FACT Sheet Sabbath School in Seventh-day Adventist Congregations Today The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is one of 41 faiths participating in the largest single study of local, religious groups ever conducted. Data collection was timed to coincide with the U.S. Census during the year 2000 and the results are now being released in a series of reports under the general title Faith Communities Today (FACT). The reports on the Adventist Church are prepared by the Center for Creative Ministry in coordination with the interfaith reports published by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The Sabbath School has been an important part of Adventist local churches since the denomination s beginnings in the 19 th century, including Bible study classes for adults, children and youth. The General Conference publishes standard curricula for adults and several age groups of children which are used around the world. The Sabbath School directed entirely by lay volunteers in the local church and supervised by the denomination s Personal Ministries and Sabbath School Department. The data reported here provide a picture of the Sabbath School in the Adventist Church in the United States at the beginning of the 21 st century. All percentages displayed in this fact sheet are the percentages of local churches reporting a specific response. These data are based on a 12-page questionnaire completed by the pastor or an elder in a random sample of 412 local churches. This is one of a series of fact sheets providing a data from the sample of Seventh-day Adventist Church congregations in the Faith Communities Today (FACT) research project. Monte Sahlin is the general editor of the series with Carmen Rusu, research assistant. Paul Richardson is publisher for the series with Alane Russell, web assistant. Roger Dudley, director of the Institute of Church Ministry at Andrews University, is the research director for the Adventist segment of FACT. The interfaith FACT project is coordinated by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research through the Cooperative Congregational Studies Project. Funding was provided by the Lilly Endowment and the Office of Information, Research and Strategic Planning of the Seventh-day Adventist Church North American Division. This fact sheet is published by the Center for Creative Ministry for the Office of Information, Research and Strategic Planning at the North American headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more information, dial (800) 272-4664. (c)2001, Center for Creative Ministry and North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Sabbath School Does your local church have a Sabbath School that meets regularly? Almost all congregations report that they have Sabbath School regularly. This is a well-established tradition. Yes 99% No 1% Spiritual growth How well does the local church help members deepen their relationship with God? That is a key goal for the Sabbath School and seven out of ten congregations are doing well with it. what 23% Slightly or not 7% Very well 19% well 51% 2
Spiritual Vitality A strong Sabbath School should build spiritual vitality. Is the local church spiritually vital and alive? Half of the congregations give a positive response, while the other half are not so sure. what 37% Slightly or not 12% Very 40% Sermons on spiritual growth How often does the sermon focus on personal spiritual growth? This is not during Sabbath School but it is an indicator of focus. Nine out of churches hear this often or always. Often 52% Always 36% 3
Members Involved in Strengthening their Faith Three out of four congregations report that a significant number of their members are involved in activities outside of worship to strengthen their faith, such as study of the Sabbath School Lesson, etc. Few or none 25% 53% All or most Prayer Groups Three in five local churches have one or more prayer groups or a traditional prayer meeting that functions throughout the year. Only one church in ten has no activity of this type. 61% 13% 16% 10% All year Seasonal Occasional None 4
Spiritual Retreats The spiritual retreat is an approach to faith development that has not caught on widely among Adventists. The majority of local churches had no retreat during the last year. 2% All year 33% 7% Seasonal Occasional 58% None Two thirds of local churches give a great deal or quite a bit of emphasis to prayer, Bible study, and devotions in Sabbath School, preaching and other seminars and small group ministries. Emphasis on Personal Devotions 26% Little or none 9% a bit 33% A great deal 32% 5
The most important spiritual discipline for Adventists is Sabbathkeeping. Four out of five churches give a great deal or quite a bit of emphasis to Sabbath-keeping. Only 5% report little or no emphasis. Emphasis on Sabbath-keeping 18% a bit 28% Little or none 5% A great deal 49% Emphasis on Fasting Adventist churches give little emphasis to fasting. Only one congregation in ten () gives a great deal or quite a bit of emphasis to fasting, while two thirds give little or no emphasis. None 27% Little 38% 24% 6