News
Providing Encouragement and Assessment
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.
50 Ministerial Spouses Unite for Community Service, Fellowship, and Training During the 2024 NAD Year-End Meeting
Community service, fellowship, and training sessions made up the spouses’ meetings during this year’s NAD Year-End Meetings, with roughly 50 spouses of conference leaders in attendance.
Report on 2024 Consolidated Enrollment
The Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU), comprised of the presidents and other top leaders from 13 Adventist colleges and universities in North America, has determined that the latest consolidated fall enrollment numbers for all 13 institutions totals 20,828 students. This increase of 256 students from the previous year marks the second consecutive year of total growth.
Charting a New Path: 2024 Administrators’ Conference Unites Leaders to Shape the Future of the Church in North America
It’s been 10 years since conference and union presidents, executive secretaries, and treasurers gathered in one room to brainstorm how best to carry out the church’s mission in North America. A long-awaited follow-up, the 2024 administrators’ conference hosted more than 200 conference and union officers at the NAD’s headquarters on Oct. 30-31.
Promoting Healthy Minds at Southern Adventist University
Experts across America have gathered statistics that point to a mental health crisis for college students. Anxiety concerns have risen from 56 percent in 2013 to 65 percent in 2023, according to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health. The center also found that the number of students seeking help has steadily increased from 2009 until the pandemic. In response to the crisis, Southern Adventist University is working to ensure that students have access to various high-quality mental health resources.
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.
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.
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.
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.