Where are the voices of concern in the Adventist Church when it comes to segregation of Adventist conferences, churches, and schools?
Instead of seeking pure Christian unity and brotherly love in North America, we turn a blind-eye to the division of church members because of skin color and naively continue on as if nothing is wrong. When in reality, we currently have black conference, black churches, and black schools in the 21st century.
As I was driving home from work today, I heard an insightful report on NPR (National Public Radio). As it sounds, I am not the only one disturbed by the separation of people by skin color. Checkout a portion of the report…
“Are museums doing an artist a favor or a disservice when they group shows together around ethnicity or gender rather than aesthetics? Adrian Piper believes it’s a disservice. She’s a conceptual artist whose work is in the collections of major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She recently demanded that a film of hers be removed from a show of black performance art. Piper preferred not to be interviewed, but she sent NPR the email she sent to the show’s curator. In it she wrote that “as a matter of principle,” she does not allow her work to be exhibited in “all-black shows,” because she believes these shows “perpetuate the segregation of African-American artists from the mainstream contemporary art world.”
Someone else goes on to say…
“She believes it also lets institutions off the hook. “So if they had one black show per year, they could go on doing business as usual for the rest of the year, which is why certain black writers have stopped publishing in February,” she says. Black History Month might have been created “for good reasons,” but Chase-Riboud says it now feels like “tokenism.” [REPORT SOURCE]
If we are truly God’s remnant Church, we had better stop messing around with modern-day segregation and develop a plan to address this shameful sin.
The 60th General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas is only 19 months away. This would be the perfect time to address this problem globally. In the meantime, we could make needed reforms in the North American Division.
Just Do It…
Desegregate conferences, churches, and schools. Make sure all local and regional unions and conferences reflect all ethnicities within each demographic. For example: If a local conference’s membership is made-up of a majority of Caucasians, Asians, and African-Americans, then the conference leadership should consist of Caucasians, Asians, and African-Americans. This type of leadership would not be easy at first, but it is necessary if we are going to achieve a healthy balance of unity and brotherly love.
What can you do?
- Pray
- Educate yourself on the subject
- Stand up and speak up in your local church
- Contact your local conference leaders and ask them to address this problem
- Contact your North American Division leaders and ask them to address this problem [CLICK HERE TO LEAVE COMMENT]
Example of segregation: Here are two conferences that are only miles apart…
Frank Peacham
November 26, 2013
The black conferences have distinct financial advantages. Their pastors have voted to stay on the old defined benefit plan for retirement, they receive small conference extra funds, and they have more opportunity for leadership as President and sanctuary. Even in the west where here are no Black conferences there are black pastors that serve a special role of ministry to other Black pastors and such receive a double salary allotment designed for travel. If we follow, the money there is every reason to keep the statue-quoi. Do you ever hear the Black Conference leaders asking for merger? NO
Ken Lytle
November 27, 2013
Just because a majority of the Church leaders do not see a problem does not mean there is not a problem. The big problem is that people don’t see a problem. As I have said before… It was a shame that our Adventist delegate could not get in to visit with President Nelson Mandela. Our delegate waited for hours to get cleared to see the president, but was denied when Mandela discovered that the Adventist Church was still segregated. I’m pretty sure we will not have a white side and black side of town when we are in heaven.
Deb Rakiro
December 14, 2013
I loved Nelson Mandela. What an inspiration he was! I am so proud of him in that he stood up for principle and denied the Adventist delegate! Our church needs to wake up and realize the severity of this problem! Where do interracial families fit in the scheme of things, like mine? Do any of these church leaders think of this? I doubt it. Many of them have grown up in segregated Adventist churches, camp meetings, etc. Do they want my husband to attend the black church and me attend the white church? And where do our interracial children go? The Adventist Church needs to stop making all kinds of excuses as to why they should keep things the same. Wake up people…this is 2013!!!
