Adventists await Christ’s return
Waiting for the return of Christ to earth is central to the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventists.
The name “Adventist” comes from this belief, and the “Seventh-day” refers to the biblical Sabbath, or Saturday, according to www.worldbookonline.com. Seventh-day Adventists reserve Saturdays for worship and spending time with family and fellow believers.
Terry Griswold, Elder of the Logan Chapter, said there are approximately 40 practicing Seventh-day Adventists in the Logan area. Of the 40, about one half of them are of Latino descent. Adult Sabbath School prayer fellowship is sometimes given in both English and Spanish, he said.
The formation of the Seventh-day Adventist religion was one result of the Millerite Movement of the 1840s, defined in the brochure “What is a Seventh-day Adventist,” as a time when Christians “searched for a greater understanding of Biblical prophesy.” The religion started as a small group of people in New England and eventually branched out to other countries to become a largely-known Christian faith.
There are now more than 12 million baptized Seventh-day Adventists in the world, as recorded in the brochure, practicing in more than 200 different countries.
Kevin James, pastor of both the Logan and Ogden Seventh-day Adventist churches, said many international exchange students from Utah State University have attended Logan’s Seventh-day Adventist church in the past from countries such as Kenya, Argentina and Japan.
Seventh-day Adventists strongly believe in the importance of education. As stated in the brochure, the church operates nearly 6,000 schools in the country – from elementary to university level.
“We believe the spirit grows when the mind grows,” Griswold said.
Seventh-day Adventists are also committed to service projects. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, or ADRA, provides aid in 120 countries, according to the brochure. Community service projects include disaster relief efforts, tutoring programs and a youth mentoring club called Pathfinders, among others.
Though Seventh-day Adventists are a Christian religion that follows the Bible, Griswold believes one idea which sets them apart from other Christian religions is the church’s emphasis on their belief of the “cosmic struggle between good and evil.”
The Seventh-day Adventists used to worship at a church at 240 N. 100 West, but the building was bought by the government to build a post office. The church now rents the Full Gospel Fellowship building at 200 W. 1000 North, where services are held at 11 a.m. on Saturdays.