Pananalig

Adventist mission

A pastor baptizes a young man in Mozambique
Started in the late 1800s, Adventist mission work today reaches people in over 200 countries.[3] Adventist mission workers preach the gospel, promote health through hospitals and clinics, run development projects to improve living standards, and provide relief in times of calamity.[30]
Missionary outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist church is aimed at both non-Christians and Christians from other denominations. Adventists believe that Christ has called His followers in the Great Commission to reach the whole world. Adventists are cautious, however, to ensure that evangelism does not impede on the basic rights of the individual. Religious liberty is a stance that the Adventist church supports and promotes.[31]

Aerial photograph of Andrews University, the flagship higher education center of the Adventist church.

Education
See also: List of Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities
The Adventist church runs one of the largest Protestant educational systems in the world. It operates 7,000 schools, colleges and universities, with a total enrollment of more than 1,300,000 students and approximately 69,000 teachers.[32] The Adventist educational program is comprehensive, encompassing "mental, physical, social, and spiritual health" with "intellectual growth and service to humanity" its goal.

Health
Adventists run a large number of hospitals and health-related institutions. Their predominant school of medicine and hospital in North America is Loma Linda University and its attached Medical Center. Throughout the world, the church runs a wide network of hospitals, clinics, and sanitariums. These play a role in the church's health message and worldwide missions outreach.[33]

Loma Linda University Medical Center

Humanitarian aid and the environment
For over 50 years the church has been active in humanitarian aid through the work of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). ADRA works as a non-sectarian relief agency in 125 countries and areas of the world. ADRA has been granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Worldwide ADRA employs over 4,000 people to help both provide relief in crises and development in situations of poverty.
The church is committed to the protection and care of the environment[34] as well as taking action to avoid the dangers of climate change:[35]
"Seventh-day Adventism advocates a simple, wholesome lifestyle, where people do not step on the treadmill of unbridled over-consumption, accumulation of goods, and production of waste. A reformation of lifestyle is called for, based on respect for nature, restraint in the use of the world's resources, reevaluation of one's needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life."[36]

Religious liberty
The Adventist church has been active for over 100 years advocating for freedom of religion for all peoples, regardless of faith. In 1893 its leaders founded the International Religious Liberty Association, which is universal and non-sectarian. The Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council serves to protect religious groups from legislation that may affect their religious practices. This is primarily achieved through advocacy. Recently the organization has been fighting to pass legislation that will protect Adventist employees who wish to keep their Sabbath.

Media
Adventists have long been proponents of media-based ministries. Traditional Adventist evangelistic efforts consisted of street missions and the distribution of tracts such as The Present Truth, which was published by James White as early as 1849. Until J. N. Andrews was sent to Switzerland in 1874, Adventist global efforts consisted entirely of the posting of tracts such as White's to various locations.
In the last century, these media based efforts have also made use of emerging media such as radio and television. The first of these was H. M. S. Richards' radio show, "Voice of Prophecy", which was initially broadcast in Los Angeles in 1929. Since then Adventists have been on the forefront of media evangelism, and one program, "It Is Written", was the first religious program to air on colour television and was the first major Christian ministry to utilize satellite uplink technology. Today "The Hope Channel", the official television network of the church, operates six international channels broadcasting 24 hours a day on both cable and satellite networks.[37]
Recently, a number of satellite broadcasted live evangelistic events have been undertaken by evangelists such as Doug Batchelor, Mark Finley and Dwight Nelson, addressing audiences in up to 40 languages simultaneously.[38]
Additionally, there exists a range of privately owned media entities representing Adventist beliefs. These include the 3ABN and SafeTV stations. Amazing Facts and The Quiet Hour are two other radio and television programs.

Publishing
The Adventist church owns and operates many publishing companies around the world. Two of the largest are the Pacific Press and Review and Herald publishing associations located in the United States.[39]
The official church magazine is the Adventist Review, which has a North American focus. It has a sister magazine Adventist World which has an international perspective. Another major magazine published by the church is the bimonthly Liberty magazine, which addresses issues of religious freedom.

Ecumenical activity
The Adventist church generally opposes the ecumenical movement, although it supports some of the goals of ecumenism. The General Conference has released an official statement concerning the Adventist position with respect to the ecumenical movement, which contains the following paragraph:
"Should Adventists cooperate ecumenically? Adventists should cooperate insofar as the authentic gospel is proclaimed and crying human needs are being met. The Seventh-day Adventist Church wants no entangling memberships and refuses any compromising relationships that might tend to water down her distinct witness. However, Adventists wish to be "conscientious cooperators." The ecumenical movement as an agency of cooperation has acceptable aspects; as an agency for organic unity of churches, it is much more suspect."[40]
While not being a member church of the World Council of Churches, the Adventist church has participated in its assemblies in an observer capacity.[41]

Criticism
Main article: Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Adventist church has received criticism along several lines, including its allegedly heterodox doctrines, in relation to Ellen G. White and her status within the church, and in relation to alleged exclusivist attitudes and behaviour.[42] Many high profile critics of the church are former Adventists, such as D. M. Canright, Walter Rea and Dale Ratzlaff.

