Life Cycle of the Adventist Church

11 22 44 55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency

Institutionalization DisintegrationIncipient Organization

11 22 44 55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency

Institutionalization Disintegration

His analysis sheds a great deal of light on the development and current status of Adventism, even

though his model does not provide a perfect correlation.

leading Evangelical

sociologists

Incipient Organization

1. Stage of Incipient Organization

A. Dissatisfaction with existing churches

B. Collective excitementC. Charismatic, authoritarian,

prophetic leaders

D. Sometimes hard to designate a founder

According to Moberg

4

1122 33 44

55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency

InstitutionalizationDisintegration

1. Stage of Incipient Organization in Sabbatarian Adventism 1844-1863.

IncipientOrganization

5

1. Stage of Incipient Organization

in Sabbatarian Adventism , 1844 -1863.A. Dissatisfaction with existing churches

B. Charismatic, authoritarian, prophetic leaders

C.Collective excitement

6

Ecstatic religious experiences are reported in the early writings of both James and Ellen White, with reports of tongues-speaking in 1847, 1848, 1849, and 1851

Some who later became our spiritual forefathers were involved in them. These experiences may be noted as:

(1) physical prostration; (2) shouting the praises of God; (3) speaking in unknown tongues; (4) divine healing.

(ARTHUR L. WHITE, "Tongues in Early SDA History," Review and Herald, March 15, 1973).

In addition to singing, shouting, laughing, and speaking in tongues, early Adventists often experienced prostration, or being "slain by the Spirit.“ James White said:“We all lay on the floor under the power of God.” Early Adventists also practiced the "holy kiss," or "salutation," when meeting and parting. Ron Graybill http://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1991/October/enthusiasm-in-early-adventist-worship

1. Stage of Incipient Organization in Sabbatarian Adventism 1844-1863.

B. Collective excitement

A. Formal OrganizationB. Formal ministry and membershipB. Separation from parent groupC. Membership goalsD. Seeks the perfection of society &

individualsE. Creed protects orthodoxyF. Slogans that emphasize group's

distinctivesG. Distinctive code of behaviorH. Differences draw persecution (Persecution intensifies unity)

2. Period of Formal OrganizationAccording to Moberg

8


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55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency


2. Period of Formal Adventist Organization,

1861-1900

9

A. Formal Organization.


1861-1900

Early Adventists on Organization:

Formal organization was taboo to most Adventists and some believed that it was the first

step toward another Babylonhttp://www.whiteestate.org/books/mol/Chapt37.html

“ it becomes Babylon the moment it is organized!”

George Storrs, “Come out of Her My People,” Midnight Cry, Feb.15, 1844, 238.

10

A. Formal Organization.


1861-1900

Changing Attitude to Organization: Reason: Hold Property License Ministers and Regularize Church Membership Promote Orthodoxy

“it is a lamentable fact that many of our Advent brethren who made a timely escape from the bondage of the different churches [Babylon] . . . Have since been in a more perfect Babylon than ever before. Gospel orderhas been too much overlooked by them. . . . Many in their zeal to comeout of Babylon, partook of a rash, disorderly spirit, and were soonfound in a perfect Babel of confusion. . . . To suppose that thechurch of Christ is free from restraint and discipline, is the wildestfanaticism.”

[James White], “Gospel Order,” Review and Herald, Dec. 6, 1853, 173.

11

A. Formal Organization.1. First Organization, Michigan

Conference,1861 2. General Conference was organized in 1963, Followed b y the following Structure


1861-1900

12

G. Creed protects orthodoxy Against a CREED but came up with the first formal

SATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS in the 1870’s

H. Distinctive code of behavior Distinctive Seventh-day Adventist lifestyle package:

E.G. White’s Health Reform (June 1863) Noncombatancy, Personal adornment, First health-care institution.

