GCMSMetaAnalysis Report - 2019-08-19

2017-2018 Global Church Member Survey
Concerning the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Reach the World 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
Meta-Analysis Final Report

October 2, 2018
[minor revisions: August, 2019]
The Meta-Analysis Research Team at Andrews University
Karl G. D. Bailey
Duane C. McBride
Shannon M. Trecartin
Alina M. Baltazar
Petr Činčala
René D. Drumm
ã 2018, 2019 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Any use or reproduction of this report is
subject to permission by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Contents
Purpose of Report 5
Background 5
Methods 6
Relationship to World Division Research Teams 6
Data Collection Timeline 6
Omnibus Sample 6
Reach the World Objectives Not Covered 7
Format of the Report 7
Executive Summary 10
Adventist Church Members and Christian Worldview 10
Adventist Church Members and Distinct Adventist Beliefs 10
Living an Adventist Life 11
Worldviews and World Divisions 12
Opportunities for Church Member Development 13
Further Directions 15
Sample Size and Division Distribution 16
Demographics of the 2017-2018 Global Church Member Survey Sample 17
Demographics of the Respondents 18
The Global Adventist Family: Households 20
The Global Adventist Family: Family-Church Connection 22
The Global Adventist Family: Family Religious Routines 24
Seventh-day Adventist Education 26
Ability Status 28
Church Size and Setting 30
Reach the World Objectives 33
Objective #1 – To Involve Adventist Members in Regular Bible Study: 1A. Individual Bible
Study 34
Objective #1 – To Involve Adventist Members in Regular Bible Study: 1B/C. Morning and
Evening Worship with Family & Small Group Worship 36
Objective #1 – To Involve Adventist Members in Regular Bible Study: Summary of Bible Study
and Devotional Practices 38
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1A. Salvation by Faith 40
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Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1B. State of the Dead 42
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1B: Power of Prayer Over
Witchcraft and Spiritualism 44
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1C. The Church 46
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1C. The Church 48
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1D. The Second Coming 50
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1E. Creation 52
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1F. The Sanctuary and the
Investigative Judgment 54
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1G. Beliefs are Bible-Centered
Doctrines that Reflect a Loving, Gracious God 56
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 1G. Beliefs are Bible-Centered
Doctrines that Reflect a Loving, Gracious God 58
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: The Trinity 60
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: Sex and Marriage 62
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 2. Health Message: Beliefs (Part 1)
64
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 2. Health Message: Alcohol and
Tobacco Use (Part 2) 66
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 2. Health Message: Diet, Long Life,
and Salvation (Part 3) 68
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study: 3. Use of Mobile Devices for Study
70
Objective #3 – To Better Acquaint Members with Ellen White’s Ministry: 1. Increased
Personal Study of Ellen White’s Writings 3. Faithful Applications of Ellen White’s Counsel for
the Twenty-First Century 72
Objective #3 – To Better Acquaint Members with Ellen White’s Ministry: 2. Belief in Ellen
White and the Spirit of Prophecy 74
Objective #3 – To Better Acquaint Members with Ellen White’s Ministry: 4. Availability of
Ellen White’s Writings in Local Languages 5/6. Accessing Ellen White’s Writings on Mobile
Devices 76
Objective #4 –Increase Engagement in Biblically Authentic Spiritual Practices: Prayer and
Meditation Upon the Life of Jesus 78
Objective #6 – Regular Patterns of Worship: 1A. Corporate Worship 80
Objective #7 – To Enhance Unity and Community Among Church Members: 2. Reclamation of
Former and Inactive Members 82
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Objective #7 – To Enhance Unity and Community Among Church Members: 3. Pastor-Church
Officer Cooperation and Teamwork 84
Objective #7 – To Enhance Unity and Community Among Church Members: 4/5. Cross-
Cultural and Conflict Resolution Training 86
Objective #8 – To Nurture Believers in Discipleship and Service: 1. Lifelong Commitment to
and Satisfaction with the Seventh-day Adventist Church 88
Objective #8 – To Nurture Believers in Discipleship and Service: 2. Church-Member
Involvement in Service in the Church and Community 90
Objective #8 – To Nurture Believers in Discipleship and Service: 6. Nurture, Retention and
Discipling 92
Objective #9 – To Increase Engagement of Young People in the Life of the Church: 1.
Preparing Youth to Lead at all Levels of the Church 94
Objective #10 – To Affirm the Administrative Role of Pastors: 2/3. Perceptions about Pastor
Qualifications and Caring 96
Objective #16 – To Engage All Church Members in Full Partnership: 3. Outreach in Evangelism
and Witnessing 98
Objective #17 – To Increase the Involvement of Young People 100
Objective #18 – To Encourage Local Churches to Take the Initiative in Mission: Training in
Christ’s Method of Evangelism 102
Objective #21 – To Empower the Work and Witness of the Church: 1. Church Members
Understand Strategic Mission Priorities of the General Conference (Part 1) 104
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Meta-Analysis Report on the 2017-2018 Global Church Member Survey
Karl G. D. Bailey, Duane C. McBride, Shannon M. Trecartin,
Alina M. Baltazar, Petr Činčala, René D. Drumm
Purpose of Report
This report is an overall analysis of the omnibus data set for the 2017-2018 Global Church
Member Survey (GCMS). The purpose of this report is to:
1. Focus on key Reach the World Objectives using 2017-2018 GCMS items – The GCMS
instrument was designed to measure select Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) outlined
in the Reach the World Strategic Plan 2015-2020 and the Request for Proposals (RFP) for
this project. It is important to note that this report is a first examination of the GCMS
data to provide the Future Plans Working Group and other readers a broad overview of
the state of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For each of the selected Objectives, we
summarize the objective and KPIs, identify the corresponding GCMS items, narrate and
summarize the patterns in the data, and depict the patterns graphically.
2. Report patterns from each world division on the Reach the World Objectives in addition
to overall patterns so that readers can visually compare each world division to other
divisions and the overall global responses – This report will provide an overall snapshot
of respondents’ answers and will allow readers to quickly see how respondents’ answers
vary by world divisions.
3. Provide an initial overview of the answers to each GCMS item from all of the global
respondents –The overall proportions and by-division breakdowns for all GCMS items
and several derived variables are provided in graphic and tabular form in the appendix
to this report.
Background
As a part of its commitment to nurturing and discipling members, the General Conference of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a long commitment to examining the beliefs and
practices of its members. The last major study was done in 2012-2013. In 2016, the Office of
Archives and Statistics (ASTR) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to conduct the division-
based surveys that comprise the 2017-2018 GCMS. In addition, an RFP was issued to conduct an
omnibus meta-analysis of the integrated GCMS data and to undertake world division
comparisons. Our Andrews University research team responded to the meta-analysis RFP and
was awarded the contract. The Andrews team, working with ASTR and a General Conference
committee, constructed the questionnaire that was used across divisions. The questionnaire
utilized, where possible, questions from the 2012-2013 survey to enable the comparisons
outlined in the Reach the World Objectives. Where items from the 2012-2013 survey were not
available to measure KPIs, new items were added. In particular, we created items that followed
up on Strategic Issues highlighted in the Reach the World Strategic Plan: awareness of and
participation in key Reach the World Mission Priorities, Adventist Education, member care, key
doctrines, and health beliefs and behaviors. A few items were also added to integrate the
different elements of the Reach the World Plan within core conceptual frameworks in religious
studies and the social sciences, with the goal of providing recommendations to the General
Conference, its Departments, and its world divisions regarding how to address issues that
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emerge from the data analysis. Our Andrews team is honored to be a part of this project
designed to further the achievement of the global mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Methods
Relationship to World Division Research Teams
Our team worked closely with the various world division research teams to ensure consistent
implementation of the research protocol and the consistent use of the questionnaire—all
division teams were invited to provide feedback on a draft version of the GCMS instrument
prior to the distribution of the final version. We made allowances for divisions to add or delete
questions where necessary, but followed a communication process to ensure that our meta-
analysis team was aware of and could deal with these decisions in the construction of the meta-
analysis data file. Each division chose its exact sampling framework based on resources and
their divisional context. However, there was consistency in the methods used. The sample in
each division focused on representing the breadth of the Adventist Church membership in each
division to make sure that churches were chosen from each Union and from various locales in
that Union to ensure urban to rural representation. Our Andrews team was in regular contact
with the division research teams and met with representatives from most of the teams at Loma
Linda University in May of 2017 at the annual conference of the Adventist Human-Subject
Researchers Association. ASTR worked closely with each division to ensure data collection
deadlines were met and that the data was delivered to the Andrews University team.
Considerable time was also spent in creating an omnibus file from seven of the nine divisions
included in the 2012-2013 survey to enable further analysis from these data as well as to allow
for comparison where possible to the current survey. Appropriate human-subject review
procedures were used in each division and the Andrews University Institutional Review Board
approved the meta-analysis.
Data Collection Timeline
Data were collected in each of the world divisions after the final version of the GCMS was
distributed in March 2017, and continued until August 2018. This final report reflects data
collected until August 14, 2018. A preliminary report was submitted to the General Conference
Future Plans Working Group based on a June 7, 2018 snapshot of the data comprising over 97%
of the expected data; the current (final) report includes additional data from the North
American Division and the Southern Asia Division. As noted, this report provides a basic
overview of the data. More in-depth analyses are planned and will be undertaken over the next
year in preparation for the General Conference Session in Indianapolis in 2020.
Omnibus Sample
The number of respondent cases presented in this report represents 63,756 unique
questionnaire forms. However, between 5%-15% of cases have missing data for any given
GCMS item because of skipped items or incomplete questionnaires. Nevertheless, the number
of cases is very large and enabled us to examine and compare the data across divisions and in
more sophisticated ways—for example, a substantial component of follow-up analyses will take
advantage of this large sample to identify profiles of members with particular outcomes and
beliefs. The size of the sample also means that any difference between divisions or any
correlation between items will be statistically significant. For example, correlations as low as r =
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.02 were significant at the p < .05 level. Thus, we do not focus on statistical significance when
we discuss the data, but rather on the strength of relationships and magnitude of differences.
Setting the confidence level at 99%, the large sample sizes in this report yield relatively small
margins of error. For overall sample numbers, a sample size of 50,000 (most variables have a
larger sample size than this for the global percentages) will lead to margins of error between
about ±0.1% and ±0.6%. For a sample size of 25,000, this would be about ±0.2% to ±0.8%. For
any individual difference, a conservative division sample size of 1,500 will yield margins of error
between about ±0.7% and ±3.3%. When comparing percentages across two levels of a
categorical variable, the margin of error on the difference with a conservative cell size of 3,000
would be between about ±0.7% and ±2.7%. Thus, a very conservative heuristic for the 99%
confidence margin of error on any percentage in the report is ±1% on global percentages,
±3.5% on division percentages, and ±3% on differences in percentages. The vast majority of
percentages and percentage differences reported in the meta-analysis will have margins of
error that are less than these conservative heuristics. Sample sizes are provided for all global
percentages in order to allow readers to calculate specific margins of error for global
percentages if needed. In any of our conclusions, we only make a comment about a difference
if we see at minimum a difference of 4% or more.
Reach the World Objectives Not Covered
Several of the Reach the World Objectives had KPIs that were best reported at particular
institutional levels, and thus would not be known by or accessible to church members directly.
In order to place some limit on the number of items in the instrument, this report does not
touch directly on any components of:
● Objective #5 concerning teaching and use of the historicist-grammatical interpretation
of the Bible (but see Objective #2.1G and Q43 in the Appendix for some insight in
layman’s terms).
● Objective #12 concerning institutional outcomes for developing a presence in 10/40
window
● Objective #13 concerning institutional outcomes for developing programs of and
capacity for urban outreach
● Objective #14 concerning the development of five year plans for church planting
● Objective #15 concerning actions at departmental levels for reorienting mission (local
church evangelism issues of concern to church members are covered under Objective
#18).
● Objective #19 concerning directors’ reports on missions to people holding non-Christian
belief systems
● Objective #20 concerning decisions from appropriation committees about resource
alignment
Format of the Report

