He was sitting next to me in that British Airways flight from London. Soon I noticed that we had a lot in common—Jesus. He was a Nestlé executive and an elder of a non-denominational church. He was young, successful and absolutely in love with Jesus. However, when I told him I was a Seventh-day Adventist minister he didn’t get the same feeling of connection. In fact, there was a blank expression in his face followed by the question: ‘so are you Christian too?’ I was on my way to The One Project and I think my response really surprised him.

Sam Neves is pastor of the Wimbledon International & South London Portuguese Seventh-day Adventist Churches.

Much was said when Ted Wilson was called to serve as the leader of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Many were very happy because he made clear that his intent was reforming the church. Others were both sad and worried that we would slip backward toward fundamentalism. If you are a regular Spectrum reader you would probably recall my own analysis of his first sermon which you can read here. Much has happened since so I thought I would update you with my perspective thus far.

Tras reflexionar en el éxito que han tenido N.T Wright, Rob Bell y Jamie Oliver, en llevar “las creencias adventistas” a las masas; me pregunto, ¿por qué el Adventismo no ha alcanzado el mismo éxito a la hora de difundir estas creencias en la cultura general? Estas son tres teorías que se me han ocurrido.

Un objetivo centrado en el crecimiento de la iglesia

In reflecting on the success that N.T. Wright, Rob Bell, and Jamie Oliver have had in taking "Adventist beliefs" to a larger audience, one wonders why Adventism has not had as much success translating its beliefs into mainstream culture? Here are three ideas I have.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always had a peculiar understanding of scripture when compared to Christianity at large. For instance, Adventists beliefs about health, hell, the Sabbath, the final location of heaven, the resurrection, and the mission of the church exist outside traditional orthodoxy.

It was just a few days ago that Adventist Forum|Spectrum gathered some of the best filmmakers in Adventism for an open debate on present truth in visual media. Guests included:

• Ryan Bell, senior pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church;
• Ray Dabrowski, former communications director for the General Conference;
• Martin Doblmeier, producer of The Adventists;
• Ganim Hanna, president of Loma Linda Broadcasting Network;

We may all agree that the first presidential sermon delivered by Elder Ted Wilson was very Adventist in content. In fact, it would be difficult to present traditional Adventism any better.

Although Williams Costa has been on the scene for a while, many wonder how communications will be impacted now that he has been appointed to direct our global efforts. I have been talking to his family and co-workers about what they expect from the future.