Frank Peacham
November 27, 2013
It is not segregation: Its money, privilege, position and power (influence), that keeps black and white conferences separate. Not principle.
Ron Welch
November 29, 2013
Situations like this are so much more complicated than what it appears on the surface. I do not believe it’s about racial segregation. People are free to have their membership in any church regardless of their ethnicity, and many large urban churches display a nice racial mix. Conversations I have had with a black pastor indicates the current arrangement with separate conferences is something they prefer for reasons that are not based on race issues. Frank seems to understand it.
Deb Rakiro
December 14, 2013
This is wrong. Period.
Deb Rakiro
December 14, 2013
The church hides the fact that they are segregated by calling the Black Conference, Allegheny East, and the White Conference, Pennsylvania Conference. So not only is it wrong, but the church tries to hide it. A lot of people outside of the church are not even aware that this is going on for this reason.
Brett
December 20, 2013
@Skip…I don’t know if you have a demon in you or what but you are wacky! Jesus came to save everyone who lives on the earth. It doesn’t matter what country they live in. Being a racist is not one of the fruits of the spirit.
Ken Lytle
January 5, 2014
I removed Skip’s comments… I try to make sure to do that when I see them.
brakelite
February 19, 2014
Here in NZ we have a number of churches that while one would not call them ‘segregated’, they are designated as being ‘Samoan’, Cook Island’, ‘Maori’, etc. While anyone may attend any church, visitors would need to be aware that though Adventist, different cultures have different ways of doing things. They also have their own languages, music styles, and each church has its own ‘personality’ depending on the predominant culture. I have no problem with this. My son-in-law is Samoan, his wife (my daughter) mixed European and Maori. So their children have a heritage from many different places. And they have no difficulty with fellowship and ministering in a variety of churches. I see no problem with this. It is racial, yes, but not in a negative sense. It is merely a recognition that people are different and have a right to express themselves in accordance to their own upbringing and culture. To be forced into a ‘mixed composite group where there is no recognition of where they come from or who they are simply to kow-tow to political correctness would be a mistake.
Dr. J. Edward Weed III
February 19, 2014
Racism is a word that is used to insult those good people who recognize that certain races are strongly connected with socialism, vulgarity, crime, violence, etc. moreover it is used in an effort to say that such free thinking observant individuals are backwards, uneducated, and stupid for connecting certain races with such evils.
To prove some points we must begin by examining the word racist. To start with the term racism was not even used before 1933 (according to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary).
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary’s primary definition of the word/words racist/racism is one who hates (and carry’s out acts of violence against) another because of their skin color or racial culture. So basically, when someone calls someone else a racist what they mean to say is that certain individuals stupidly hate others based on their skin colors (alone) and not their actions.
Therefore, for one to charge my Heavenly Father with the lowly charge of racism would be the same as calling the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ignorant or foolish. Yahweh is just and is above such trivial things as hating someone simple because of the color of their skin. I (like my Father Yahweh) do not hate people because their skin color or their cultures, I hate them because of how they live and because of what they do or have done to my people and our once moral and White society. In other words (to quote Martin Luther King Jr.) I have always judged others, “On the content of their character and not the color of their skin”.
My Heavenly Father Yahweh requires me (under His Divine Law) not to lie or bear false witness against anyone; that being said, I must truthfully testify before my people and warn them of the things I have learned and (at times) even seen with my own eyes. I hate the Jews (not because of their corse hair, hooked noses, pointy chins, etc.) because they are power hungry socialist that have taken over our currency and destroyed everything our country was founded on, but more than any other reason I hate them for murdering my Kinsman Redeemer Jesus Christ (Yahweh in the Flesh) and for being the children of the devil, as Christ said they are (see John 8:44). I hate the Negros (not because their skin is black) because they are responsible for most of the crime in this country and because they want their rights and privileges but they do not wish to have any of the responsibilities that go along with them. I hate the Cubans and the Mexicans (not because their skin is brown) because they are bringing endless amounts of drugs and violence into our country over the borders of Texas, California, and Florida.