The report is organized around the presentation of key Reach the World Objectives from the
2015-2020 Strategic Plan. To allow the Future Plans Working Group to work flexibly, we have
organized our report into two-page modules that can be grouped and re-organized by readers
as necessary. Each module outlines an Objective, its Key Performance Indicators, and the
corresponding GCMS items that address that Objective. Wherever possible, data from the 2013
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survey are used to ascertain if there was a change in attitudes, beliefs, practices, or
awareness.
Specifically the report is organized as follows (see figure on next page):
1. The Reach the World Objective that is being addressed is summarized at the top of that
module narrative along with the Key Performance Indicators. We list the GCMS items
(with numbers for reference to the Appendix) selected for that Objective prior to each
module’s conclusions.
2. The report on each objective begins with a six or seven point conclusion narrative. In
this narrative, all percentages are rounded to the nearest whole percent. Therefore, for
example, if a percentage was between 45.5% and 46.0% inclusive it was rounded up to
46%. If the percentage was between 45.0% and 45.4%, it was rounded down to 45%. In
the appendix, percentages are reported to the tenth of a percent.
3. On the facing page, the data are presented in the form of color graphs of the responses
to the selected GCMS items described in the module narrative.
4. Overall responses are graphically presented on the left side of pages reporting sample
characteristics, and at the top of pages reporting on Objectives. A color key is placed
below the overall response graphs.
5. Responses by world division are presented to the right of overall responses on pages
reporting sample characteristics, and below overall responses on pages reporting on
Objectives. On these figures, each bar is labelled with a world division acronym and
keyed by color to a map of world divisions at the bottom of the page.
6. The map is provided with each set of module figures so that readers can more readily
see the geographical coverage of each world division. We recognize that church leaders
likely know the location and coverage of world divisions; however, in the event that
modules are shared with individuals who do not have this information immediately
available, we thought it was helpful to have this map. Essentially, we want each module
that focus on a Reach the World Objective to be able to stand as its own as a mini-
report for presentation and discussion purposes.
7. Each summary/conclusion of an objective is limited to two pages so that the conclusions
and data can be viewed side-by-side without flipping back and forth between pages. In
two cases, we have duplicated a narrative on consecutive two-page spreads in order to
focus on difference graphical depictions of key points. In these cases, the graphical
displays are labelled “Part 1” and Part 2”.
8. At the end of the data presentation, we also provide an Executive Summary focusing on
overall conclusions and implications from the data.
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9
Executive Summary
Adventist Church Members and Christian Worldview

