News Articles

At the 2023 North American Division (NAD) Women's Clergy Retreat, approximately 200 of the division’s 350 women clergy serving as pastors, chaplains, administrators, professors, and departmental leaders converged upon the Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center in Maryland from October 9-12, 2023, for a time of refreshing, equipping, and connection.

Christian Record Services, Inc. (CRS) is pleased to announce the opening of its new office space dedicated to the production of braille resources. This expansion marks a significant commitment to serving the worldwide visually impaired community and enhancing access to braille literature for all. 

Themed “Safeguarding Peace,” the enditnow Summit on Abuse, held from Nov. 12-13, 2023, at Andrews University, featured an abuse survivor's video testimony and follow-up discussions; thought-provoking devotionals; and presentations from advocates, church leaders, and educators. It ended with hands-on training on responding appropriately to abuse disclosures and creating a resource list for abuse survivors. More than 100 church leaders, educators, seminary students, professional advocates, and volunteers across North America and Europe registered for the event, indicating their commitment to combatting abuse. The two-day initiative concluded with an enditnow certification ceremony for attendees who demonstrated the ability to support abuse survivors through a skills assessment.

On October 19, 2023, students at Pacific Union College had the opportunity to partner with community agencies to give back to the local neighborhoods. During service day, students volunteer at service locations to assist residents with various community needs. This campus program implements service learning, where students can get involved in the food pantry, homeless and hospital ministries, and other service-learning activities at the college. Service day is just one dimension of PUC’s commitment to community involvement.

The third stop of the Young Adult LIFE Tour landed in the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists at Spring Meadows Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Florida. With more than 200 registrants and 1,000-plus in attendance, the weekend was filled with meaningful connections, inspiration, and relevant training on growing together.

What does your church parking lot look like during the week? For many, the answer is “empty,” but for two Adventist Community Services (ACS) ministries in the Houston, Texas, area, the answer is “full of cars.” The Fondren Seventh-day Adventist Church ACS moved their food distribution into the parking lot in 2020 to abide by COVID-19 recommendations and they haven’t moved back inside. Rain or shine, Fondren ACS volunteers distribute boxes of food to their community every Wednesday.

The AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute will lead first-of-its-kind research on exercise and brain health as part of a national, multisite effort funded with $11 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest source of medical research funding worldwide. Known as Follow-up Longitudinal Analysis of Moderate-intensity Exercise (FLAME), this new effort will test the long-term effects of a previously conducted randomized exercise clinical trial initiated in 2016 called “Investigating Gains in Neurocognition in an Intervention Trial of Exercise (IGNITE),” which examined the effects of exercise on cognitive and brain health in cognitively normal older adults.

On October 11, 2023, the Department of Sustainable Agriculture at Andrews University achieved Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) certification for its livestock system at the Agriculture Education Center. The education center is now among five percent of farms in Michigan to have earned this certification.

On Friday, October 27, day two of the 2023 North American Division Year-End Meeting (NAD YEM), the NAD executive committee received names for new appointments recommended by the North American Division’s standing committee with an overwhelming majority vote. Ivan Williams, Sr., current NAD ministerial director, was elected as the NAD vice president of strategic leadership; Adam Fenner, director of Adventist Learning Community (ALC), was elected to assume an additional role as NAD vice president for digital media; and Chad Grundy, Carolina Conference undertreasurer, was elected NAD undertreasurer.

The North American Division (NAD) has been working with a dedicated group of Adventist educators, professional programmers, and designers to create a cutting-edge student information system that will specifically meet the needs of Adventist educators. The system, called AE-Connect, includes an enrollment/registration module, a standards-based assessment module, scheduling and messaging capabilities, and options to connect with NAD financial management systems, such as the Student Treasury system and Adventist Accounting Software International.