I. Differences draw persecution. (Persecution intensifies because of Sunday laws, but persecution promotes unity) http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/church-manual/index.html

2. Period of Formal Adventist Organization, 1861-1900

A. Formal Organization.B. Formal ministry and membership, Ministers accredited. Members signing a church

covenantA. Separation from parent groupB. Membership goalsC. Seeks the perfection of society & individuals

13


1122 33 44

55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency


3. Stage of Maximum Efficiency in Adventism, 1901-1956

A. Leadership is less emotional - more statesmanly

B. Rational organization replace charismatic leadership

C. Historians & apologists emerge with “propaganda”

D. Intellectuals repelled by earlier emotionalism are drawn in

E. Moves from a despised sect to near-equality with recognized organizations Moberg

3. Stage of Maximum EfficiencyAccording to Moberg

F. Hostility toward others diminishes

G. First generation of converts has mostly died

H. Development of committees & boards

I.Rituals and procedures are seen as means, not ends

J. Rapid, but uneven growth with periods of integrating new

membersK. Incomplete integration gives

rise to internal dissension

Moberg

3. Stage of Maximum EfficiencyAccording to Moberg

16

Rational organization replace charismatic leadership

Development of committees & boards

Rituals and procedures are seen as means, not ends


17

Reorganization for MissionUnless reorganization is done “it will take a millennium to give this message to the world” A. G. Daniells, “The Field,” 1901 General Conference Bulletin, 48

18

Moves from a despised sect to near-equality with recognized organizations

Hostility toward others diminishes


“...it is perfectly possible to be a Seventh-day Adventists and be a true follower of Jesus Christ...”We take this position based on the content of the doctrine which was stated in an official SDA publication (1957) entitled Questions on Doctrine.

Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults (Bethany House, Minneapolis, Minnesota), Updated edition 1997, p.517

19


Rapid, but uneven growth with periods of integrating new members

Incomplete integration gives rise to internal dissension

Institutions, Rituals and Procedures are seen as means, not Ends. (The End was the Gospel to the World) Growth of Missions

20


Rapid, but uneven growth with periods of integrating new members

A. Formalism saps group's vitalityB. Bureaucracy concerned with

perpetuating its own interests not original theological distinctives

C. Administration centers in self-perpetuating boards

D. Those in authority talk one thing and practice another

E. Mechanism of structure becomes an end in itself

F. Creeds become venerated relicsMoberg

4. The Institutional StageAccording to Moberg

G. Organized worship becomes a ritual, empty formality

H. Symbolism replaces internal, personal devotion

J. Conflict with the outside world is replaced with toleration

K. Membership standards relaxed to gain respectable members

L. Feelings of intimacy decline

Moberg


M. Membership becomes passive and remote from leadership

N. Activities once considered secular now become major attractions

O. Institution becomes the master, not the servant

P. Sermons become topical lectures, not fervent discourses on sin, salvation, and doctrine

Moberg


24


1122 33 44

55

Formal Organization

Maximum Efficiency


Are we already in the Institutional Stage? 1956-

.

25

4. Are we already in the Institutional Stage ?

A. Massive Institutionalization

703 Hospitals, Clinics, Nursing Homes ect

1748 Secondary Schools 5899 Primary Schools 110 College/Universities

59 Publishing Houses 19 Food Factories 14 Media Centers 98 Radio/TV Stations Etc.

Hospitals and Sanitariums................................................................... 167 Nursing Homes and Retirement Centers................................................... 132 Clinics and Dispensaries................................................ 351

26

. Adventist Bolingbrook Medical Center, Bolingbrook,

. Adventist Glen Oaks Hospital, Glendale Heights,

. Adventist Hinsdale Hospital, Hinsdale, Ill. . Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital

LaGrange, . Adventist Medical Center, Portland, Ore. . Avista Adventist Hospital, Louisville, Colo. . Castle Medical Center, Kailua, Hawaii . Central Valley General Hospital, Hanford, Calif. . Central Texas Medical Center, San Marcos,

Tex. . Chij1j1ewa Valle~ Hospital, Durand, Wisc. . Emo[):-Adventist Hospital, Smyrna, Ga. . Feather River Hospital, Paradise, Calif. . Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, Orange City,

Fla. . Florida Hospital DeLand, DeLand, Fla. . Florida Hospital Flagler, Palm Coast, Fla. . Florida Hospital Lake Placid, Lake Placid, Fla. . Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center,

Daytona Beach, Fla. . Florida Hospital Oceanside, Ormond Beach,

Fla. . Florida Hospital Orlando -which is composed

of: Orlando (Main Campus): Altamonte; Apopka: Celebration Health; East Orlando: Kissimmee; Winter Park Memorial Hosj1ital