The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is, in part, to “call all people to become
disciples of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the everlasting gospel embraced in the three angels’
messages, and to prepare the world for Christ’s soon return.” The responses from the 2017-
20178 GCMS indicate that Seventh-day Adventists are committed Christians who embrace this
call.
Church members focus on Christ and His word with frequent personal devotions. Seventh-day
Adventists spend significant time focusing on the life of Jesus (Heb. 12:2) with 52% doing so
daily or more and an additional 22% more than once a week. Additionally, a vast majority of
respondents in all Divisions regularly read the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16), have personal devotions (2
Tim. 2:15), and have personal prayer (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
Relative to their surrounding cultures, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church can be
described as a counter-cultural, very Christ-focused community. To a significant extent,
members are focused on the life of Christ and the salvation He offers, on reading His word, and
on having an active prayer and devotional life, even in secular western cultures, polytheist
cultures, and cultures hostile to Christianity. Members have successfully integrated the core
and unique contributions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church into their daily lives and their
worldview. In so doing, church members from all generations and social-demographic groups
continue to act as Christ’s last-day ambassadors and messengers (Rev. 14:6-12), and to
continue the heritage of the counter-cultural Adventist pioneers.
Adventist Church Members and Distinct Adventist Beliefs
In addition to sharing core Christian beliefs, the Seventh-day Adventist Church identifies itself
as the “remnant church of end-time Bible prophecy”. Accordingly, the Adventist Church holds
particular distinctive beliefs and practices that set it apart from other Christian denominations.
Our data indicate that there is a strong level of support for all of the church’s Fundamental
Beliefs and the church’s unique beliefs such as the investigative judgment and the work of the
Spirit of Prophecy. While social media can amplify dissidents who reject or twist these beliefs,
these data suggest relatively strong consensus among church members—the loudest voices
may not be representative of the majority of church members. Any differences between
members tend to be between “strongly agree” and “agree” responses. This pattern is
illustrated by the data on the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary. In all divisions, there was
strong majority support for these unique beliefs.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that salvation is only through Christ, but many see the Health
Message playing a role in Salvation. About 95 percent of the respondents agreed that salvation
is only through Jesus Christ. There was a very high level of agreement with this belief in all
generations and socio-demographic groups. However, the data also suggest that there is some
confusion about the role of the Health Message in salvation. About 47% agreed that keeping
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the Health Message guarantees salvation (only 38% disagreed). This rate was highest in Africa
and Asia. It was lowest in the North American Division (where vegan and vegetarianism were
highest) where 93% rejected the view that keeping the health message guaranteed salvation.
While this is of some concern (Matt. 16:3; 1 Cor. 3:2), the process of integrating separate beliefs
and practices requires time in dialogue with fellow believers and the Holy Spirit—this is a
picture of a church ready to go deeper in connecting beliefs and practices into an integrated
whole.
Troubling misunderstandings surrounding the unity of mind, body and spirit and state of the
dead. A high proportion of church members from cultural environments that have an animist,
polytheistic, or spiritualist tradition believe both that the dead are unconscious (the Adventist
doctrinal position) and that the spirits of the dead are in heaven and can communicate with the
living. In addition, a high proportion of those from these contexts believe that Adventists can go
to witch doctors and other spiritual healers. Once again, this speaks to a disconnect between
recognizing and supporting the Adventist doctrinal position and identifying how that doctrinal
position affects other beliefs and practices—an opportunity for intentional discipling and
teaching. The data further suggested that years in Adventist education in these cultural
contexts did not increase rejection of non-Adventist doctrines, and may have exacerbated
acceptance of these doctrines.
Living an Adventist Life
Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are called to not only transform their worldview
and beliefs, but to live so that “every action of the Christian life is done ‘in the name of Jesus’”.
The vast majority of church members apply Biblical teachings and the Sabbath to their daily life.
Religion for Seventh-day Adventist Church members is not relegated to only time in church or
even to the Sabbath hours (Phil. 1:20; Gal. 2:20). In fact, more than 80% of church members
report that the Sabbath informs the way that they live during the week. On the other hand,
over 42% of members feel that their religious belief does not affect their daily life—with higher
proportions outside of more secular cultural contexts. This suggests opportunities for the
church to connect Biblical teaching to the problems that members face in daily life.
The Health Message has permeated all parts of the global church. The church has had
considerable success in educating it members to understand the integration of mind, body and
spirit and the role the health message plays in spiritual development. The success of the Health
Message in shaping daily decisions about what to eat, how to cope with stress, and other
everyday decisions provides a model for further integrating Biblical teachings with members’
daily lives.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains a high level of acceptance of the health message
regarding the importance of abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs as well as
actually abstaining from their use. About 92% of the respondents agreed with the church’s
position on these substances and about 91% reported that they had not used alcohol in the last
year with 97% reporting no use of tobacco in that time period. The data suggest that Seventh-
day Adventists have one of the lowest rates of substance use of any global religious/social
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group and that the church has had major success in educating church members to abstain from
these substances in the face of a global culture that is considerably saturated with alcohol and
other substance use.
Worldviews and World Divisions
Church members in the thirteen world Divisions face challenges from three broad types of
worldviews in their surrounding cultures. Considering these worldviews may be useful in
interpreting church members’ responses. We describe these as three separate worldviews, but
many world divisions are in contexts that involve two, or even all three of these challenging
worldviews.
Worldview #1: Secularism, indifference to religion, and atheism (2 Peter 3:3). This worldview is
typically found in the developed industrialized world as well as parts of the world influenced by
twentieth-century totalitarian socialism and communism. These areas are characterized by a
limited or diminishing role of religion in public life and, often, relatively high levels of education.
Church members in these settings may experience burnout or inaction as a result of the
difficulties associated with evangelizing indifferent and hostile non-Adventists. On the other
hand, these settings may also push believers to think deeply about their doctrinal
commitments.
In the 2017-2018 GCMS, world divisions in secular contexts reported less enthusiasm for
evangelism and less awareness of and involvement in Reach the World Mission Priorities—
especially those that required public interaction and local church commitments. A similar turn
to a more private religiosity was evidenced by less interest in knowing about or following
General Conference directives and priorities, or shared Bible study curricula such as the
Sabbath School lesson. Accordingly, church members from these divisions also indicated higher
interest in policy diversity. However, this desire for policy diversity was not at all reflected in a
desire for abandoning core Adventist doctrines—these same divisions were often the most
orthodox in understanding of Fundamental Beliefs such as salvation only through Christ and the
state of the dead, as well as the nature of Biblical inspiration. Moreover, members from these
divisions indicated a desire to interact with the surrounding community, but a frustration with
lack of preparedness for doing so. These divisions had higher levels of education, greater
awareness of Ellen White’s writings, and were from older age cohorts. While these could be
seen as evidence of an aging church that has lost its vitality, the Adventist Church in secular
contexts has an abundance of wisdom ready to be harnessed in developing new methods for
reaching secularized communities for Christ, and for mentoring new believers into the core
beliefs of our faith.
Worldview #2: Hostility to Christianity (Matt. 10:16). This worldview is often localized to parts
of the world that have experienced a resurgence of Islam and Hinduism that make it difficult to
grow the church or for the church to actively participate in the public square. As in atheist
settings that are hostile to Christianity, burnout may be a risk for church members who have
repeatedly encountered hostility. There may also be an increased focus on private, rather than
public expressions of faith in order to avoid conflict with the community.
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In the 2017-2018 GCMS, church members in divisions with largely hostile contexts reported less
interest in community outreach, less interest in reclaiming members, and less interest in
evangelism. This pattern may have emerged because of personal safety issues and burn out
from attempts to engage while being rebuffed by the local community. A challenge in these
contexts is to identify ways to apply Christ’s method of evangelism to hostile cultural contexts.
Worldview #3: Animism, polytheism, and spiritualism (Jer. 11:13). This worldview is prevalent in
parts of the world where Christianity is more recent and where traditions of spiritualism have a
long history. In these settings, spiritualist practices have not only personal implications, but are
also part of the perceived well-being of the community and economy as reflected in general
cultural beliefs and practices. As a result, Adventists this part of the world may be more
comfortable with grafting Adventist doctrine onto the spiritualist beliefs and practices that are
part of community and public life. Church members in these settings may be more likely to view
