A Growing Church
Seventh-day Adventist Churches literally circle the globe. Recent (2011) statistics show membership beyond 17.2 million worshipping in more than 141,000 congregations in 209 countries. (Note that the UN recognises 232 countries in the world!) On average over 2,889 people join the Adventist church each day with an annual global growth rate of 2.43%. The membership in the UK and Ireland is 34,048 (December 2012) with attendance being considerably higher than this.
A Caring Church
The Adventist Church also operates 173 hospitals, 348 clinics and dispensaries, medical centres, nursing homes, retirement centres, orphanages and children's homes, that in the year 2010 served almost 16 million people. In the UK you will find that many churches run feeding programmes and are engaged with their local communities in mentoring programmes, children's clubs and other activities.
A Teaching Church
In addition the Church runs a world-wide system of more than 7,800 schools with over 1,668,000 students from kindergarten to graduate professional schools. Educational institutions in the UK and Ireland include 1 college, 2 secondary schools and 7 primary schools.
A Serving Church
In response to Christ's invitation to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, Seventh-day Adventists try to help friends and neighbours in need irrespective of race, colour or religion. Internationally, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) helps victims of war, famine, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters. In addition, many Adventist congregations have community service facilities, from which volunteers help those in need close to home. In the year 2000, Adventists helped over 15 million men, women and children. An annual camp, sponsored by ADRA-UK, is held in North Wales for handicapped children.
A Communicating Church
The Adventist Church also has a world-wide publishing ministry, with more than 50 publishing companies, printing scores of magazines and other publications in nearly 327 languages and dialects. Leading magazines in the United Kingdom include "Focus" - dealing with doctrine and prophecy from Scripture, and "Encounter", a specialised youth magazine. If you live in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland you can get a free sample of either of these publications by emailing or writing to the Communication Department of the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists at the following address:
Communication Department
BUC Offices
Stanborough Park
Watford
HERTS
WD25 9JZ
Seventh-day Adventists also support a variety of television and radio programmes. Adventist World Radio is developing a chain of short wave, AM and FM radio stations to reach masses of potential listeners in scores of languages along with an increasing multi-lingual podcast presence. Bible correspondence courses - most free for the asking - are available in 60 languages, being serviced in the United Kingdom by the Adventist Discovery Centre in Watford.