3 April 2017 | Stockholm, Sweden [Rainer Refsbäck] The Christian vegetarian association “The Wild Donkey” (Vildåsnan), has awarded the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sweden the Vego Prize (“Vegopriset”). The award, founded several years ago, goes to an organisation or person who has done something positive for animals because of their Christian faith, or who have deepened the conversation about how our food affects humans, animals and the environment.
Hansen accepted the award on behalf of the Church during the association’s annual meeting on Sunday, 5 March 2017.
“I was asked to talk about why we as a Christian denomination put a lot of effort in advocating a healthy lifestyle,” Hansen said. “Several questions were asked after my presentation and I also had the opportunity to hand out books and other materials.”
In presenting the award, The Wild Donkey organisers stated, “By persistently discussing vegetarianism on Christian grounds, the Seventh-day Adventist Church contributes to the knowledge of an issue given limited space within Christendom.”
The Wild Donkey also mentioned in their announcement that “a number of the Christian revivalist movements formed during the latter half of the 1800s, saw it as a set position to contribute to a healthier lifestyle. One part of this was to advocate a vegetarian diet. The clearest position on this issue was, and still is, taken by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” They highlighted the efforts of the Swedish Adventist Church’s health department including a ‘Healthy & Smart’ initiative, vegetarian Christmas buffets, vegetarian cooking courses, as well as lectures on health and nutrition that have been offered by Adventist churches in Sweden for many years.
Adventists want to convey hope through a lifestyle and a quality of life that finds its fulfilment in Christ Jesus. Since the 1850s, Adventists have focused on a healthy lifestyle with the aim to draw attention to God’s plan for humanity from the Creation to the coming restoration of creation. God made us humans stewards of the creation, the earth’s resources and life in the form of animals, our fellow human beings, and our own body. This stewardship is in part about enjoying the gifts of God with responsibility and giving ourselves to the Spirit’s disposal and service. One distinctive part of this stewardship has been advocating a vegetarian diet. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Esti Pujic, associate editor
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tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