Now ask yourself this, does it make me a racist to simply speak the truth regarding certain people’s (or races) crimes, doctrines, etc.? Does it make me a racist to present the facts of a matter, and to say that I hate someone because of those facts? Does it make me a racist to hate those people who are destroying the Nation my ancestors founded? No. It only makes me honest.
Racism is a socialist/communist term that is used to make people like me seem ignorant and unlearned (in other words our message of truth is discredited by cries of racism, which again is all but synonymous with being called un-knowledgable, backwards, and foolish).
The truth is, the stories (I should say history) we find written in the parchments (or the scriptures) are not stories of hate, they are stories of love. For Yahweh chose for Himself one race to be His bride (she was to be adorned in the beautiful WHITE apparel Yahweh gave to her). Because Yahweh loved/loves Israel so much and because He is so devoted to her, it is said by some that He hates others. But is it His hate for others that caused Yahweh to chose Israel alone, or was it His love for Israel? Is it hate for a groom to lay their life down for their bride? Is it hate for a man to love his wife and forsake all others but her? Is it hate to leave all one possesses to their kinsman? Is it hate for a man or woman to love the flesh and blood that bore them? Hardly. It is instead the greatest form of love.
Do you think you could convince a woman that her husband was nothing but a bigoted racist just because he loved her alone, was faithful to her alone, and gave all his earthly goods to her alone? Never. So why have you (the bride) believed Christ is racist for doing these things oh Israel (White Western Europeans)? Ephesians 5:30 says the bride of Christ was/is FLESH OF HIS FLESH, BLOOD OF HIS BLOOD, BONE OF HIS BONE.
Yahweh is partial, selective, and faithful to His wife/bride (Israel, the White Western Europeans), just like I am partial and faithful to my bride and I welcome her alone into my house, and will give her and children (alone) my inheritance, etc. so it goes with Yahweh/Christ and His bride Israel.
He did not make us (Israel, the White Western Europeans) superior that we might destroy all other races, instead He made us His Chosen race special, unique, and His own, that we might have dominion and be set apart all other races. See 1 Corinthians 5:5-13 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 on the matter of separation.
What is the difference between a separatist and racist? A separatist according to the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary is someone who advocates racial, social, and cultural separation; in other words someone who honors Genesis Law of kind after kind reproduction, and Exodus Law of thou shalt have no other gods (which includes the religious cultures of other races) before me (me of course being Yahweh God).
Yahweh is not a universalist and He does not care if we approve of His Divine Law or not (for His ways are not our ways) He merely says, “This is the way walk Ye in it.” See Matthew 5:17-21 for proof that Christ did not come to destroy the Law, but that He came instead to fulfill it.
We alone (those Israelites WHO BELIEVE AND OBEY the parchments) are the Wife of Yahweh and the Bride of Christ which means we were/are not to integrate with other races in our halls of learning, our houses of prayer, and we are not to date or intermarry with any of them under any circumstances.
And again I remind you that Yahweh did not come to redeem every race (to say this is not racist as some claim, it’s just a matter fact; if you let Yahweh be true and every man a liar that is) He came to redeem Israel only according to Isaiah 51:1-2, Amos 3:2, Matthew 10:6, and Matthew 15:24.
Most people say I am a trouble maker and that I do damage to the efforts of peace; though most people claim to want peace most people do not want peace, they merely want to be left in peace (to put it simply they want to be left alone in their sin and ignorance). Well I do not want you to be ignorant my kinsman, I want you to understand that those who put their heads in the sand and ignore the facts are the ones who are stupid.
The love Christ has for His bride Israel is the greatest love story ever told. So stop peddling Christ love for his bride to other races and start teaching the great love He has for His people.
Dr. J. Edward Weed III
S. Lloyd
February 19, 2014
The word, discrimination, has become another political tool word.