Adventism through the lens of public expressions of faith rather than of doctrine and belief, and
to mix Adventism with pre-existing cultural beliefs and practices. The data also suggest that
Adventist education does not overcome this cultural context, and may, in fact, amplify it
because education provides a social context for shared cultural understandings to flourish.
In the 2017-2018 GCMS, there is good evidence that the Adventist Church in spiritualist
contexts operates in an environment that is receptive to spiritual things. A higher level of
outreach to the community through evangelism and focus on reclamation of members is
evidence of this. The cultural habit of community-level and public focus on the spiritual relates
to higher levels of looking for direction to the General Conference and higher awareness and
involvement in General Conference initiatives. However, the same familiarity with an accessible
and present world of spirits is also associated with less adherence to fundamental beliefs such
as the state of dead and unity of the mind, body, and spirit. The strength of the church in these
contexts flows from vigorous church growth and the passion of a younger church.
Opportunities for Church Member Development
Any Christian church would be extremely pleased with results like those reported here—the
extent of global agreement on and wholehearted acceptance of beliefs and practices show the
success of the Adventist Church in developing and maintaining a united global community of
belief. Addressing some further issues will only strengthen that unity of belief and practice.
Indeed, the GCMS data indicates that there is a strong base of Adventist Christian belief and
practice to build from all around the world, as well as assets among the world divisions in sound
doctrine, winsome evangelism, and Christ-like discipling that can be shared the strengthen the
whole Body of Christ.
Expanding the Adventist devotional life beyond basic practices. While the majority of Adventist
church members engage in Bible study, personal devotions, and personal prayer every day,
there is an opportunity for the Adventist Church to train church members to build on these
basic and necessary practices. Reading the Sabbath School lesson, participating in small groups,
and especially family worship and reading the writings of Ellen White are all practices that
should be integrated with church members’ existing habits to deepen and strengthen
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members’ connection to God. While the church has invested in traditional and social media to
facilitate members’ devotional lives, the personal training and social interactions that have
proved so successful in integrating the Health Message into members’ lives may be essential in
converting recommendations for a deeper devotional life into habits.
Harnessing generational transfer of knowledge to strengthen understanding of doctrine and
retain members. The Adventist Church is a young church—a large proportion of the church is
made up of first and second-generation church members. Faced with the challenge of ensuring
the continuation of God’s people, Moses (Deut. 6:7) and Joshua (Joshua 4:20-22) both turned
to the task of teaching future generations as a means for ensuring that believers would
continue to progress in the faith. In divisions with a core of families that have been in the
Adventist Church for several generations, church members are more likely to wholeheartedly
support core fundamental beliefs. Likewise, the institutionalization of generational transfer of
knowledge—Adventist education—is associated with greater support for sound doctrine across
all church members in cultural contexts with a higher concentration of multi-generational
Adventist families. This suggests that programs that bring older generational cohorts (from the
perspective of a history with the Church) into direct contact with younger cohorts may prove to
deepen the understanding of both.
Adventist education benefits the whole church. Traditionally the church educational system has
played an important role in educating youth in the beliefs and practices of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. However, in many of the world divisions only a small percentage of the
respondents have had any education in the church school system—and the system itself may
serve a substantial proportion of non-Adventists. Notably, the division with the highest level of
Adventist education participation (North American Division) had the highest acceptance of such
Fundamental Beliefs as state of the dead and the unity of mind, body and spirit—even among
members in that division with no Adventist education. Thus, Adventist education may lead to
richer interactions in Sabbath School, small groups, and family worships, even for those
members who do not have the opportunity to attend Adventist schools in settings where broad
involvement in Adventist education contributes to shared community understanding. However,
divisions with lower levels of Adventist education were more likely to believe, for example, that
the spirits of the dead were in heaven and that Adventists could go to witch doctors and
spiritual healers. The apparent decline in participation in Adventist education across divisions,
then, may be a challenge in maintaining a global community united in belief and practice—but
the strength of the Adventist educational system provides an opportunity for developing Total
Member Involvement among the youngest Adventists. Again, there is an exception that needs
to be noted and considered when planning to use Adventist education to build Total Member
Involvement. In divisions within Asia and Africa (in many cases hostile and polytheist cultural
contexts), Adventist education did not relate to a Biblically correct understanding of the state of
the dead. While there was agreement that the dead are not conscious, a majority also affirmed
that the dead were in heaven and could communicate with the living. This implies that culture
is powerful, can override Adventist teachings when distinctions are not addressed directly, and
14
while there is a level of acceptance of Adventist fundamental beliefs, these may be layered
onto more deeply-held cultural beliefs and practices which must be explicitly challenged.
Further Directions
In preparing this report, we have covered only a fraction of the wealth of information collected
in the 2017-2018 GCMS. While we expect our further work with this data to be informed by
feedback from various levels and departments throughout the Adventist Church, our team has
already identified several areas for immediate deeper study. We look forward to continuing to
work with our colleagues at ASTR and others at the General Conference to understand further
the important data that were collected in this endeavor.
● Examining changes in belief and practice around transformational experiences such as
conversion, commitment to Christ, and baptism.
● Identifying how age cohort, family history with the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
personal history with the church, and Adventist education play a role in internalization
of belief and practice.
● Explore the role of the family in intergenerational transmission of beliefs and lifelong
commitment to the church.
● Further exploring the profiles of individuals with disabilities and challenges of access in
the Adventist Church.
● A comprehensive overview of the impact of the Health Message on doctrinal beliefs and
daily life practices as well as commitment to the church.
● Uncovering relationship between member care, nurture, belief and practice.
● Studying the GCMS data through the lens of a theoretical framework that considers
both horizontal (towards others) and vertical (towards God) relationships of believers,
as well as hope directed towards improving people’s lives in the present and pointing
people to the hope of Christ’s soon return.
15
Sample Size and Division Distribution
As has been noted, the total sample (N) for this report is 63,756. Following are the sample sizes
from each world division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the percent of the total
sample that came from that division. For any given question analyzed, the number of valid
cases will often be 5%-15% lower because some respondents did not answer that specific
question (depending on the division and the item).
South Pacific Division (SPD): 3304 cases (5.2% of sample)
Southern Asia Division (SUD): 2981 cases (4.7% of sample)
Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD): 6874 cases (10.8% of sample)
Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD): 3064 cases (4.8% of sample)
Euro-Asia Division (ESD): 2251 cases (3.5% of sample)
Inter-European Division (EUD): 3865 cases (6.1% of sample)
Trans-European Division (TED): 1331 cases (2.1% of sample)
North American Division(NAD): 1923 cases (3.0% of sample)
Inter-American Division (IAD): 5185 cases (8.1% of sample)
South American Division (SAD): 17220 cases (27.0% of sample)
Southern Africa & Indian Ocean Division (SID): 5488 cases (8.6% of sample)
East-Central Africa Division (ECD): 7838 cases (12.3% of sample)
West-Central Africa Division (WAD): 2432 cases(3.8% of sample)
One of the issues we considered before we conducted the meta-analysis was whether we
should weight the division data by its proportion of the total world membership. There were a
number of difficulties with taking that approach. First, the accuracy of the total division
membership list varies. Areas of the world church have differing practices in how often they
review the accuracy of their membership lists or how often those lists are updated. In addition,
there were differences in sampling approaches in the various divisions that may also affect how
to weight the data from different divisions. As the preceding list shows, the South American
Division is an outlier in terms of the proportion contributed to the total number of respondents
(although the SAD is a large division and one of the fastest growing divisions). However, an
examination of the SAD data does not show that this division is a statistical outlier where actual
response patterns are concerned. SAD church members’ responses are relatively close to those
of the IAD, which would be expected given geographical and cultural proximity (together, IAD
and SAD are 35% of the sample, and 31% of the world church membership in 2016). Consistent
with the 2012-2013 study, we felt it was best to integrate the cases, unweighted, into one
global file and also organize and present the data by each of the world divisions. Readers can be
aware of the number of cases by division, examine the presentation and discussion of the data
by division and understand how each division contributes to the total global data distribution.
16
Demographics of the 2017-2018 Global Church Member Survey Sample
In this section of the report we characterize the 2017-2018 GCMS sample through the lens of
family, the basic building block of the church and the level of implementation for many of the
core Adventist beliefs and practices outlines in the Reach the World plan.
17
Demographics of the Respondents
One of the key descriptors of a sample is the age and gender structure of the respondents.
Q1 – Are you male or female?

