The Seventh-Day Adventist Church Centennial

Stamps commemorate Adventist Centennial

Marking milestones often require grand celebrations.
But the Seventh-day Adventist Church chose to
commemorate their 100th year in the Philippines with a
ceremony notable for its simplicity. And appropriately
so, as the church has stood by the idea that "true
beauty does not consist of outward adornment but in
the imperishable ornament of a gentle and quiet
spirit."

A dinner ceremony was held at Manila Sanitarium
Hospital on February 23. About a hundred guests
attended including Pastor Albert Gulfan, president of
Southern Asia-Pacific Division of Seventh-day
Adventists; Nestor Dayson, president of Adventists in
Luzon; Pastor Larry Feir, communication director of
North Philippine Union Mission; and Alfonso Divina,
layout artist of philatelic division of Philippine
Postal Corporation.

There was good reason for a representative of the
Philippine Postal Corporation to be around. To mark
the milestone, a blocked set of stamps was handed to
Jan Paulsen, current president of the World
Seventh-day Adventists.

Paulsen also spoke about the long, tough road the
church went through and how it survived and grew in
the Philippines.

12 members in 1911

The first Adventist Church in the country was
organized in Sta. Ana, Manila on March 11, 1911 with
12 members. During the first three years, evangelistic
activities were confined in and around Manila. By
1913, missionaries opened the work in northern Luzon
for the Ilocanos. At that time, there was no
literature evangelist or any church members in that
area of Luzon. By 1921, there were seven organized
churches with 327 members. Not only was the gospel
work expanding in the North; this was also the case in
the South.

The next few decades saw the church's growth slowing
down due to factors such as World War II. Nonetheless,
the Adventists' expansion was on a gradual upswing.

By the turn of the new millennium, the National
Philippine Union Mission became a Union of two
conferences (Central and South Central Luzon
Conferences) and three missions (Southern Luzon,
Northern Luzon, and Mountain Provinces Missions) with
a total of 1,297 churches. Serving the Union in
various ministries and capabilities are 197 ordained
pastors, 90 regular ministerial workers, 685 teachers,
455 literature evangelists, 602 medical and
paramedical personnel, 179 publishing workers and a
host of office staff .

1.2 million in 2005

Today, there's an estimated 1,208,000 Adventists in
the Philippines.

The Church also operates one publishing house and
supervises one university and three colleges, 12
academies and 160 elementary schools. It has three
hospitals: the Manila Adventist Medical Church,
Cagayan Valley Adventist Hospital, and Palawan
Adventist Hospital, although for management purposes
all three were adopted by the Adventist Health System
- Asia in 2003.

Jan Paulsen, now at the helm of the Church, believes
they survived because of their adherence to love and
their dedication in spreading God's word.

(First published in What's On & Expat on Aprile 3-9, 2005)