London, Ontario NEWSLETTER

Why do people leave

Church? Editorial on an article pub-lished by Andy Nash in the March 21, 2013

edition of Adventist Review. Even though the Adventist church is one of the fastest-growing de-nominations in the world, and THE fastest in the United States, every 20 years 50% of currently attended members leave, and…

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May 2013 Volume 9 Issue 5

London Seventh Day Adventist Church, 805 Shelborne Street, London, Ontario N5Z 5C6 Canada, 519.680.1965

April was the Genocide Aware-ness and Prevention month. Too many tragedies happened after winter dormancy. Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur – all happen in April. Among many shootings and tragedies that happen in April is Waco tragedy. April 19, 20 years ago, in 1993 a rural outpost run...

In This Issue • Why do people leave church?

• Learning from our history.

• Study of Education Outcomes

Places Adventist Schools Sig-

nificantly Ahead of Public

Schools.

• Men’s Conference 2013

• Vacation Bible School 2013

• The Garden Corner

• May schedule district churches

• May London churches

Schedule

byAndyNash

Learning from our history

Continue page 4 The unity in the Body of Christ

Why do people leave Church? are “replaced” by the new comers. In the 1980-

90s studies indicated that if someone left the Advent-ist Church, it was almost always because of bad ex-periences or relationships. In a 1998 report, “Why Do Adventists Quit Coming to Church?” prepared by the Center for Creative Ministry, Adventist re-searcher Monte Sahlin wrote: “Three out of four (75%) leave for reasons having to do with their rela-tionships with people and groups, while less than one in five (20%) leave because they no longer be-

lieve in some teaching of the church.” That report also cited researcher Roger Dudley, director of the Andrews University Institute of Church Ministry. “Generally speaking,” said Dudley, “poor interper-sonal relationships in the church” were the primary reason members left. Other scholars of that period stated that “very few people left because of a disa-greement over doctrine. Many had questions and doubts, but no basic disagreements with the main tenets of the Adventist faith” (Gottfried Oosterwal, then-director of the Institute of World Mission at Andrews University).

Comments were made by former Adventists in the supplement to the 1998 report: “After my bap-tism, I would wait each week in the foyer. No one would talk to me, no one spoke.” “The church I at-tended, was so cold I could ice-skate down the

aisles.” Loving relationships will always factor into any church member’s experience. Most churches have not healed from whatever affected their rela-tionships negatively in the past, and this remains an area of growth and needed improvement.

However, a new study suggests a shifting land-scape in which more and more people are leaving the Adventist Church primarily because they’ve changed their beliefs. It’s theology now, not just people! The most recent study “Former Seventh-day Adventist Perceptions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” conducted in 2011 by Southern Adventist Universi-ty’s School of Business under the direction of mar-keting professor Lisa Goolsby, shows that primary

reason people left the church in the past decade are disagreements or disenchantments with Adventist doctrine (67%), 31 % concerned cofounder Ellen G. White, only 10% cited their own lifestyle choices being out of harmony with church teachings. Only 38 % of responses cited a bad personal relational ex-perience as a reason for leaving. The two subjects that people ask about most are the doctrine of Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary and the proper use of Ellen White’s writings.

Doctrinal differences weren’t the only reason

cited and the relational experience element is still very much present. A divorced single mom with spe-cial-needs children described feeling ostracized by church members who were “snobbish.” She said that need.”

2 This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church

Continued from page 1.

If someone left the Adventist Church, it was almost always because of bad experiences on relationships.

members with money seemed more accepted. Another former member described the church as fail-ing to reach out to his family “in their time of great-est need.”

How should we respond? The new generation is uncertain about its faith and is not well equipped to respond to the critique coming from evangelical circles.

1. We must re-embrace conversations about

doctrine. The Adventist Church was founded on doctrine. In the mid-1800s, members of other Chris-tian churches spent entire nights comparing the teachings of Scripture with the teachings of their own churches—including eternal torment in hell, Sunday sacredness, and a new teaching, the secret rapture.