. Florida Hospital Sebring, Sebring, Fla. . Florida Hospital Waterman, Tavares, Fla. . Florida Hospital Wauchula, Wauchula, Fla. . Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills, Fla. . Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital, Willits,

Calif. . Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Glendale,

Calif. . Gordon Hospital, Calhoun, GA ~ . Hanford CommunitY Medical Center, Hanford,

CA . Huguly Memorial Medical Center, Ft. Worth,

Jellico Community Hospital, Jellico, Tenn. . Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, Ohio . Littleton Adventist Hospital, Littleton, Colo. . Lorna Linda University Medical Center, Lorna

Linda, Calif. . Manchester Memorial Hospital, Manchester, Ky. . Metroolex Hospital, Killeen, Tex. . North Hawaii Community Hospital, Kamuela,

Hawaii (Big Island) . Park Ridge Health, Hendersonville, N.C. . Parker Adventist Hospital, Parker, Colo. . Parkview Adventist Medical Center, Brunswick,

Maine . Porter Adventist Hospital, Denver, Colo. . Redbud Community Hospital, Clearlake, Calif. . Rollins-Brook Community Hospital, Lampasas,

Tex. . St. Helena Hospital, St. Helena, Calif. . San Joaquin Community!): Hospital, Bakersfield,

Calif. . Selma Community Hospital, Selma, Calif. . Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Rockville, Md. . Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Shawnee

Mission, Kansas . Simi Valley Hospital, Simi Valley, Calif. . Sonora Regional Medical Center, Sonora, Calif. . South Coast Medical! Center, Laguna Beach,

Calif. . Tillamook County General Hospital, Tillamook,

Ore. . Ukiah Valley Medical Center, Ukiah, Calif. . Washington Adventist Hospital, Tacoma Park,

Md. . White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles,

Calif.

“Adventist health care facilities tend to have minimal impact on the lives of their patrons” Knight, 49

Changed “sacrificial” wage to “community” pay and centralization of Health Systems “Adventism saw itself as separate from the world and unique, its development of a centralized health care system was part of a national trend” G.A.Fuller, “The New Adventist Health Care Corporations”, Spectrum 11 (June 81), 16-22

27

1. Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, Orange City, Fla. 2. Florida Hospital DeLand, DeLand, Fla. 3. Florida Hospital Flagler, Palm Coast, Fla. 4. Florida Hospital Lake Placid, Lake Placid, Fla. 5. Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, Daytona Beach,

Fla. 6. Florida Hospital Oceanside, Ormond Beach, Fla. 7. Florida Hospital Orlando – is composed of: 8. Orlando (Main Campus) 9. Altamonte 10. Apopka 11. Celebration Health 12. East Orlando 13. Kissimmee 14.Winter Park Memorial Hospital 15.Florida Hospital Sebring, Sebring, Fla. 16.Florida Hospital Waterman, Tavares, Fla. 17.Florida Hospital Wauchula, Wauchula, Fla. 18.Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills, Fla.

Adventist Health SystemNumber of Employees: 17,059 One of top 10 employers in OrlandoAdventist Health System has quickly grown to become the largest not-for-profit Protestant healthcare provider in the nation.

28

A. Huge Bureaucracies

B. Bureaucracy concerned with perpetuating its own interests not original theological distinctives

C. Administration centers in self-perpetuating boards

4. Are we already in the Institutional Stage ? 1956-

The “church has over-institutionalized, overbureaucratized, and seems to be in the process of becoming increasingly happier with the kingdom of this world” ,

G. Knight, The Fat Lady and the Kingdom, p.41

“…many parts of the world there appears to be more salaried ordained talent behind desks than in frontline pastoral and evangelistic posts.