Doctrines
Several distinctive Adventist doctrines have been identified as heterodox by critics. Teachings which have come under repeated scrutiny are the annihilationist view of hell, the heavenly sanctuary doctrine and investigative judgment (and related concepts such as an ongoing atonement), and certain eschatological views. Adventists have often been accused of legalism, because of their emphasis on law-keeping and strict Sabbath-observance.[43][44]
While some Christians are inclined to classify Adventism as a sectarian group on the basis of its atypical doctrines, others (such as Walter Martin and Donald Barnhouse) have considered it a truly Christian church. Notably, Billy Graham invited Adventists to be part of his crusades after Eternity, a conservative Christian magazine edited by Barnhouse, asserted that Adventists are Christians in 1956.[45] Martin’s The Truth about Seventh-day Adventists (1960) marked a turning point in the way Adventism was viewed.[46]
"...it is perfectly possible to be a Seventh-day Adventist and be a true follower of Jesus Christ despite heterodox concepts..."
– Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults[47]

Ellen G. White and her status
Ellen G. White’s status as a modern day prophet has often been criticised. It is argued that the authority attached to her writings by the church contradicts the Protestant sola scriptura principle. In response, Adventists have asserted that the concept of a contemporary prophet is not prohibited by Scripture, and that Scripture remains the ultimate authority to which White’s writings are also subject. Walter T. Rea and other critics have accused White of plagiarism.[48] After a ten year study of White's book Desire of Ages, Adventist scholar Fred Veltman found that for the chapters he studied, there was content which derived from other sources without citation.[49] The nature of the literary dependence must however be taken in the context of what was accepted at the time. It must also be considered that the sources she borrowed from were known to the readers, eliminating the likelihood of an intention to discredit these sources.[50]

Exclusivism
Finally, it is alleged that certain Adventist beliefs and practices are exclusivist in nature. Specifically, concern has been raised about the Adventist claim to be the “remnant church”, and the traditional characterization of other Christian churches (Roman Catholicism in particular[51]) as "Antichrist" and "Babylon".[52][53][54] These apparently sectarian attitudes are said to legitimize the proselytising of Christians from other denominations.[55] In response to such criticisms, Adventist theologians have stated that the doctrine of the remnant does not preclude the existence of genuine Christians in other denominations.[56]
"We fully recognize the heartening fact that a host of true followers of Christ are scattered all through the various churches of Christendom, including the Roman Catholic communion. These God clearly recognizes as His own. Such do not form a part of the "Babylon" portrayed in the Apocalypse."
– Questions on Doctrine, p. 197.

Independent ministries, offshoots, and schisms

Independent ministries
See also: Independent ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
In addition to the ministries and institutions which are formally administered by the denomination, numerous para-church organizations and independent ministries exist. These include various health centers and hospitals, publishing and media ministries, and aid organizations.
A number of independent ministries have been established by groups within the Adventist church who hold a theologically distinct position or wish to promote a specific message. These include such organizations as Hope International[2] and Good News Unlimited. Certain of these ministries solicit funding from members and have a strained relationship with the official church, which has expressed concerns that such ministries may threaten Adventist unity.[57] Some groups such as Amazing Facts have been criticized for disseminating anti-Catholic material. In response, the church has acknowledged that some Adventists "have manifested prejudice and even bigotry" against Catholics, while insisting that such behavior is not condoned.[51]

Offshoots and schisms
Throughout the history of the denomination, there have been a number of groups who have left the church and formed their own movements. These are not affiliated with the Adventist church in any way. They operate under their own system of beliefs and are considered to be entirely separate from the church.
A well known but distant offshoot is the Branch Davidians, themselves a schism within the larger Davidian movement.[58] The Davidians formed in 1929, after Victor Houteff's book "The Shepherd's Rod" was rejected as being heretical. A succession dispute after Houteff's death in 1955 led to the formation of the Branches. Later, another ex-Adventist David Koresh (formerly Vernon Howell) led the Branch Davidians until he died in the conflagration in 1993 at the group's headquarters near Waco, Texas.
Following World War I, a group known as the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement was formed as a result of the actions of certain European church leaders during the war, who decided that it was acceptable for Adventists to take part in war. When attempts at reconciliation failed after the war, the group became organized as a separate church at a conference from July 14-20, 1925. The movement officially incorporated in 1949.[citation needed]
The most recent large-scale schism within Adventism was the Glacier View doctrinal crisis of 1980. This crisis centered around the 900-page research paper by Dr. Desmond Ford entitled Daniel 8:14, the Investigative Judgment, and the Kingdom of God. The paper questioned the church's position on the investigative judgment. The meetings at Glacier View Ranch [3], near Estes Park, Colorado, rejected Ford's proposals. The schism caused by this rejection resulted in Ford being removed from teaching and having his ministerial credentials revoked. Many Adventists also left the church as a result.[59] In the years since, Ford has worked through the independent ministry Good News Unlimited.
Since the 1970s, debate concerning the inspiration of Ellen White has been particularly heated. A number of Adventists such as Walter Rea and Dale Ratzlaff left the church and have become prominent critics of the church's teachings and particularly of Ellen White. In parallel with these events, many Adventist scholars have adopted more moderate views of her inspiration.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals who are or have been practicing Adventists, have formed a social network that is not officially associated with the church called SDA Kinship International [4], formed in 1976.