News
Providing Encouragement and Assessment
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.
Southern California Conference Moves Quickly to Mobilize Outreach as Wildfires Descend
Around 5:30 a.m. on January 8, 2025, the alert sounded on John Cress’s phone. He and his wife would have to evacuate their home in the Glen Oaks neighborhood of Glendale as the Eaton Fire charred a path toward them. The sky was black with smoke and tinged with red and orange.
Groundbreaking Oxford Handbook of Seventh-day Adventism Published as New Reference Work about Global Adventism
Ten years ago, after delivering a well-received presentation at the annual American Society of Church History meeting, Michael Campbell, North American Division director of Archives, Statistics, and Research, pitched the idea of a book on Adventism to the head book editor at Oxford University Press. Intrigued by Campbell’s introduction to Adventist scholarship, the editor invited him to submit a proposal. Their conversation was the catalyst for the groundbreaking Oxford Handbook of Seventh-day Adventism, a 39-chapter volume published in 2024 after much prayer and revision.
Walla Walla University Engineering Majors Chosen as Competition Finalists
During their senior year, Luke Graham and Avianna Alvarez, Walla Walla University engineering alumni, were two of 16 student finalists chosen for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Pressure Vessel Piping Conference student paper competition.
Jack Blanco, Author of “The Clear Word” Bible Paraphrase, Passes to His Rest
Jack J. Blanco, former dean of the Southern Adventist University School of Religion and professor emeritus, and author of The Clear Word Bible paraphrase, passed peacefully to his rest on Sabbath, January 11, 2025. He was 95.
Southern Adventist University Celebrates Record Undergraduate Enrollment
Southern Adventist University has experienced record growth in recent years, fostering new opportunities for students and expanding their experiences and avenues for success. The largest freshman class in the university’s history enrolled in 2023, and, this year, Southern is hosting its largest undergraduate student body ever, totaling 2,929 students.
Evangelism in Focus: Highlights from 2024 NAD Year-End Meeting Breakout
At the 2024 NAD Year-End Meeting, evangelism was a recurring theme, evidenced in reports on how NAD departments and territories are leveraging their resources to spread the gospel. Evangelism took the spotlight on day three of the business meetings, Sunday, Nov. 3, with attendees tackling questions clarifying mission in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
AdventHealth Gifts Painting of Charles E. Bradford, Former NAD President, at Year-End Meeting
On Sunday, November 3, 2024, AdventHealth leaders presented a portrait of Charles Bradford at the North American Division Year-End Meeting in Columbia, Maryland. The painting — Preaching the Word — was commissioned by AdventHealth in 2000. It was designed to honor Bradford’s leadership while serving on the AdventHealth board and to celebrate his treasured friendships with former CEO Mardian Blair and others.
Walla Walla University Research on Octopuses Featured in Prominent Science Publications
Research on the high energetic cost of color change in octopuses, conducted by Kirt Onthank, biology professor at Walla Walla University, and WWU graduate Sofie Sonner, has been published in one of the world’s most prestigious and cited scientific journals, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Onthank’s and Sonner’s findings have sparked interest in the scientific community, and within hours of the initial PNAS publication, Popular Science and ScienceAlert also published stories about the research.