When these members left their home churches to become Seventh-day Adventists. A respectful dia-logue about Scripture with others will benefit every-one!

2. We must provide the best possible scriptur-al answers to honest inquiries. Stop giving pat an-swers, and offer a solid exegesis!

We must be willing to get into uncomfortable historical truths, even if

3. We should clear up false understandings.

Start with the fact that Ellen White is not our way to salvation, Jesus is! Be careful not to make ve-ganism a substitution for the born again experi-ence. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit not by Sab-bath-keeping.

4. We must recognize that sometimes the ene-

my is us. We can all think of toxic Adventist congre-gations or ministries that we frankly wouldn’t rec-ommend to anyone. Rather than urge people to end-lessly “stick it out” in bad-apple Adventist churches, encourage them to find a healthier Adventist church, or plant a new one full of grace and truth in fresh airspace. New organisms grow faster anyway.

5. We should honor the integrity of those who

have left. Right or wrong, it takes courage to leave what you’ve always known. Even as we grieve the departure of those who used to worship with us, we should honor their integrity—especially when com-pared to Adventist thought leaders and members who reject the authority of Scripture, stay in the

church, and try to force it into their own image. This type of member does much greater damage to the kingdom of heaven than former Adventists who re-tain a high view of Scripture and are seekers for truth.

One returned Adventist put it: “I had to study my way out of the Adventist Church before I could study my way back into it.” Don’t feel threatened by such journeys.

46% of “former” said they would try Adventist

church again, if we are willing to dialogue. Let’s be real and sincerely seek Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us each individually. Revival and Reformation is needed in the church, and it starts with me!

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department , Email: newsletter@adventistontario.ca 3

Revival and Reformation starts with me!

Learning from our history.

by an ultra-fundamentalist Adventist splinter group in Texas was made an inferno, after a six weeks stand-off, with television and radio identify-ing the group as Branch Davidian Seventh Day Ad-ventists. Vernon Howell and had assumed the name David Koresh, had been an active member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church until he was disfel-lowshipped in 1979, he had been charged with threatening people with guns and accused of child

molestation; that he practiced polygamy, even

with girls below the age of consent, while insisting on celibacy for the other men. 82 residents of this Mount Carmel group lost their lives in that tragic incident. A significant number of were still on the books somewhere as regular members of various Adventist Churches. How could this have happened with Adventists? How could these very pious and conservative, sincere Bible-believing people could let extreme views run away with their minds and lead them to do unthinkable things? What have we learned? Or did we learn anything? On April 10, 2013 Ghana Police Service arrested a group of people at the Maranatha Adventist Prayer Camp in rural Ahafo Ano District, and laid charges of human trafficking and conspiracy. Among of-fenders were Veronica Agbo, age 30, with assumed alias Ellen Christ, and her husband, John Agbo, age 36. A group formed in the Aflao Seventh-day Ad-ventist Church about five years ago during an evan-gelism crusade. A local elder described how it hap-

pened: “The team had fasting and prayer and all of a sudden, the spirit fell on” Veronica Agbo. When church leaders admonished her, she accused them of being possessed by an evil spirit and when the group was disfellowshipped, she told church members that the Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon were very near and they should flee to a rural area. About 50 members of the church in Aflao bought into the prophecy and followed the Agbos to rural “prayer camp” located beyond where rural electrifi-cation has extended in Ghana. The group wore “footwear made of wood with a leather flap. They did not eat meat and pepper. When police decided to raid the group it came because of a tip that girls as young as 14 were being forced into marriages with older men in the group, and that children were de-nied food, health care and education. Right now media in Africa is comparing the situation with what happened in Uganda in 2000 when 500 followers of Joseph Kibwetere under the group African Move-ment for the Restoration of the 10 Commandments committed mass suicide ... to announce the coming apocalypse of 2000. In 2005 a similar situation de-veloped near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where Advent-ist church membership is the highest in Africa. 170 years from the 1844 date which began the Adventist movement we continue to believe in the Second Coming of Christ. But there is the risk that the idea that it could happen at any time can be used in a ma-nipulative manner, attempting to control behaviors out of fear. In the days following Waco tragedy a sociologist Dr. Caleb Rosado wrote “The church … must move away from … perpetual spiritual infancy to … spiritual and social maturity, where it no long-er behaves as children, tossed about by every ill wind of spiritual deceitfulness, but as spiritually ma-ture adults (Ephesians 4:13- 14).” He also predicted that “more apocalyptic cults will … emerge” in the future. “David Koresh was simply the 1993 model.”

