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Quem
são os Adventistas do Sétimo Dia ???
Nossa historia
A Brief History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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In just a century and a half the Seventh-day Adventist
Church has grown from a handful of individuals, who carefully
studied the Bible in their search for truth, to a world-wide community
of over eight million members and millions of others who regard
the Adventist Church their spiritual home. Doctrinally, Seventh-day
Adventists are heirs of the interfaith Millerite movement of the
1840s. Although the name "Seventh-day Adventist" was
chosen in 1860, the denomination was not officially organized
until Ma y 21, 1863, when the movement included some 125 churches
and 3,500 members.
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Between 1831 and 1844, William Miller--a Baptist
preacher and former army captain in the War of 1812--launched
the "great second advent awakening" which eventually
spread throughout most of the Christian world. Based on his study
of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, Miller calculated that Jesus would
return to earth on October 22, 1844. When Jesus did not appear,
Miller's followers experienced what became to be called "the
great Disappointment."
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Most of the thousands who had joined the movement,
left it, in deep disillusionment. A few, however, went back to
their Bibles to find why they had been disappointed. Soon they
concluded that the October 22 date had indeed been correct, but
that Miller had predicted the wrong event for that day. They became
convinced that the Bible prophecy predicted not that Jesus would
return to earth in 1844, but that He would begin at that time
a special ministry in heaven for His followers. They still looked
for Jesus to come soon, however, as do Seventh-day Adventists
yet today.
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From this small group who refused to give up after
the "great disappointment" arose several leaders who
built the foundation of what would become the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. Standing out among these leaders were a young couple--James
and Ellen G. White
-- and a retired sea captain named Joseph Bates.
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This small nucleus of "adventists" began
to grow -- mainly in the New England states of America, where
Miller's movement had begun. Ellen
G. White, a mere teenager at the time of the "great Disappointment,"
grew into a gifted author, speaker and administrator, who would
become and remain the trusted spiritual counselor of the Adventist
family for more than seventy years until her death in 1915. Early
Adventists came to believe -- as have Adventists ever since --
that she enjoyed God's special guidance as she wrote her counsels
to the growing body of believers.
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In 1860, at Battle Creek Michigan, the loosely knit
congregations of Adventists chose the name Seventh-day Adventist
and in 1863 formally organized a church body with a membership
of 3,500. At first, work was largely confined to North America
until 1874 when the Church's first missionary, J. N. Andrews,
was sent to Switzerland. Africa was penetrated briefly in 1879
when Dr. H. P. Ribton, an early convert in Italy, moved to Egypt
and opened a school, but the project ended when riots broke out
in the vicinity.
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The first non-Protestant Christian country entered
was Russia, where an Adventist minister went in 1886. On October
20, 1890, the schooner Pitcairn was launched at San Francisco
and was soon engaged in carrying missionaries to the Pacific Islands.
Seventh-day Adventist workers first entered non-Christian countries
in 1894 -- Gold Coast (Ghana), West Africa, and Matabeleland,
South Africa. The same year saw missionaries entering South America,
and in 1896 there were representatives in Japan. The Church now
has established work in 209 countries.
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The publication and distribution of literature were
major factors in the growth of the Advent movement. The Advent
Review and Sabbath Herald (now the Adventist Review), general
church paper, was launched in Paris, Maine, in 1850; the Youth's
Instructor in Rochester, New York, in 1852; and the Signs of the
Times in Oakland, California, in 1874. The first denominational
publishing house at Battle Creek, Michigan, began operating in
1855 and was duly incorporated in 1861 under the name of Seventh-day
Adventist Publishing Association.
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The Health Reform Institute, later known as the
Battle Creek Sanitarium, opened its doors in 1866, and missionary
society work was organized on a statewide basis in 1870. The first
of the Church's worldwide network of schools was established in
1872, and 1877 saw the formation of statewide Sabbath school associations.
In 1903, the denominational headquarters was moved from Battle
Creek, Michigan, to Washington, D.C., and in 1989 to Silver Spring,
Maryland, where it continues to form the nerve center of ever-expanding
work.
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