Press Releases

Center for Youth Evangelism to Become North American Division Entity

March 27, 2025 | Columbia, Md. | North American Division Office of Communication

On March 26, 2025, the North American Division (NAD) voted to receive the Center for Youth Evangelism LLC (CYE) as an official entity of the division as of May 1, 2025. This vote comes after the March 24, 2025, vote by the Andrews University board to transfer to the division the non-profit entity that has been part of the university since 1979 under the name of Youth Resource Center (it was renamed CYE in 1996). As part of the transfer, the corporate membership of Andrews University board of trustees will move to the North American Division, meaning that the NAD will need to establish a new board for CYE.

On March 5, Pastor Ron Whitehead, who currently serves as the executive director, was voted by the Lake Union committee to the full-time position of Youth, Young Adult, and Children’s ministries director with the Lake Union, after serving at the union as a volunteer youth director for 29 years while holding the Andrews/CYE position. Ron and his wife Betty decided to transition away from CYE, and Ron has accepted a call to be the full-time director for the Lake Union Conference. Their transition is effective May 1, 2025.

CYE has run several significant events through the years, including Cruise with a Mission, We Care (mission trips), the 180° Symposium, and the International Pathfinder Camporee. Under the leadership of Whitehead, CYE coordinated six international camporees, five of them within the Lake Union Conference, 1999 to 2019, and one in the Mid-America Union Conference, in 2024. Whitehead coordinated his first major camporee in Colorado (Mid-America Union Conference) in 1994, when he worked for the Rocky Mountain Conference.

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church in general, and the North American Division in particular, owe Ron and Betty a debt of gratitude for the tremendous leadership they have rendered through the years. Ron has shown us how to run big events successfully with maximum impact that have been transformative to our youth. He has graciously consented to assist as a consultant during the transition for the upcoming months,” shared G. Alexander Bryant, NAD president.

Bryant added, “As we recognize the impact CYE has had on countless lives over the years, we are grateful for the service Ron and Betty have provided since 1996 and we believe that we can continue CYE’s ministry and expand that impact in the North American Division.”

“We are delighted to welcome CYE to the NAD family,” said Wendy Eberhardt, NAD vice president for ministries. Eberhardt, who served for many years in Youth and Young Adult Ministries, including club ministries and camp ministries, agrees that this will strengthen youth ministry across the division. “With its rich history of providing outstanding research, relevant resources, innovative learning laboratories and transforming evangelistic events, such as the international camporees, I believe that God will continue to guide CYE as it takes this next step forward in serving youth ministry professionals and youth evangelism in the future.”

Prayer and Power Ignite St. Louis Launches Season of Prayer and Evangelism

On April 12, 2025, the Northside Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, was filled with energy, unity, and purpose during the Ignite St. Louis: One Spirit, One Mission prayer symposium. Hosted by the Mid-America and Lake Union conferences, the evening event drew church members and leaders together to pray for God’s power and guidance leading up to major evangelistic efforts.

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.

This Spring, North American Division to Host Second Pentecost 2025 Division-wide Prayer Meeting

On May 2, 2025, the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will livestream a special one-hour prayer meeting. The first such meeting ushered in the 10 Day of Prayer on Jan. 8. NAD president G. Alexander Bryant shared that the division recognizes "our great need to stay in a mindset of knowing our continual need to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit;" and thus, church leaders felt compelled to host another event to enrobe in prayer the churches and schools engaged in community efforts and proclamation events this spring, as well as continue to invoke the Holy Spirit in all members.

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.