What could be done to prevent the church from being deceived? The Adventist movement today is very culturally diverse as it has grown to 30 million adherents around the world. Analysis who have studied the Waco incident concluded that Federal authorities did not understand how to deal with reli-gious extremists, thus contributing to the tragic

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church 4

Continued from page 1.

Waco Texas massacre

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outcome. Dr. Rosado recently suggested that the church might better serve if it were to take a proactive posture of serving as intermediary and assist in the negotiations, rather than merely creating distance be-tween itself and the group. As the Adventist move-ment has grown to perhaps 30 million adherents around the world and significant cultural diversity, it has developed five distinct social dynamics or “operational value system” patterns. Dr. Rosado in an interview with Adventist Today identified these five types of churches as: traditional, militant, legalistic, corporate, and a caring community. The first three categories are “seen as a sect” by other Christians and the general public. The “corporation” church tends to be seen by other Christians as an Evangelical denomi-nation and is more middle class, “success-driven, technology savvy, and market-oriented.” This is the mainstream of the denomination in North America. The “corporate” church is organized, and operates schools, hospitals, universities, disaster relief agen-cies, and is even involved in politics. The “caring community” segment is “more inclusive of ethnic mi-norities and immigrants, more relevant to society and has moved away from the apocalyptic approach and the attitude that we are right and the rest of the world is wrong.” Adventists in this category “see as more pressing the needs of the world, issues of justice, hu-man rights, women’s concerns, and are concerned with the poor, global warming, and the big social is-sues of the day.” The “militant” may even call the “community” church “antinomial,” and accuse it of compromising the “truth” for the sake of people-pleasing. Consider the Apostolic principle of commu-nity hermeneutics – trusting that the truth is revealed to the community. If an individual believes that he or

she had received a special revelation, such vision is to be confirmed by the Holy Spirit through other believers. This is where a community dialogue is im-portant. God facilitates the “buy-in” as the “same spirit and anointing is on us all” (1st John 2: 20-27). People who assert themselves above others and de-mand following authoritatively, hierarchically, force-fully, by ‘guilting’ into obedience, manipulatively, claiming a special status, elevating individuals to sainthood – John calls such seduction a spirit of anti-christ. The Body of Christ consists of all believers, and the dialogue, conversation is the approach for unity. Isolation only breeds dysfunction.

In our church we continue being caring communi-ty, inviting all believers to dialogue, even, and espe-cially, if there is disagreement – let’s talk! Let’s not stop the conversation. The moment conversation stops and people walk away from each other the con-flict begins. The unity in the Body of Christ is when we seek together God’s presence, the Glory, which Christ introduced us to (John 17:22,5)

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department , Email: newsletter@adventistontario.ca

The Body of Christ consists of all believers

This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church 6

Study of Education Out-comes Places Adventist

Schools Significantly

Ahead of Public Schools.

A major meta-analysis, first

ever, of all available research comparing religious, public and charter schools, both elementary and secondary, was released re-cently at Notre Dame University by Dr. William H. Jeynes, a sen-ior fellow at the Witherspoon In-stitute in Princeton, New Jersey, and professor of education at California State University, Long Beach.

