News Articles

In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Coatesville community leadership, with strong support from the community, banded together to carry on the legacy of King by not only speaking about change, justice and advocacy, but also by emphasizing the day of service and providing ample opportunities to serve. As a tribute to King’s housing initiative that he began in November of 1967, the W.C. Atkinson Memorial Community Service Center, an Adventist Center of Influence in partnership with many other organizations including Good Works and Adventist Community Services, started a home renovation project on Jan. 2, 2024, with a goal of completion by MLK Jr. Day.

In a bold step toward fostering the next generation of church leaders, the Southwestern Union, under the leadership of president Carlos Craig, and in collaboration with Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU), has announced two groundbreaking initiatives to support students following a call to ministry through the study of theology and education. The strategies provide financial incentives, up to $15,000 per student, in response to the increasing need to recruit and retain teachers and pastors who choose to serve the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southwestern Union.

The Pacific Union College (PUC) Church resonated with powerful words as David Anthony Johnson addressed students during a special Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Day. The event, held in the sanctuary on Thursday morning, Jan. 11, 2024, as part of the Community Speakers Series, was dedicated to honoring King’s legacy.

On January 18, 2024, roughly 110 local faith and civic leaders attended the fifth Religious Freedom Prayer Breakfast hosted by the North American Division (NAD) and organized by its Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) department. The event commemorated Religious Freedom Day (Jan. 16) and coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 15). Attendees experienced a religious freedom-themed keynote, special musical selections, and prayers focusing on religious freedom, peace, unity of spirit, and personal responsibility.

Who are the least of these? And who is called to serve; and what does that service look like when perhaps there are other life situations that make it challenging to help? And can our church serve as a conduit for understanding what help looks like and how everyone can be involved? Those are the questions we are asking ourselves within Adventist Community Services. While our traditional avenues for providing help will continue — operating food pantries, providing clothing to those that need it, and running community gardens — we are also looking to expand the ways we define help as well as the type of help we provide in the communities we serve. 

“The Lord has brought us a mighty long way.” That was the testimony of members and friends of Patmos Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Apopka, Florida, as they celebrated the church’s platinum (70th) anniversary on September 22, 2023. More than 650 members and friends crammed into the church’s edifice to worship and praise God for His guidance over seven decades and to ponder what God has in store for the Patmos’ future.

Sígueme, un llamado a vivir en Jesús (Follow Me — a call to live in Jesus) is the latest Spanish resource from Pacific Press and El Centinela — and the first set of evangelistic Bible guides from Centinela. It is designed to guide readers to make a conscious decision for Jesus and commit to following Him.

In November, Pacific Union College (PUC) and Loma Linda University (LLU) formally agreed to establish a 4+1 Master of Social Work (MSW) program, streamlining the transition from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree for students. This innovative program simplifies the application process for students, requiring only one application and acceptance step. Successful completion of this accelerated social work program results in attaining both a bachelor’s degree from PUC and a master’s degree from LLU.

“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.

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.