Age Cohort – This is a derived variable from Q2 (In what year were you born?)
● children and youth (less 16 years of age)
● emerging adults (16-25 years)
● young adults (26-40 years)
● adults (41-55 years)
● older adults (56 years or older)
Conclusions
1. The data show that there is great diversity in the ages of the respondents with young adults
being the largest category at about 30% – Overall, the data indicate that the global church
has a wide distribution of generations across divisions.
2. There is major variance by division; respondents from the North American Division are the
oldest with about 81% being adults or older adults – Respondents from the Southern Asia,
West-Central Africa, and Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Divisions have the youngest
respondents with 63-64% identifying as young adults or younger.
3. About 51% of the respondents are female and 49% male – These data show about an equal
distribution of males and females participated in the study.
4. There are major differences in gender distribution by division – The Euro-Asia Division had
the highest proportion of females at 63% and the West-Central Africa and East-Central
Africa Divisions had the highest proportion of males at 65%.
5. While it is beyond the scope of this brief report, it is important to note that lifelong
commitment to the church, degree of agreement with fundamental beliefs, and
engagement with the church does not vary substantially by age or gender – The data overall
suggest a wide socio-demographic loyalty and engagement with the church.
18
Age Cohort
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(derived from Q2) Age Category
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Gender
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q1) Are you male or female?
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Demographics
Valid Respondents:
Age: 60959
Gender: 61863
19
30 19
The Global Adventist Family: Households
The Seventh-day Adventist Church places a high priority on the family.
Q8 – How many people live in your immediate household (including yourself)?

