Seventh Day Adventist Beliefs and Customs (Jehovah's Witnesses, churches, quote, faith)

[Beretta]

I will soon have a new co-worker that is a devout Seventh Day Adventist. I want to make him feel as welcome as possible. I also do not want to ignorantly offend him/his religion. I hope that some of you can enlighten me on the beliefs, but moreso the customs of this religion. I particularly am interested in do's and don't. What I have heard so far, and please correct me if I am wrong, is this:

Vegetarian
Sabbath observance, Friday dusk until Saturday dusk
No celebrating birthdays
No smoking or drinking alcohol
No wearing of jewelry
No makeup

I am not interested in a debate; just any pointers on how I can learn about the religion and make a newcomer feel welcome.

Thank you in advance.

[PanTerra]

Creation science has its roots in SDA so don't mention anything about the age of the earth.

[ottomobeale]

Here ya go. That stuff you mention sounds like the Jehovas

Seventh-day Adventist Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Glassapple]

Some of your information is correct some is not so I will try to clear it up for you. I applaud you for wanting to be so sensitive to them or anyone. That is a mark of a truely nice person!

Many SDA's do wear makeup, wedding rings, and even other jewlerie.

They do celebrate Birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving etc.

They do keep it holy from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

They are not all vegetarians by any means but many are for health reasons. (The average Adventist lives at least 7 years longer than the regular population because of their health practices. This is a confirmed fact. Articles have come out in National Geographic and other magazines I believe including Forbes Magazine about this fact.)

They are very focused on health: Food Industries 29 Healthcare Ministry Hospitals and Sanitariums 168 Nursing Homes and Retirement Centers 138 Clinics and Dispensaries 442 Orphanages and Children's Homes 34 Airplanes and Medical Launches 10 Outpatient Visits 15,371,479

They are very focused on education. Educational Program Total Schools 7,284 Tertiary Institutions 106 Worker Training Institutions 42 Primary Schools 5,666 Secondary Schools 1,470 Total Enrollment 1,436,290 Tertiary Institutions 106,081 Worker Training Institutions 7,100 Secondary Schools 378,866 Primary Schools 944,243

They are mission focused and have an agency called ADRA for humanitarian work: Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) Countries and Areas of the World Where ADRA is Involved 112 Total Projects Funded (Supporting Offices) 2,421 Development 1,551 Relief 870 Beneficiaries of Projects (Supporting Offices) 36,228,592 Value of Total Aid (Supporting Offices) $286,012,003

For more information see the churche's official site at adventist.org

[msrebecca57]

Regarding SDA's living longer more than likely it is due to no alcohol and smoking. If you take the generall population those individuals that die early from cigarettes and alcohol abuse are included. It is for this reason SDA's live longer not specifically a no meat diet.

[Jonathan Ashbeck]

I'm not Seventh day Adventist but I have to give a point, If seventh day adventists do not celebrate Christmas or Easter, then they should not celebrate birthdays. Jehovah's Witnesses are that way.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Glassapple

They do celebrate Birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving etc.

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ashbeck

If seventh day adventists do not celebrate Christmas or Easter, then they should not celebrate birthdays.

Looks like you didn't read the post very carefully. Besides, last I knew every denomination had the right to make its own rules and not have outsiders make their rules for them.

[Mightyqueen801]

I know a couple of Sabbath-keepers. They do eschew the jewelry and the accoutrements of faith. No crosses in their churches. It doesn't matter. Here's what does matter. The SDA person I know best is a successful black man who goes into prisons and talks to black men who are incarcerated, most of whom know no other way of living. Jesus would have done something like that. That's what matters.

[bartstarr1960]

I do have some questions. On the street I live on there are four SDA's within a stone's throw of my place. Come to think of it they are all related. My youngest son went to a SDA school for grades 2-5. Anyway, my point. We had one of my son's teachers over for dinner. She ate everything, even pork on the pizza we had. I can tell you, this lady didn't miss many meals and she certainly had no qualms putting down a third of a Pizza Hut All Meat Special. And I'd ordered cheese and veggie too, to cover my bases. The flip side to that is when the school kids had events, like the school carnival in the school's gym. About 1/2 the students were Hispanic and the moms would fix a 4 course vegetarian Mexican dinner. I mean to tell you it was the best Mexican food I've ever had. Maybe someone can tell me why the teacher ate meat and pork, but the Hispanics did not. Another time I was barbequing some ribs. My SDA neighbor was across the street and saw the smoke from the barbeque and rushed over to make sure my place wasn't on fire. She said, "That sure smells good." I explained it was ribs and I thought she was going to throw up. She ran home with her hand over her mouth.

Twice a year the kid's would put on a show at the SDA church on Saturday and we'd go to watch my son perform. One time another one of my neighbors was greeting and she walked up and shouted, "Happy Sabbath," while grabbing both my hands in hers. I was speechless. I could tell she wasn't going to let go until I said the magic words, but I didn't know what the magic words were. Finally, I said, "Happy Sabbath?" and she released me from her clutches.

It was awkward and reminded me of the time we visited a Church of God church, I think. During communion we were in line and I wasn't paying much attention to what the people in front of me were doing. When it was my turn I took the bread, then tried to take the cup from the lady's hands. She resisted and I tugged harder. Here we were tugging back and forth until finally some grape juice splashed on my tie, so I let go. She was completely silent through all of this. It was like we were playing charades. She kept moving and tilting the cup but I wasn't getting it. Finally, she moved her eyes and head and I followed her lead and looked over at the other line. I watched and learned they don't hand over the cup, they tip it so you can drink from it. 20 shades of red later I slinked back to my pew feeling like everyone was staring at my stained tie. It was no doubt the longest communion in their church history.

Someone should write a "Church Customs for Dummies" book.

[Vizio]

I would suggest that if you have questions, you ought to be honest and tell your new co-worker you don't know much about his religion--but that you want to be respectful and accepting. I am sure you won't be the first person to ever do so--he is probably used to it. It might be a great way to start a nice friendship.