Seventh-day Church celebrates 150 years of being called Adventists

As the Seventh-day Adventist Church celebrates the 150th anniversary of the adoption of its name by a then-nascent group of believers assembled in Battle Creek, Michigan, Adventist church president, Ted N.C. Wilson, exhorted members to "remember your name", by which the global movement is called.

"God knew that his remnant people needed a distinctive name that would identify them as those 'who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus', as indicated in Revelation 12:17," Wilson told a packed church headquarters auditorium congregation last Saturday.

"The selection of the name 'Seventh-day Adventist' came after the pillars of our faith - our beliefs - had been established through intensive study and consecrated prayer," he added.

global message

Wilson's message, which was also broadcast globally on the church's Hope Channel satellite service, was the keynote presentation of the Sabbath held during Annual Council, a meeting of the world church's executive committee at which major decisions are taken. Although the recently concluded 59th General Conference Session in Atlanta, Georgia, accomplished much of the church's agenda, the Annual Council meetings are important discussions of church management and personnel issues.

Recapitulating the theme through-out his sermon, Wilson noted the unique significance and importance of the Seventh-day Adventist name. He declared: "Every time you say it, you preach a sermon!"

Wilson added, "When you share with the public in writing or in speech, don't just refer to yourself as an 'Adventist' or hide behind the abbreviation 'SDA.' Every time you say 'I am a Seventh-day Adventist' you preach a sermon. Never, never be ashamed of our name! When our church began, many names were suggested and considered, but when the name 'Seventh-day Adventist' was discussed, God impressed church leaders that that name was best."