I survived a Seventh Day Adventist service this weekend

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Jabronie

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I was out of town with my girlfriend this weekend visiting some of her friends. I had never met them before, and quickly found that they were Seventh Day Adventists when they invited us to attend their service on Saturday morning. They didn’t know I was Catholic at the time. I went with a few “conditions,” that it would not substitute for Mass on Sunday, that I wouldn’t participate in any activities that didn’t agree with my faith, and that I would walk out if any of that “Pope is the Anti-Christ” stuff started.

I thought just for kicks and giggles I’d share what the service was like. First we entered their building and were immediatly greated by people offering us food, tea, and demanding introductions. Everyone chatted for a while, while I snuck away to look over some literature they had lying around. Soon we entered the main hall, where about thirty folding chairs were positioned facing a stage with two HUGE drum sets and an overhead projector. Four ladies climed up the stage and let the thirty or so members in a little Christian rock concert. Or at least that’s what it seemed like to me. (NOTE: Quite a few of the people there were doing “Oran’s” during the songs.)

Once the songs were finished, the ladies left the stage and our friendly pastor entered the stage, with blue jeans, flannel shirt, and goatee 🙂 to sport. He first said that he would like to invite the two new members to the stage. My heart rate tripled right here, but then I realized he wasn’t talking about my girlfriend and me. The couple he was talking about came forward. The pastor and a few other “Church Leaders” layed their hands on the new members and everyone was happy. Then everyone sat down and the pastor read and discussed a few bible verses. One of the verses he read was I Cor 3:15. Very funny because Catholics can use that verse to support Purgatory. This guy used it to ask for money. His speach wasn’t that bad, but I was very uncomfortable and scare I would get “called on” as he did demand some audience participation. Soon, though he finished talking, everyone said “Amen” and we began our vegitarian pot-luck.

During the meal, I was approaced by a few people and asked for my history. I gave a stern NO when asked if I was here to join or if I went to the local SDA college. I was waiting for someone to ask if I was even an Adventist, but no one did, not even the pastor, who seemed like a nice enough guy. (They would have been told that I was a baptisted, confirmed and practicing Roman Catholic.) After the potluck, we disbanded.

All in all, it wasn’t really offensive, but definitely a change of pace. I think I’ll let them keep their Christian rock and potlucks. I’ll stick with Real Presence and The Eucharist.

They seemed like good people and I’ll continue to pray that someday they will all come home.
 
Haha… awesome story. And quite an – er – interesting church experience. We’re usually quite a bit more conservative, though not exclusively. I guess those Union College folk really have gone liberal. 😛

Reach out to the Adventist folk… they need to see the light, and they can only see it through You.
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adventistnomore:
Haha… awesome story. And quite an – er – interesting church experience. We’re usually quite a bit more conservative, though not exclusively. I guess those Union College folk really have gone liberal. 😛

Reach out to the Adventist folk… they need to see the light, and they can only see it through You.
  • Hugo
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That was my first experience with any Adventists. Is that a typical service, or does it differ from place to place? Also, this was actually in Colorado, but it seemed like everyone there attended Union College here in NE.
 
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Jabronie:
They invited us to attend their [Seventh Day Adventist] service on Saturday morning. [There was] a stage with two HUGE drum sets [and we had] a little Christian rock concert. Or at least that’s what it seemed like to me. (NOTE: Quite a few of the people there were doing “Oran’s” during the songs.) [After that] the pastor entered the stage, with blue jeans, flannel shirt, and goatee 🙂 to sport. His [preaching] wasn’t that bad, but I was very uncomfortable and scare I would get “called on” as he did demand some audience participation. That was my first experience with any Adventists. Is that a typical service, or does it differ from place to place?
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Not typical in my experience. The couple of times I attended an SDA service, the pastor wore a suit and tie. There were no band instruments. One time they had a communion service preceded by a foot-washing service. Most congregations will lean one way (traditional) or the other (celebration) in their services, just like in the CC. I can understand your discomfort about member participation, but be not afraid, it would be exceedingly rare to be called upon as a visitor.
During the meal [after the service], I was approaced by a few people and asked for my history. I gave a stern NO when asked if I was here to join. I was waiting for someone to ask if I was even an Adventist, but no one did, not even the pastor. (They would have been told that I was a baptisted, confirmed and practicing Roman Catholic.)
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The meal, by the way, is very typical. Why did you give them a stern (hard, severe) reply? You think that no one asked if you were an Adventist, but they did and that several times. What do you think they were asking when they asked for your history? You missed your opportunity to testify of your Catholic faith.

P.S. What is an Oran?
 
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Jabronie:
…They seemed like good people and I’ll continue to pray that someday they will all come home.
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Oh they are good people! My partner is SDA and I am Catholic. I go to his church as an observer…ONLY. They are always trying to shake hands and get me to chat. They really are a touchy feely bunch and I find all that “so happy you are here” to be a bit "phony’ I tell my partner that if I would run into them outside the church, they probably wouldn’t even know me. I attended one of the “13th Sabbath” services and got into a discussion with the pastor and told him in no uncertain terms that I was born a Catholic and would die that way too. He tried his best to get me to see otherwise and then just decided that he better give up. I like him all right, but conversion is not and never was an option. Good luck…and remember where “Home really is”
~ Kathy ~
 
Hey Jabronie,

No… its NOT typical of most Churches in the Western world, lol. (Chuches in developing countries are characterized by native music styles, etc.) Lol… that’s why I joked about it being liberal. Usually, Adventist services reflect a conservative Protestant style: suit & ties, piano or organ, traditional hymns, kneeling at prayers, serious looking people (lol). It’s funny because i called my Adventist friend (she’s very conservative), and joked about your introduction to Advenism, hehe.

P.S.: Dan Blake: “Orans” is the ancient posture of prayer whe you put your hands in the air outstretched before God. Think of the priest at the altar, or Pentecostals at worship.
 
One of my best friends is a Seventh Day Adventist and has given me lots of reading material. I’ve studied it pretty thoroughly, so if anyone has questions about what they believe, I can find out the answers for them.

God bless you all in all you do.

Sylvester 😃
 
Check out John Carter. He’s Austrailian and he preaches on Three Angel’s Broadcasting Network (3ABN). I’ve never ever heard such hatred directed at the CC in my life. He does have a huge following all over the world.

Ofcourse, the Seventh Day Adventist Church (according to him) is the “remnant Church” - the “woman clothed with the sun”, talked about in Revelations because they are the only Church that didn’t change the 10 Commandments regarding the Sabbath. And, of-course the Pope is the Antichrist. He called John Paul 11 an “old man”, which I found offensive coming from him.

Most offensive to me is that he says Mary had other children and didn’t remain a virgin. According to him, Mary is NOT in Heaven - she’s “sleeping in the ground” and will remain there until Jesus returns. He says that all the visions from the Holy Mother are from the devil.

This is a very dangerous CULT and not to be taken lightly. Watch out.

Shannin
 
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shannin:
This is a very dangerous CULT and not to be taken lightly. Watch out.
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Shannin, as a convert from a Seventh-Day Adventist background, with extended family still heavily involved in SDA mission work, I can assure you that Seventh-Day Adventism may embrace some kooky beliefs and may have a lot of anti-Catholicism bound up in it, but it is not a cult. And, unlike the Mormons and JWs, it is also a genuinely Christian denomination because it retains a valid baptism and belief in the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus (making it both ontologically and theologically Christian).

Recommended reading:

Seventh-Day Adventism: A Catholic Perspective by William J. Cork
 
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This thread is now closed. Thanks to all who participated in the discussion.
 
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