Following information is pro-vided to assert his credibility: he is the architect of the economic and education plan that enabled the Republic of Korea to recover from the 1997-98 Asian econom-ic crisis. He has authored more than 110 academic publications, including 10 books. The research is published in the Peabody Jour-nal of Education, volume 87, pages 305-335.

The research reveals that stu-

dents attending faith-based schools had an academic ad-vantage of approximately one year over their counterparts in

both public and charter schools. Even when the data was con-trolled for socioeconomic status, ethnicity and gender this ad-vantage was maintained. Re-searchers were surprised that stu-dents from charter schools did no better than their counterparts in traditional public schools. Jeynes said “if this nation is to support the notion of a greater breadth of school choice, then religious schools should be included.”

Schools operated by the Sev-

enth-day Adventist Church were included in the analysis. Advent-ist Today had an exclusive inter-view with Dr. Jeynes. “Students who attend Adventist schools score at an academic level about 11 months ahead of their coun-terparts...The advantage for stu-dents who attend Adventist schools is somewhat greater at the high school level...Students in Adventist secondary schools are 12 months ahead of their coun-terparts as compared to 10 months for students in Adventist elementary schools. (Or seven months and five months when the data is controlled for ethnicity, socioeconomic status and gen-der.) The primary reason for this is the high school students at-tending Adventist schools have been attending those schools longer than the younger students, and the … advantage tends to accumulate over time.”

The achievement gap for mi-

nority and low-income students in Adventist schools is about 25 percent smaller than in public schools. Attending private reli-gious schools is associated with the highest level of academic

achievement, which means that Adventist education provides a significant path to overcome pov-erty for the children from inner city and immigrant families. One of the reasons that Adventist schools are successful is because they have higher expectations of students and encourage them to take hard courses. They are more likely to support the notion that ‘God doesn’t make junk’ and that students are often capable of achieving more than they real-ize.”

Dr. Jeynes stated that “students who attend Adventist schools have fewer behavioral problems than their counterparts, even when adjusting for socioec-onomic status, race and gender. In fact, the behavioral advantage is even larger than the scholastic advantage.” Students “report that there is a greater degree of racial harmony at Adventist schools than one finds in public schools,” despite the high level of diversity in many of the schools operated by the Adventist Church.

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This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church 9

The Garden Corner By Marilyn Topper

What a wet spring we have been having! There is just enough time between the showers to run out and see what is sprouting. Even in this cold wet spring, the crocuses are blooming and the perenni-als are poking through the soil. And gardeners are eager to get planting. Our corner garden at the church is off to a bit of a slow start. A down-spout broke this spring, flood-ing the raised bed and wash-ing away some of the soil. My handyman husband has the

problem fixed, and as soon as it dries up a little we will be able to fill in more soil and start planting some of the cold hardy herbs and greens. I have some perennial herbs ready to transplant as well. So, while we are waiting I'd like to dispel one of the mis-conceptions about gardening... 'Gardening is really expensive' Like many hobbies, gardening can be as expensive or economical as you want. If, like me, you are on a budget, it may take some patience and ingenuity but is still very doable. Start small. If you are a novice gardener, try a planter pot with herbs, and/or some salad greens and a cherry or grape tomato plant. It is cheaper to buy seeds than to buy plants, but only if you can use the whole packet of seeds while they are still viable. Buy the tomato plant unless you have the time, light, and skills to start seeds in the house. (Most seeds will keep for a year if kept cool and dry, and some will last for several years). Buy a packet of mesclun mix. There will be likely be enough seed for at least two plantings. Last year I plant-ed a mild mesclun mix...which produced three kinds of leaf lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard (the composition of the mix varies...some also contain kale or arugula and various other greens). When the lettuce bolted (went to seed) in the heat of the summer, the swiss chard carried on providing greens for salad and cooking right up till hard frost. I let some of the lettuce flower and ripen seed and saved enough lettuce seed to plant for this spring. Very economical gardening indeed! One of the best ways to save money as you start garden-ing, is to let your gardening friends know that you want to start growing things...They very likely will have some