Once., a man could be edified with the description., a man or discriminating choice.
When he married his wife, he discriminated against all other women.
So what.., was always considered a positive thing.
Dr. J. Edward Weed III
February 19, 2014
You are absolutely right, in every choice that is made, one must discriminate. Be that choice their mate, a produce, or whatever. It is a good thing to make choices and be faithful to those choices we made.
That’s what Yahweh did in choosing Israel alone (Matthew 15:24). He is our example of faithfulness. Unfortunately most of the world has compromised (just like with the issues of integration, race mixing, and homosexuality) what they were taught in the parchments (or the scriptures) and what their parents and grandparents stood for.
Remember the three Hebrews, for they refused to compromise and they were not cast into the fire. When speaking of Israel only those who compromise and or reject the truth will be destroyed by Yahweh.
Dr. J. Edward weed III
Dr. J. Edward Weed III
February 19, 2014
When I say they were not cast in the fire I mean Yahweh’s judgement fire. And of course no harm came to them even when they were cast into the Kings fire.
It’s always in our best interest to obey Yahweh, and refuse compromise on His word.
Dr. J. Edward Weed III
Roger Metzger
September 16, 2014
It was about the time that my maternal grandmother died (shortly after, I think) that my mother told me if she hadn’t met Seventh-day Adventists in college (Nebraska and Michigan) whose religion was very different from that of her mother, she (my Mom) would probably not have continued to consider herself a Seventh-day Adventist and almost certainly would not have married an Adventist.
I have attended the sabbath services of some of the “regional conferences” in the United States. My maternal grandmother was Scottish-Irish but she would have fit right in.
Christians of every hue have been welcome in every congregation of which I have been a member. But before anyone gets on a high horse about the existence of “regional conferences”, please speak with a variety of people of various colors about what THEY prefer. You may find that it isn’t us pasty-complected northern European types who prefer to maintain separate conferences in the United States.
Roger Metzger
Roger Metzger
September 16, 2014
To Dr. J. Edward Weed III,
First, thank you for elucidating a perspective few of my Seventh-day Adventist friends understand very well. Frankly, I understand it much better after reading your posts.
Second, if you were riding on a bus and reading the parchments and someone asked you to identify your religion, what would be an appropriate and succinct answer?
Third, is it your understanding that the great I AM choose the whole Hebrew nation as the object of his supreme regard? Or did he choose only those tribes other than the children of Judah–the ancestor of the people to whom you refer as “Jews”?
Fourth, is it possible that the people the Messiah called children of the devil were not everyone within the hearing of his voice but the religious “leaders” who were propagating the we-are-it syndrome.
Is it true that the northern tribes were taken into captivity because of their idolatry? (Or if my heritage is largely Germanic, should I say “our” idolatry?)
You wrote, “When speaking of Israel only those who compromise and or reject the truth will be destroyed by Yahweh?”
Did you mean that Israelites who compromise or reject the truth will be destroyed by the creator and that he will destroy everyone else (all other humans) whether they reject the truth or not? (Would a true Israelite use vowels when “spelling” the sacred name?)
Is it possible that the true religion was perverted by people who lived in Rome and believed the Nazarene was the true Messiah but who didn’t want the pagan Romans (who hated the Hebrew nation) to think of his religion as the true continuation of the religion of the Hebrew patriarchs and prophets and so represented it instead as the REPLACEMENT of their religion?
Is it possible that that was a prime motive for perpetuating–even hundreds of years after the crucifixion of the Messiah–the charge of deicide against people who had nothing to do with urging Pilot, “Crucify him”.
For the record, I’d like to think I’d be willing risk my life in defense of your right to believe whatever you choose and promote the your beliefs in a free market of ideas.
If you don’t think there should be any free market of ideas, how do your ideas on that subject differ from those who have persecuted heretics in the past?
The clarification of the above questions might prove helpful.
Roger Metzger