World Church: More Than 13 Million Are Adventist Church Members; Growth Affirmed in Reports
|
There are 13,325,270 baptized members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as of June 30, 2003, according to Bert Haloviak, director of the church's office of Archives and Statistics. This represents a net increase of 573,097 members, or a little more than 1,569 members per day. |
|
Adventist world church secretary Matthew Bediako comments on reorganization and church growth efforts during annual business meetings on Oct. 12, 2003.
There are 13,325,270 baptized members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as of June 30, 2003, according to Bert Haloviak, director of the church's office of Archives and Statistics. This represents a net increase of 573,097 members, or a little more than 1,569 members per day.
In 2002, "there was one Seventh-day Adventist for every 494 people living; there is now one for every 480," Haloviak said. "If our past 10-year progress continues, there should be one Seventh-day Adventist for every 341 people on our planet at the end of 2010," he added.
More than 13 congregations were birthed daily during the calendar year of 2002. In that period, Adventist members contributed more than $4,853,000 each day to help proclaim the gospel message around the world.
At the same time, 2 percent of the church's membership, or 246,128 people, left the church in 2002. Decreases among recently baptized members are also concerning: for the four quarters ending June 30, 2003, 35 of every 100 new members have left membership, on average.
"We also need to find out why they are leaving so that we can change this picture," said Pastor Matthew Bediako, world church secretary, who presented an additional report. "Could it be that we are not keeping proper church membership records? Could it be lack of proper preparation before baptism, especially when mass baptisms are conducted? What plan is in place to nurture these new members? Are there pastors, evangelists, and trained lay leaders to work with them? After the stadium or large hall meetings are ended, do we have a place of worship for them?"
This mix of statistics gives a picture of a dynamic church, which, on the whole is growing rapidly--on average just over one person joins the Adventist Church every minute either through baptism or profession of faith.
"Our current numerical growth encompasses numbers undreamed of by those pioneers of almost 160 years ago, yet it is possible because of the solid theological and growth base they established," Haloviak told the delegates.
Church growth was widely reported by Pastor Bediako, who noted the successful restructuring of the Adventist Church's African regions and other organizational changes in the past 12 months. Among evangelistic successes, four Sunday-observing pastors and congregations in Thailand voted to join the church, while 600 people requested baptism in the Canadian province of Quebec following an evangelistic series. Adventist membership in Israel has more than doubled in the 2000-2003 period, from 488 to 1,110 at the start of this year, with 1,500 attending Sabbath School weekly.
Digg
del.icio.us
reddit
newsvine
Y! MyWeb
ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters.
Reproduction Requirements:
Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged. When reproducing
this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must
appear under the headline or immediately following the article. The words "Source:
Adventist News Network" must
be given equal prominence to any other source that is also acknowledged.
Ground 7 News Podcast:
Ground 7 News is a review of news and information issued by the Communication Department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. Reproduction of the ANN podcast is encouraged. When rebroadcasting this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be mentioned before and after the podcast.
ANN
Staff:
Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial coordinator; Megan Brauner, editorial assistant. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
Top Stories
