesting that America was not divinely favored, but rather the second, or two-horned beast that had risen from earth. Only three years later, J.N. Loughborough, an Adventist minister, in an article about the two-horned beast, referred to the earlier Sunday mail campaign as an example of the ease with which America could be coerced into enacting the Sunday law, which is a law that Adventist believe will be enacted shortly before Jesus’ Second Coming.

The Sunday law, as described by Adventist theologians, is meant to have all organized religions worship on Sunday, which goes against  the Fourth Commandment requiring the  observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as outlined in Exodus 20:8-12. 

Then, in 1888, a book titled, The Great Controversy, was published. Written by Ellen G. White the denomination’s beloved prophetess and one of its co-founders, the book laid out end-time events in the context of the war between God and Satan. 

All of the events that happened after the publishing of White’s book really caused Adventists to look at prophecy and eschatology a bit differently. They suddenly became very intrigued about political occurrences and natural disasters. A lot of what White mentioned in the book was occurring before their eyes. One of the major events that White writes about in the book correlated was the 9/11 terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 

Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhard make it clear in Seeking a Sanctuary that the wave of eschatology still takes Adventists by storm. However, the focus on prophecy does not seem to be as prevalent among younger Adventists as it among older ones.

So, what changed? Did we suddenly get tired of reading about it? Or did we dive in too deep and create a big stir only to be disappointed when some aspects of prophecy didn’t seem to materialize? 

Next blog post, I will interview a fellow Millennial on his perspective of growing up with prophecy. We will uncover together how his upbringing was and how it may or may not have changed his views today.

Historical Timeline with Prophecy in the SDA Church.
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A Millennial’s Perspective

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Shephard

By Sam Oliveira

When it comes to prophesy, some might think of the mysterious beastly creatures mentioned in Revelations with many eyes. We might also envision the in-depth end times depictions we have been taught since childhood. 

This week, I had the privilege of interviewing my boyfriend Jonathan Shephard on how he grew up in the Adventist church and what prophecy meant to him then and now. 

 “My situation is a bit unique because my dad, who doesn’t like having silence in the house, would have the late C.D. Brooks pastor [playing] in the background…and that’s really where I started listening to some sermons because he did a lot of [them] about end-time events,” stated Jonathan. 

Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by this constant end time knowledge that he had no idea what it meant. 

“I started actually listening when I was about 5 or 6 years old, but I started interpreting, and finally getting it in my head around [when] I was 14 years old,” he continued.

Having to constantly listen to end-time sermons from such a young age instilled immediate fear into him. He felt that he wasn’t doing enough, and if it wasn’t doing enough, was he really going to be saved?

It’s interesting how when I think about the end times, my childhood also had fear instilled into the way I dealt with prophecy. I felt that if I didn’t do exactly what my parents said about Jesus or anything else regarding religion. And then I’d automatically be persecuted and not go to Heaven. I find it quite intriguing how Jonathan’s childhood experience and mine are not very far off from each other. 

“After you start gaining a relationship with Christ, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m just a pilgrim here. I’m just passing. The fear factor gets removed when you realize that the hardest part has already been done for you,” Jonathan stated. “And I think it’s always been interesting to me [how] we’re in a rush to teach people the end times, but we’re not in a rush to teach them about God? How are you going to enjoy heaven if you don’t even know who is in heaven?”