News Articles

Former Pacific Union Conference Treasurer Theodore R. “Ted” Benson died the evening of March 8, 2020, following a long battle with cancer. He was 71 years old. Benson graduated from La Sierra Academy and was a graduate of Loma Linda University/La Sierra Campus, where he studied business administration and accounting.

Donald L. Jernigan passed away on Saturday, March 7, 2020. Don, as he was known, died from complications of a long illness, with his beloved wife, Sharon, and daughters, Jill and Jana, by his side. He was 75.

On March 4, 2020, during the North American Division monthly staff meeting, NAD administration invited Tim Northrop, president of Adventist Risk Management, and Dr. Peter Landless, Health Ministries director of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to present on what the church is doing in regard to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The division also shared work-related updates with employees.

Luis Allen, psychiatrist and medical director of AdventHealth’s Center for Behavioral Health,* participated in the World Marathon Challenge on Feb. 6-13, 2020 . Allen ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days under the banner of one important cause: mental health awareness.

After consultation with North American Division (NAD) administration, the youth directors of the nine unions in the NAD, additional consultation from local Oregon health officials, and a discussion and vote from the NAD Executive Committee (NADCOM), the NAD Youth Department is announcing the cancellation of the division-level 2020 Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) scheduled for April 17-18, 2020, in Salem, Oregon.

After accruing debt during more than one year, the board at an Adventist school in Augusta, Georgia, decided to give tithes on all the school's fundraisers for the 2016-2017 year. The school finished the year with $68,000 in the bank.

At the 2019 General Conference Spring Meeting, two world divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church officially entered into a partnership with the North American Division’s Hope for Humanity’s (HFH) literacy program, Partners in Mission. From these partnerships, training is now occurring in India, with the new Hope 4 Kolkata program. And in the Philippines, HFH’s Partners in Mission is working with the well-established SULADS missionary organization to bring literacy to adults in remote areas.

On Feb. 14-16, 2020, 230 youth and young adults attended the Lake Union Youth Evangelism Congress in Shipshewana, Indiana. They were encouraged to act on the Holy Spirit’s call for evangelism. This unique event is the only one of its kind in that it provides young people with a matching fund opportunity of $100,000 (provided by the Lake Union, conferences, and local churches) to make creative evangelism opportunities in their local church a reality.

On Monday, February 24, 2020, a nearly nine-year journey came to an end when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Patterson v. Walgreens. This case came out of Walgreens’ decision to terminate Darrell Patterson because he failed to work on a single Sabbath in 2011. ... While it is disappointing that the court did not take Patterson, the fact is his case moved the cause of religious liberty in the workplace forward immeasurably.

On Feb. 7, 2020, after nearly six months of preparation, the Oakwood University Ambassadors met their competition at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, for the Honda Campus All Star Challenge (HCASC) National Qualifying Tournament (NQT). Oakwood’s team emerged as the winners of this NQT.