Like Love, the AC Church Is Many Things

Like Love, The Advent Christian Church Is Many Things

By Rev. J. Howard Shaw


Like love, the Advent Christian Church is many things. It is a vital religious movement. It is an affirmation of the biblical view of man and his redemption. It is an expression of mainstream evangelical Christianity. It is a body of Christians expressing faith through action. It is a system of congregationally representative government. It is an opportunity for growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let us briefly explain each of these definitions.
This church is a vital movement which sprang out of the “Adventual Awakening” of the 1830s and 1840s. To a generation of Christians which had largely ceased to think of the second coming of Christ as either an imminent or a literal event, one William Miller began to proclaim a message from prophecy which strikingly echoed the “midnight cry” of the Parable of the Virgins: “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet Him.” Other able Bible expositors took up this proclamation and amplified it through pulpit and printed page. Soon, hundreds of thousands of Christians were “looking for that Blessed Hope” and bearing witness to it in changed lives. The Advent Christian Church, as such, emerged from this body of awakened Christians who were called “Adventists.”


The Church Represents a Recovery of the Biblical View of Redemption

As an affirmation of the biblical view of man and redemption, the Advent Christian Church represents a recovery of the biblical perspective on redemption, in which the second coming of Christ is seen as the “Blessed Hope.” At the time when this church emerged, church theology generally was permeated with the non-biblical concept of the “soul” as an immaterial entity possessing immortality. The logical consequence of this was that death, instead of resurrection, was regarded as the gateway to a future life, and heaven, instead of the new earth, was regarded as the abode of the redeemed. The return of Christ, under such a view, is really not essential for the completion of the redemption of man. But Adventists were impelled to search the Scriptures to discover why the second advent of Christ is an integral part of the plan and process of redemption. Many of these rediscovered the biblical position that man, rather than possessing a soul which can never die, is a soul and as a result of sin does die. They saw that man as a conscious, living soul was created and exists only as a bodily being inbreathed with the God-given breath or spirit of life (Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 12:7; 9:5,10). They saw the biblical perspective reflected in the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:4). Job makes it very clear, in the context, that when a man dies he is really dead and wholly dead, unlike a tree which may die and yet retain a vestige of life. The reign of death, which is in the world as a consequence of sin, can be overcome only by resurrection – a living again.

Immortality is “Conditional”

While redemption is a present reality in terms of the forgiveness of sins and as a new and living way, its completion awaits the return of the redeemer, when the dead shall be raised incorruptible and mortals shall put on immortality. The Advent Christian Church embodies this basic biblical message in its teaching, viewing death as a state of unconsciousness and a future life possible only through a bodily resurrection. It believes that immortality is “conditional,” that is, it will be bestowed only upon those who have received Jesus as Savior.
As an expression of mainstream evangelical Christianity, this church cherishes and teaches the great doctrines of Scripture. It is founded upon the authority of the Bible as the word of God. It exalts and worships the God of the Bible: God the Father, revealed in Jesus Christ, the Son, and indwelling believers through the Holy Spirit. It preaches salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ: salvation as a personal experience of regeneration through the Holy Spirit, issuing in transformation of character and growth in Christ-likeness until we are finally like him when we see him as he is.
Advent Christians observe Sunday, the Lord’s day, as their day of worship, and reject that legalism which would impose Old Covenant distinctions and requirements upon those who are no longer under law but under grace. They believe that the function of the law of Moses in relation to man’s redemption was to reveal the depth of human spiritual and moral sickness and to show man that no system of “works” or self-effort can set him right with God, but only the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.


The Church at Work in the World

The Advent Christian Church is a body of Christians at work in the world. In fulfillment of Christ’s “Great Commission,” they endeavor to make disciples unto him in all the world: through evangelistic activity in the local church and its community, through a program of home missions in the United States and Canada, and through missionary enterprise around the globe. Such ministries are at work in the major cities of Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Providence, Rhode Island; Charlotte, North Carolina; San Francisco, California; and others. They maintain exciting missionary work in Croatia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Japan, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, and many other countries. As a result of their missionary work in mainland China for over 50 years prior to 1948, churches then planted continue to this day to bear fruit for Christ.
Two colleges express concern of Advent Christians for Christian higher education: Aurora University of Aurora, Illinois, an accredited college of liberal arts and sciences; and Berkshire Christian College of Haverhill, Massachusetts, a member of the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges. Three institutional homes express the concern of the church for the care of human needs. The Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park, Florida maintains a three-fold ministry, providing a home-like environment for children and young people, affording gracious retirement living for the aging, and offering nursing care for the sick and infirm. Vernon Advent Christian Home in Vernon, Vermont ministers to the aging through a retirement home and to the afflicted through nursing home care. Meetinghouse Village in Kittery, Maine is an extension of the ministry of Vernon Home.

Congregational in Government

Important also to the wholeness of the work of the church are well-organized programs of Christian education, youth work, men’s work, and women’s work. The use of the printed page has always been an important part of the witness of this people, and the Advent Christian General Conference Department of Communications continues to make wide use of this medium to proclaim the Gospel and minister to the growth of Christians.
The Advent Christian Church is essentially congregational in government, the local church being self-governing. In order to realize the ideal of fellowship and unity of action with the larger body of believers, the local congregations, in mutual love, conduct important aspects of their church life through a system of representative assemblies. Local churches have direct delegate representation in state or area “conferences” and in regional “associations.” The conferences (and, in some cases, the regional associations) exercise jurisdiction in the ordaining and licensing of ministers. The conferences and regional associations define unifying goals, afford assistance and counsel to local congregations, and conduct programs of evangelism and church extension within their respective areas. At the general denominational level, the “General Conference” brings together delegates from conferences and regions. This delegate body adopts policies and programs for the denomination as a whole. Its boards and cooperating societies carry out the programs of service to the cause of Christ described earlier. These several programs are viewed as parts of one whole program and are supported through a unified financial system in which there is freedom to express specialized interest or concern.


Opportunity for Growth in Understanding

Finally, the Advent Christian Church is an opportunity for growth in understanding and applying the knowledge of Jesus Christ. No claim to infallibility or perfection is made by the church for itself or its members –only for its Lord and his word. We are not the only church, but only an organized expression of the total Church, which is universal. The posture of our church is that of utter confidence in the message we proclaim, but humble teachableness in applying that message to the changing needs and conditions of a complex world. We would ever be open to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” whether it be a word of rebuke for our failure to rightly and fully apply the love of Christ in all areas of human relations, or a word of command disclosing a fresh vision and saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
In terms of the goal of our Christian calling, Advent Christians would say, “We have not arrived, but we press forward in a pilgrim way.” This is a good way, for the Lord is in our midst. As we proclaim his message of love, hope, and salvation, he confirms it with signs and wonders in the lives of those who believe. As we accept responsibility and endeavor to do his work, he gives us power and resources for the tasks. To all who need the sustaining fellowship of people who love the Savior, who cherish the biblical hope, and who aspire to faithful and fruitful service, our hearts are open. In the words of Moses to Hobab of old, “We are journeying to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you;’ come with us and we will do you good.”



Originally written by Dr. J. Howard Shaw
Executive Secretary, 1958-1975
Advent Christian General Conference

Updated July 28, 2006 by Dr. John H. Roller
Publications Coordinator, 2006-2007
Advent Christian General Conference




For more information, contact:
Dr. John H. Roller
5847 Brookstone Dr.
Concord, NC, USA 28027-2535
704-782-9574
johnroller@faithbiblechristian.com