{"id":352,"date":"2014-08-29T08:45:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T08:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/2014\/08\/29\/revamped-adventist-study-center-to-expand-research-capacity-of-church\/"},"modified":"2014-08-29T08:45:38","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T08:45:38","slug":"revamped-adventist-study-center-to-expand-research-capacity-of-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/revamped-adventist-study-center-to-expand-research-capacity-of-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Revamped Adventist Study Center to Expand Research Capacity of Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

14 June, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States<\/strong><\/span> [Elizabeth Lechleitner\/ANN] Seventh-day Adventist historians say a recent overhaul of the church\u2019s research facilities signals a new commitment to deepening members\u2019 historical understanding of Adventist identity and the denomination’s history.<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s Office of Archives, Statistics and Research (ASTR) opened a new research center at Adventist world church headquarters last week, with a reconfiguration of existing space that allows the office to accommodate four times as many external researchers as previously.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

High-density shelving houses publications and periodicals, while rare historical photos decorate the walls. More photos, video- and audiocassettes — along with 5,000 linear feet of the denomination\u2019s documents — are stored in a nearby temperature-controlled vault. The center also includes a computer, on which visiting researchers can access the office\u2019s extensive online archives.<\/p>\n

The June 5 official launch drew top church officials to the department, where they toured the new facilities and attended a brief ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my goals is to encourage more people to research our history, because I do believe that, as Ellen White says, \u2018We have nothing to fear for the future except as we forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teachings in our past history,\u2019\u201d ASTR Director David Trim told church leaders, noting that people often leave off the church co-founder\u2019s mention of \u201cteachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The way the Lord has led\u2019 is easy to remember, but \u2018teachings\u2019 requires, I think, some kind of analysis and study,\u201d Trim added.<\/p>\n

Adventist world church President Ted N. C. Wilson, who also spoke at the launch, drew parallels between research done here on Earth and the records God is keeping. The New Testament book of Revelation, he said, indicates that the record books in heaven will stand as eternal testaments to God\u2019s justice and mercy.<\/p>\n

\"\"Likewise, Wilson suggested, the research center \u201cwill not only furnish people with a historical account and accurate understanding of the past, but will also truly be a center of spiritual impulse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope that people will see how God has led us in the past, how he will lead us in the future and how His teachings have contributed to the flourishing of His work in spite of the challenges and difficulties we face,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

He also noted that the expanded facilities reflect the \u201cadded emphasis\u201d the church has lately placed on research. Last year, top church officials voted to establish a permanent budget for Adventist research meant to inform the church\u2019s strategic plan. They also revised the name of the former Office of Archives and Statistics to include mention of its new research component.<\/p>\n

The office has worked to restore numerous historical photographs once stashed in drawers, where they cracked and yellowed. Now treated, mounted and framed, the photos grace the walls of the research center.<\/p>\n

For the occasion of the launch, ASTR staff also had on display a vintage glass slide projector similar to models used by many Adventist evangelists in the past, Trim said.<\/p>\n

Among photos of notable Adventist historians on display is an early color photograph of the former missionary to India and world church President W. A. Spicer, after whom Adventist-run Spicer Memorial College in India is named.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have a color photograph of one of our pioneers and remember that they were fully rounded people, and not living in black and white or sepia,\u201d Trim said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Another photo shows a meeting of the world church\u2019s Executive Committee from 1958.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one guest observed, there are neither women nor anyone other than [Caucasians], so in some respects the church has changed,\u201d Trim said. He added that Adventist world leaders meeting at a table in a sparse room is telling when many top leaders from other denominations would likely have met in \u201clavish, well-appointed\u201d rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that says a lot about he Seventh-day Adventist Church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the 17-million member denomination continues to grow worldwide, Trim said he hopes the research center will help ground church policy and guide decision-making.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are keen that Archives, Statistics and Research not only takes things in, but also contributes to the wider mission of the church, and especially in helping the people [at world church headquarters] in making policy and strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The expansion of research facilities is \u201ca sign of our determination to lend some richness to our own understanding of what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Trim added. [ted<\/em>NEWS]<\/p>\n

\n

ted<\/em>NEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: tednews@ted-adventist.org
Website: www.ted-adventist.org<\/p>\n

ted<\/em>NEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
You are free to re-print any portion of the bulletin without need for special permission. However, we kindly request that you identify ted<\/em>NEWS whenever you publish these materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 June, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States<\/strong><\/span> [Elizabeth Lechleitner\/ANN] Seventh-day Adventist historians say a recent overhaul of the church\u2019s research facilities signals a new commitment to deepening members\u2019 historical understanding of Adventist identity and the denomination’s history.<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s Office of Archives, Statistics and Research (ASTR) opened a new research center at Adventist world church headquarters last week, with a reconfiguration of existing space that allows the office to accommodate four times as many external researchers as previously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-organisational-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}