News
La Sierra University-rooted Ghanaian Seventh-day Adventist Church Celebrates New Redlands Home
It began as a small gathering under the trees on La Sierra University’s campus in June 2003. Nine Seventh-day Adventist Ghanaian students and community members formed a Sabbath worship service, bound together by a shared faith, culture, and desire to connect. The small group began holding Sabbath School classes at various locations — first on campus and eventually at a nearby strip mall. Their numbers gradually grew until they had approximately 80 members in 2024, at which point the congregation decided it was time to acquire their own church building.
Beyond the Pews: 2025 eHuddle Calls Church to Greater Impact
For years, White Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church in Los Angeles, California, was viewed as the church that did not care. In January 2025, everything changed. On Tuesday, January 7, during their week of prayer, Arteaga and his leaders experienced three blackouts from heavy winds. The next morning, they awoke to “images that the city we love, our mission field, our home, was on fire,” Arteaga shared at the 2025 eHuddle — an evangelism and leadership think tank hosted by the North American Division (NAD) Ministerial Association from Feb. 24 to 26 at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Southern Adventist University School of Business Students Excel, Rank as Top Performers
In a simulation of managing a startup company in the MGMT 364 International Business course, one of Southern’s teams placed first out of the five locally competing teams, and in the 99th percentile of more than 1,000,000 simulation teams worldwide in 2024. In another business strategy challenge, three of Southern’s teams ranked as Global Top 50 Performers out of 685 teams from 58 colleges and universities worldwide for the performance of their GLO-BUS business strategy simulations during the week of June 17-23, 2024.
2025 Safeguarding Peace Training Empowers Attendees to Build Safer Churches
From February 9 to 11, 2025, a small but dedicated group of local church, conference, and union leaders, and lay members, met at the North American Division headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, for the NAD’s enditnow® Safeguarding Peace training on abuse prevention and response. Through presentations, pair and group discussions, and hands-on exercises, attendees were empowered to help make our churches safer spaces.
La Sierra University Charts Path Toward Growth
Heading into 2024, La Sierra University is charting an upward trajectory based on enrollment targets, with near-term strategic investments in personnel, increased salaries, scholarships, software upgrades, and athletics initiatives. On Jan. 29, 2024, the university’s board of trustees voted on a budget and funding for the remainder of this fiscal year, ending June 30 and continuing two years through 2025-26. The university leadership also drafted a follow-on aspirational plan through 2028-29 for a five-year proposed strategic document focused on La Sierra’s growth. On Jan. 30, the plan was presented by La Sierra University Interim President Richard Osborn during a campus town hall at the Zapara School of Business.
The Blessings of a Delay
James Edson White, the son of Adventist pioneers James and Ellen White, is credited with taking the gospel to African Americans in the southern United States — after having departed from the Adventist faith for approximately 30 years. What may have seemed like a delayed answer to Ellen White’s prayers over the years that Edson was absent from the faith turned out to be God’s perfect timing for the gospel to be shared with former slaves and their children.
Atlantic Union and Southern Union Joint Tent Evangelism Endeavor Leads to 253 Baptisms
Tent evangelism, often considered an outdated method of evangelism, recently demonstrated its continued effectiveness through a joint evangelism event. The Atlantic Union, with the support and assistance of the Southern Union, recently hosted a 20-day "System for Survival" evangelistic initiative. The endeavor reaped 253 baptisms. The meetings took place in a 270-person tent set up in a vacant lot in Buffalo, New York.
In First Meeting of the New Year, University Student Leaders Advisory Provides Opportunity for Dialogue and Feedback
On January 24, 2024, the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD) conducted a university student leaders advisory. The virtual event was cohosted by G. Alexander Bryant, NAD president, Wendy Eberhardt, NAD vice president for ministries (which includes Children’s, Family, Disabilities, and many other ministries), and Tracy Wood, NAD Youth & Young Adult (YYA) Ministries director.