Oct 24, 2006 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Compiled by ANN Staff

Jamaica: 11 Adventists Receive National Awards ... Eleven Seventh-day Adventists—two church leaders and nine laypersons—received national awards during the ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honours and Awards held on October 16, the day Jamaica recognizes its national heroes.  Among the awardees were president of the West Indies region of the Adventist church, Pastor Patrick Allen, and Dr. Herbert Thompson, president of Adventist-owned Northern Caribbean University, both of whom were given the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander for their contributions to national development in the areas of education, religion and national service. Other Adventists were recognized for their work in the community as police officers, firefighters, volunteers, mediators and social justice advocates. A total of 205 Jamaicans received similar awards. [Nigel Coke/West Indies Union]

United States: More Women Serving as Pastors ... The number of women serving as pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is increasing. Using several sample surveys it was determined that between 2000 and 2005, the number doubled from 1 percent to 2 percent of the local churches in the United States. There are about 3,000 Adventist pastors serving across the U.S., so the total number of women serving as solo or senior pastors increased from about 30 in 2000 to about 60 in 2005. Another way to look at it: there are about 5,000 local churches in the U.S., so the total number with a woman serving as the pastor went from about 50 in 2000 to about 100 in 2005. This is actually a far smaller percentage than the proportion of women serving as Adventist pastors in some other countries such as Finland, Italy and China. [Monte Sahlin/The Visitor]

World Church: New Site for Adventist Lawyers ... The Office of General Counsel (OGC) at the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s headquarters has launched a Web site to connect Adventists lawyers.  The new site, http://www.adventistlawyer.org will ,make it easier for church members to find Adventist lawyers in different parts of the world and allow the church to easily share pertinent legal updates with the Adventist legal community, says OGC General Counsel Bob Kyte. The OGC used to list the names of all the Adventists in a book, but Kyte says “the day it was printed it was out of date.” The site now has the names and areas of practice for about 1,000 Adventist lawyers all over the world but Kyte anticipates much more to come because lawyers can now submit their information anytime. The Web site will also have articles, news releases, case updates and a roster for law students to register included on the site. [ANN Staff]

This week on Ground 7 News ... We talk with Pastor Desmond Robinson, director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Jamaica about a new program aimed at keeping inner-city boys from a life of crime. The weekly “Ground 7 News” features Adventist News Network stories as well as commentaries from Adventist leaders. It is available free from iTunes and at www.ground7news.org

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