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.
The 2023 PELC Celebrates Chaplains’ Work as Ministers in a Pluralistic Setting
“In 1976, when I became a chaplain, it was said that I was leaving the ministry,” said Rear Admiral (Ret.) Barry Black, the guest speaker for a special chaplains’ Sabbath at Oakwood University Church on December 2, 2023. He continued, “I was looked upon as leaving the ministry because providing spiritual nourishment in a pluralistic setting of religious diversity was not valued by the church.” The irony of this statement was not lost on the hundreds of chaplains and other guests attending the service launching the chaplains’ track of the Pastoral Evangelism and Leadership Council. “Mercy!” “Wow!” and “My Lord!” echoed through the sanctuary.
NAD's Top 10 Stories of 2023
In 2023, the North American Division website garnered close to 1.2 million page views. More than 270,000 unique page views were directed to the NAD news page and news articles. The top 10 most-visited news articles for 2023 are listed in this news feature. Click the titles to read the full articles, and enjoy this 2023 North American Division news year-in-review. And enjoy several popular stories from past years that still make the cut in our top 20 — these are listed at the end of our 2023 list.
Connecting to Hope: Addressing the Loneliness Epidemic in the Heart of NYC
Launched in New York City, "Connecting to Hope" is a three-month awareness campaign designed to encourage individuals to foster connections with their community, family, friends, and neighbors, as well as to cultivate spiritual connections with God. The campaign's resources serve as a lifeline to combat loneliness, encouraging people to seek support, and proactively connect with those around them. This collaboration between the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America and Hope Channel International features a series of impactful 15-second ads displayed on a digital billboard in New York City's Times Square.
Unveiling the Surprising History of Adventist Education: “Turning Point” Video Series
The 2023 North American Division Educators’ Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, was a time of spiritual rejuvenation, learning, and fellowship. Reflecting on the rich, yet somewhat turbulent history of Adventist education, the educators’ convention introduced “Turning Points,” a six-part video series jointly produced by the NAD Office of Education and the Department of Archives, Statistics, and Research. It’s one of the first efforts to produce a film series specifically highlighting the origins of Adventist education.