Q10 – Marital relationship status.
Q11 – Do you have any children? (If so, are they living at home?)
Conclusions
1. The average size of the Adventist household is 4.75 individuals, with 51% of households
having 3-5 members. There were 5% who reported living alone.
2. This varied quite a bit by division. In the North American Division 14% of households
reported living alone. The Southern Asia Division had less than 1% who were living alone.
This likely reflects the different age structure of these two divisions.
3. The majority of participants are married (59%) though there were several who were never
married/single (28%), and a very small percent were divorced and single (under 5%),
separated (2%), or widowed (4%).
4. The North American and Northern Asia-Pacific Divisions had the highest rates of married
participants at 75%. The Southern-Africa Indian Ocean and Southern Asia-Pacific Divisions
had the lowest levels at around 50%.
5. A large percentage of participants have at least one child at home (47%). Just over one-
third of respondents reported not having any children (35%). This statistic would match the
large number of those who report being single.
6. Compared to other divisions, respondents in the North American Division were the least
likely to a have child at home (29%). The East-Central Africa Division was the most likely
(61%) to have children living at home.
7. Thus, the most common Adventist household has 3-5 members (51%), with a husband and
wife, and at least one child living at home.
20
People in Household
SPD SUD SSD NSD
20.0%
40%
30%
20%
15.0% 10%
0%
Proportion
ESD EUD TED NAD

