News Articles

Early in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in wide-spread quarantines that shut down church buildings all around the globe, many of us pastors, churches, and tech teams faced the challenge of trying to figure out how to do ministry effectively in a media space we had spent quite a bit of time demonizing. Upon making the plunge, however, attention naturally turned to two main things: how to make the technology actually work in these new spaces, and then how to create better programming that would grow bigger audiences — or at least just help us not lose the ones we already had.  

The North American Division honored three retiring vice presidents through a virtual event that gave colleagues the opportunity to express their gratitude and share memories of the outgoing leaders. Alvin Kibble, former vice president for executive coaching, training, development, public affairs and religious liberty, literature ministries, and social media and big data; Paul Brantley, vice president for strategy and assessment; and Gordon Pifher, vice president for media ministries, received heart-felt spoken and written messages on May 12, 2021, from administration and staff about the legacy they’ll leave behind as they enter retirement.

It Is Written has won 10 Telly Awards this year for five different programs: one gold, seven silver, and two bronze. Four awards, including the gold, were given to “The Trail of Tears,” the first It Is Written program examining the forced relocation of Native Americans. Additionally, "Every Word," the It Is Written one-minute daily devotional, was recognized for the first time.

Merely 12 months ago, the Carolina Conference Ministerial Department had hosted more than 1,000 attendees at the fourth annual Evangelism Impact at the Landmark Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In this uncertain year, the event went virtual, with a similar number of attendees joining online.

On Sunday, May 23, 2021, the executive committee of the Southwest Region Conference of Seventh-day Adventists convened at the Dallas City Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas to elect a new president. The committee met and prayerfully considered several esteemed candidates. After being led by the Holy Spirit, they ultimately voted to elect Carlton P. Byrd as president.

The annual young adult film festival sponsored by the North American Division became an extended virtual experience through a six-session-long program on Gather.town, a customizable video-conferencing space that allowed for enhanced virtual interactivity among attendees. Sonscreen Film Festival 2021 took place every Friday, from April 2 to May 7, from 4-6 p.m. EDT, on the gamified platform that has been described as a combination of Zoom and the “Among US” video game.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada mourns with the families of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and all the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (Canada) following the discovery of 215 unmarked children’s graves at the former site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Recently I listened to a podcast that contemplated the “right to be forgotten.” The episode featured the staff at a medium market newspaper who were grappling with the balance between relevant media coverage and an individual’s right to privacy. Because of the longevity of the Internet and the paper’s extensive online archives, local residents’ minor legal offenses haunted them years after they had paid their fine, served their probation, or even had their court records expunged.

Ralph Trecartin has been selected by the Pacific Union College Board of Trustees to be the next president of Pacific Union College. He will begin his role as president on July 1, 2021, and will be the college’s twenty-fourth president in its 138-year history.

In October 2020, Cambodia experienced heavy rainfall across much of the country. Soon, hundreds of thousands of people in 14 provinces battled with raging flash floods. In a combined emergency response with our partners, ADRA in Canada provided emergency food and cash vouchers so that people could continue to provide for their families with dignity.