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.