10.0% 40%
30%
20%
Proportion
10%
5.0% 0%
IAD SAD SID ECD
0.0% 40%
30%
1 10 20%
10%
0%
(Q8) How many people live in your immediate household (including yourself)? WAD
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Marital Status
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
(Q10) Marital status IAD
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Number of Children
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q11) Do you have any children? (if so, are they living at home?)
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Household
Valid Respondents:
Household: 61100
Marital: 61629
Children: 59256 21
30 21
The Global Adventist Family: Family-Church Connection
The intergenerational relationships between a family and the church have implications for how
beliefs and practices are taught.
Q9 – How many people in your immediate household (including yourself) observe the
Sabbath?
Q16 – Which of the following statements best describes your personal history with the
Seventh-day Adventist Church?
Family History with Adventist Church – Variable derived from Q17 (How many generations of
Adventists in your family?)
Conclusions
1. A vast majority of respondents live in a household where at least one additional member
observes Sabbath (91%). About 64% of the respondents live in households where all members
observe the Sabbath.
2. There are divisions that have high proportions (over 20%) of having one household member
who observes Sabbath, but these are divisions that have high proportions of single households
or in regions that are more likely to be hostile to the church.
3. Most of the respondents are not raised in the church since birth (69%). There were 31% who
reported growing up in the church, but a larger percent joined as an adult (36%). There were
several who joined at other ages; 11% joined as children and 15% joined as teenagers. There
was a small percent who left and returned to the church later (7%).
4. The North American Division had the highest percentage of participants who were born into
the church at 55%. The South American, Euro-Asia, and Northern Asia-Pacific Divisions had the
lowest rates with 17% who were in the church since birth.
5. A large percentage of participants report being first generation Adventists (41%). About 22%
report having at least one parent who was SDA and 12% were five generations or more.
6. The South American and Euro-Asia Divisions have the highest percentage of first generation
Adventists with about 57% and 59%. The Central Africa Divisions had the highest rates of fifth
generation Adventists with around 19% for West and 25% for the East-Central African
Divisions.
7. The global Adventist Church does not have a long family history with the church, but most
members live in households where the majority observe Sabbath.
22
Sabbath-Keepers in Household
SPD SUD SSD NSD
40%
30%
20%
15.0% 10%
0%
Proportion
ESD EUD TED NAD

10.0%
40%
30%
20%
Proportion
10%
5.0% 0%
IAD SAD SID ECD
0.0% 40%
30%
0 10 20%
10%
0%
(Q9) How many people in your immediate household WAD
40%
(including yourself) observe the Sabbath? 30%
20%
10%
0%
Personal History with SDA Church

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
(Q16) Which of the following statements best describes your IAD
NAD
personal history with the Seventh-day Adventist Church? TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Length of Family History in SDA Church

