Who are we?

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a worldwide body of more than 10 million Protestant Christians whose faith is grounded in the Bible and centered on Jesus, including His atoning death on the cross, His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and His soon return to redeem His people.

The Seventh-day Adventist movement had its inception in the early nineteenth century during a time when many people were intensely reading and studying their Bibles.  In so doing, they rediscovered Biblical truths that were valued and observed by the New Testament Christians, but later were lost in the ashes of the Dark Ages.  In a sense, Seventh-day Adventists sought to carry on the work of the Reformation begun by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century.  In reality, the original "Seventh-day Adventists" were the apostles themselves, who understood that love for Christ produces a desire to live in harmony with God's law, and who looked foward with great expectation to Jesus' return.

The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim the gospel, as revealed from Genesis to Revelation, to the ends of the earth.  To accomplish that purpose, Seventh-day Adventists operate schools, colleges, clinics, hospitals, publishing houses, and media stations around the world.  Recognizing that good health is conducive to clear thinking and spiritual growth, Adventists have been extremely active in providing health care and education within their various communities.

Diversity is a hallmark of Seventh-day Adventists.  Church leadership includes representatives from all continents and races.  Organized in 1860 by young, energetic leaders in North America who had devoted their lives both to studying God's Word and applying it to their lives, the church is now a mosaic of races, languages, and ethnic groups that covers the globe.  The Seventh-day Adventist Church now shares the gospel, orally or in writing, in almost 750 languages and dialects.

Seventh-day Adventists observe the seventh day Sabbath, as did Christ and His disciples, in memorial of creation and in anticipation of the eternal rest to come at Christ's second advent.  Hence, the name Seventh-day Adventist.