G. Knight, The Fat Lady and the Kingdom, p.41

29

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE OF

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

Churches, 129; membership, 35,289; 84 ministers 38 Conference AdministratorsOrdained Ministers

Members per Minister


30

Oklahoma Conference.Churches, 70; membership, 8,058; 24 ordained ministers, 12 Licensed ministers, 17 Administrators

Ordained Ministers

Ord

. Min

isters

Ad

min

istrato

rs

31

AUSTRIAN UNION OF CHURCHES CONFERENCEChurches, 49; membership, 3,897;29 Ordained Ministers and 18 Union Conference Administrators

Min

isters

Ad

min

istrators


32

Belgium and Luxembourg Conference.Churches, 29; membership, 2,078; population 7 ordained pastors and 9 Administrators

Ad

min

istra

tors

Pasto

rs


33

Number of Members per Minister


34

Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream, (2nd ed), 122

“From an economic point of view, the church’s

resources are concentrated on

administration and institutions rather than

on individual churches…”


35

J. Conflict with the outside world is replaced with toleration

4. Are we already in the Institutional Stage?

“Adventism was moving closer to conservative Protestant theology…”

Our seminary received accreditation for the D.Min and Th.D from the Am. Assoc. of Theological Schools (1970)From 1965 on we held annual conversations with the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order CommissionIn 1968 Jerry L. Pettis became the first Adventist Congressman“The social alienation that had characterized its origins, though still alive, was no longer as all-inclusive and dominant in Adventist faith and practice as it had been” Gary Land (ed), Adventism in America, AU Press, 1998, p. 189

36General Conference Bulletin 8 -Ninth Business Meeting, 57th General Conference Session, July 4, 2000,3:00pm, Toronto, Canada

B. B. BEACH:“One of the happy traditions of General Conference sessions in recent decades has been to have honored guests and observers from other churches in our midst. One of them is:

Monsignor John A. Radano is a senior member of the Roman Catholic delegations and is head of the Western Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity [PCPCU], and principal liaison person between the Vatican and other ecclesiastical communities in the West.

“Bert B. Beach's encounter with the Roman Pontiff came as a member of the Christian World Communions, and following a special luncheon at the Vatican." Review Nov. 8, 2001

4. Are we already in the Institutional Stage?

37

M. Membership becomes passive and remote from leadership

N. Activities once considered secular now become major attractions

O. Institution becomes the master, not the servant

P. Sermons become topical lectures, not fervent discourses on sin, salvation, and doctrine

Moberg

4. The Institutional Stage According to Moberg

A. Formalism, indifference, obsolescence, absolutism, red tape, patronage, corruption

B. Loss of confidence in leadership

C. Many withdrawD. Support becomes nominal

and half-heartedE. Futile attempts at restoration

by a few

Moberg

5. Over-institutionalism Leads to Disintegration & Death According to Moberg

39

A. Formalism, indifference, obsolescence, absolutism, red tape, patronage, corruption

B. Loss of confidence in leadership

C. Many withdrawD. Support becomes nominal

and half-heartedE. Futile attempts at restoration

by a few

Moberg

5. Can we avoid Over-institutionalism which Leads to Disintegration & Death or do we exhibit already some of Moberg’s Characteristics?

40

Of those born Adventist or entered Adventism along with a parent during childhood one third will leave the Church.

(GSS) The General Social Survey 1972-2000 (c.othr6(77)

Third

One Third

5. Over-institutionalism Leads to Disintegration & Death

41

The proportion of Adventists born into the church, remain loyal to it without ever faltering, and die within the faith in which they were raised may well be less than 20 percent of the total membership.

Bull & Lockhart, Seeking a Sanctuary, 349

Adventist born die as Members

42

In the 5-year period between 2000-2004 5 million new believers joined the Church and over 1.4 million members left the church during that same period.

http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/other-documents/conserving-gains.html


43

D. Support becomes nominal and half-hearted


Tithe per capita as % of U.S. income per capita

44http://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldInstID=1661991

Growth Rate

45

Adventism appears to have followed the Life Cycle of other Churches

Will we follow it to the end?

“It is of crucial importance to realize that not one major religious revival in the history of Christianity has successfully escaped that process” of secularization and loss of it original missiological course. G. Knight, The Fat Lady and the Kingdom, p.41

“This will not happen to the Seventh-day Adventist Church! This is not just another church – it is God’s Church!” Robert Pierson, at the G.C. annual council 1978

46

Donald McAdams expressed the challenge for the church best when he said that Adventism must

“…retain the spark, commitment and message that gave the sect its original power, while accepting the institutional, structural and cultural changes that are the inevitable concomitant of growth in the real world” Donald McAdams, “The 1978 Annual Council…” Spectrum 9, p.8.

47

Spiritual

Life Cycle of the Adventist Church