Something is happening in the Advent Christian denomination. There has been a pain that we have been carrying within us, the sharp hurt of hopelessness, the heavy burden of futility, a bitter irony for a denomination conceived in hope. If as Bob Dylan says, “He not busy being born is busy dying”, until now it has seemed that we made the latter our business, sauntering our way to a denominational dustbin. There has been no reason to believe anything else.
Read MoreAny observer of the American political scene would likely judge that the battle over same-sex marriage is a thing of the past; marriage has been redefined in the United States and religious conservatives, inasmuch as they disagree, have largely accepted this political reality. The new front for the battle of redefinition has been planted squarely upon the issue of gender identity, with efforts appearing across the United States to give persons access to the gendered bathrooms and sports teams that match the gender by which they identify. Coincidentally, the central headquarters for the Advent Christian General Conference and the location for the 2017 Triennial Convention are found in the state of North Carolina, a notorious battleground for this issue. North Carolina’s decision to reject what has been called the “Bathroom Bill” has caused many organizations to spurn the state and to refuse to host their company events there.
Read MoreIn recent years, there has been a noticeable lack of published work offering any comment upon Advent Christian history and the important theological developments that have occurred over the years. Into this gap has stepped Robert J. Mayer with his book Adventism Confronts Modernity: An Account of the Advent Christian Controversy over the Bible’s Inspiration.
Read More...we are unable to forget that the Advent Christian tradition has taught us that we are to have, “No creed but the Bible”. On the surface, this does not appear to present any problems since same-sex unions seem to be unequivocally condemned throughout the Bible. However, this sense of ease overlooks one of the basic implications that result from adhering to the statement, “No creed but the Bible.”
Read MoreTom Loghry: We’re here talking with Andy Rice and Derek Irvine, the dual-creative force behind the “younger pastors” phenomenon that is afoot in the Eastern Region of the Advent Christian denomination. Before getting to our questions about “young pastors”, would you each mind sharing with us just a little bit about yourselves?
Read MoreAnyone who is familiar with the Advent Christian denomination knows that much of our history as a denomination has been defined by ardent non-creedalism. This has stemmed from the steadfast conviction that while Scripture is infallible, man is inescapably fallible, and thus whatever interpretation man may render of infallible Scripture, his fallible interpretation cannot be used as a reliable means of determining correct belief.
Read MoreWhy is it that open discussion has largely fallen out of practice in Advent Christian circles? How is it that a denomination that is so full of diversity and was quite noisy during the 20th century is now quieter than a church mouse?
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