seeds, plants, and pots to share with you, plus some help-ful hints and advice to get you started. Perennial herbs provide great value, and fresh garden herbs really perk up the plainest meal. One clump of chives has traveled with me since my first garden, and has been divided many times to share with friends and family. It is over 30 years old and still going strong. Chives are very hardy and one of the herbs to reliably overwinter even in a small pot. Mint is also tough as nails, and a pot of mint (this plant is best kept confined since it tends to have plans for world domination, or at least to take over your garden...) will provide lots of fresh mint tea and tastes great in qui-noa salad as well. (Let me know if you would like my recipe). Something you should not skimp on is the soil. A good soil is dark and crumbly like chocolate cake, and full of earthworms and other soil life. If you are buying soil for a pot, try to get the soil that a greenhouse uses...you know it will be decent quality. If you are buying a large quanti-ty of soil (perhaps to fill a raised bed) try triple mix (top soil, compost, and manure). There are also very economi-cal ways to improve your own soil using kitchen scraps and yard waste...more on this next time! When Don was fixing the downspout, he noticed that the garlic and onions we planted last fall are sprouting. I promised to tell you about the walking onions. Walking (also known as Egyptian) onions are a very hardy peren-nial green onion. They reproduce in a unique fashion. After providing lots of juicy green onions early in the spring, the plants send up a hollow central stalk. At the top of this stalk, a clump of tiny bulbils or baby onions starts to grow. As the baby onions grow larger, they be-come heavier, and eventually the central hollow stalk bends over to the ground, and the clump of baby onions replants itself to start a new clump. In this fashion the onions are slowly but surely able to walk across the gar-den! And finally, if you are beginning to get a little discour-aged and wonder if spring weather is ever going to come, remember that: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22 Happy Gardening!

Fresh garden

* Spanish services are bi-lingual, with translation to English available

10 SDA South London Church 519.680.1965

WesternOntarioDistrictofSeventh-dayAdventistChurches

Local and District schedule of speakers, May 2013

LocalDistrictofSeventh-dayAdventistChurches,LondonON

We PRAY here

Saturday 11 am

SABBATH WORSHIP SPEAKERS @

Chatham 20 Croydon

Street

Leamington 220 Erie Str. N

Sarnia 1620 Mod-eland Rd.

St. Thomas 380 Manor

Road

Windsor 5350 Haig Avenue

Woodstock 594754 Oxford

Road

May 4 Dirk Zinner Helmut

Schwinghammer Adventurers Rodney Davis Jewel Scott

Crawford Choir Clara

Baptiste

May 11 Charles Shad Dirk Zinner Jack Friesen Men’s

Ministry Marian Kossovan Rodney Davis

May 18 Dirk Zinner Ramon Ettienne

Fred Stele Rodney Davis Dan Linrud Revival

Lars Muller

May 25 Daniel Stojanovic Dirk Zinner Fred Stele Bob

Sparenberg Zak Abdel Sayed

Stewardship Rodney Davis

Date Saturday 11 am

SABBATH WORSHIP SPEAKERS @

North London 800 Fleet Street

London South 805 Shelborne Street

Spanish* 649 King Street

May 4 Colin Humphrey Glenn DeSilva &

College Park Youth George Perez

May 11 Hilton Garnett Frankie Lazarus Jorge Robleto

May 18 Gwen Belliveau Jack Polihronov Andres Perez

May 25 Hilton Garnett Alex Golovenko Flora Gomez

Mid-week Prayer meeting @ 805 Shelborne Street

Wednesdays at 7 pm London (South) Seventh-day Adventist Church

May 1 Gord Rayner

May 8 Jack Polihronov

May 15 Alex Golovenko

May 22 Clara Baptiste May 29 Eugene Bernardo