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(derived from Q17) Maximum length of family history in the Adventist Church.
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
History
with
Church
Valid Respondents:
Sabbath-Keepers: 60695
Personal History: 61199
Family History: 60764
23
30 23
The Global Adventist Family: Family Religious Routines
Religious routines during childhood pave the way for adult connections to Christ and the
church.
Q22.01 – Family religious routines during childhood: I felt very close to one or both of my
parents or guardians.
Q22.03 -- Family religious routine during childhood: I was able to talk to one or both of my
parents about religious issues.
Q22.07 – Family religious routines during childhood: One or both of my parents or guardians
attended church regularly.
Conclusions
1. A vast majority of global church members report feeling very close to their parents (79%).
2. This varied a little by division. The East-Central Africa Division was the highest at 85% while the
Southern-Asia Division had the lowest level of agreement regarding feeling very close to
parents at 68%.
3. Most respondents report being able to talk to their parents about religious issues (71%).
4. The North American Division was the highest on this question at 78% and the lowest level of
not applicable (3%). The Euro-Asia Division had the lowest level of agreement over this
question at 56%, but they also had the highest level of not applicable (27%). The Northern
Asia-Pacific Division was similar with 65% agreement, but 20% not applicable.
5. A vast majority of respondents report one or both parents attended church regularly (66%).
6. The Southern Asia Division had the highest level of agreement at 84%, and had low levels of
not applicable (5%). The North American Division was at 83% agreement, but even lower levels
of not applicable (3%). The Euro-Asia Division had the lowest level agreement over this
question at 41% with 37% not-applicable. In the South American Division, 53% agreed and 24%
responded not applicable.
7. A majority of respondents report feeling very close to their parents, they can talk to their
parents about religious issues and have parents who role modeled going to church regularly.
The data suggest that Seventh-day Adventist families are strong in a global community where
the family is often under attack.
24
Close to Parents
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q22.01) Family religious routines during childhood: I felt
NAD
very close to one or both of my parents or guardians. TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Talk About Religious Issues

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
(Q22.03) Family religious routines during childhood: I was able to IAD
NAD
talk about one or both of my parents about religious issues TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Parents Attended Church Regularly

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
(Q22.07) Family religious routines during childhood: One or both IAD
NAD
of my parents or guardians attended church regularly TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Relationship
to Parents
Valid Respondents:
Close to Parents: 57069
Religious Issues: 55554
Attended Church: 56018
25
30 25
Seventh-day Adventist Education
The Seventh-day Adventist Church opened its first college in 1874 in Battle Creek, Michigan as a
co-educational school and in 1893 its first college outside the United States in South Africa.
Today, the church operates about 7600 educational institutions in over 100 countries. A wide
variety of studies have shown that attending an Adventist school is important to remaining a
church member.
Q5 – What is the highest level of school you have completed?

Q22.08 –Adventist education was an important factor in family [during childhood].
Derived – Did the respondent ever attend an Adventist school for at least one year?
Derived – Total number of years of Adventist education for attendees only.
Conclusions
1. As a group, Seventh-day Adventists are relatively highly educated – About 30% of the global
respondents indicated that they had a college degree or higher; only about 7% of the world
population has a college degree. 22% of the available 2013 sample completed a college
degree, but no data was collected in 2013 on the rate of Adventist education.
2. Education is not evenly distributed across the world church – The North American Division
had the highest proportion of respondents with a college degree at 73%. Only the Trans-
European and Euro-Asia Divisions also had a majority that had a college degree or higher.
Given that only about 45% of U.S. citizens age 25-64 and about 55% of Canadians hold a
college degree (2015 OECD data), the North American Division sample represents a highly
educated group relative to their cultural context. The South American Division had the
lowest level of education with about 47% not finishing high school.
3. Adventist education is also not evenly distributed across the world divisions– Overall, about
35% of global respondents had experienced at least one year of SDA education. About 78%
of the respondents from the North American and about 73% in the Southern Asia Divisions
had attended Adventist schools at least one year. In two other divisions, the majority (54%)
attended an Adventist school: the South Pacific and Southern Asia-Pacific Divisions. The
respondents from the Inter-European and Euro-Asia Divisions were the least likely to have
had any Adventist education with 85% and 89% (respectively) reporting that they had never
attended an Adventist school.
4. Adventist educational experiences do not generally comprise members’ entire educational
histories – For those who attended Adventist schools, the average (mean) was just under 8
years. The respondents in the North American and Southern Asia Divisions were the most
likely to have had as SDA education with more than 40% of these individuals having had
more than a high school education in SDA schools.
5. More members value Adventist education than experience Adventist education. About 53%
of the respondents reported that their family valued Adventist education while only 35%
have experienced any Adventist education. The North American Division had the largest
proportion that strongly agreed at 41% with the Southern Asia Division having the highest
total agreement on this item at 84%.
26
Highest Level of Schooling
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q5) What is the highest level of school you have completed?
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Experienced Adventist Education

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
(derived from Q7) At least one year of SDA education IAD

NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Importance of Adventist Education

WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q22.08) Family religious routines during childhood: Adventist
NAD
education was an important factor in family TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Adventist
Education
Valid Respondents:
Level of Schooling: 61186
Adventist Educated: 58937
Importance: 55505 27
30 27
Ability Status
People with disabilities have historically been denied the opportunity to fully participate in
society. In order to understand their participation and needs in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, questions about disability status were added to the 2017-2018 Global Church Member
Survey.
Q3 – Ability status across seven categories.
Conclusions
1. About 15% of world church members have a disability. Almost 24% in the South Pacific
Division and 20% in both the Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean and Euro-Asia Divisions had
some form of disability.
2. Just over 1% of the global church identifies as part of the Deaf community. However, almost
4% in the South Pacific Division identified as Deaf.
3. Nearly 2% of the global church has a mobility disability with the largest proportion located
in the South Pacific Division (6%).
4. Respondents with disabilities attend church services less frequently than those without,
though the majority are attending weekly (86%). About 14% of those with a disability
attended once a month or less compared to 10% of those without disabilities. This type of
difference was generally true in every division of the world church.
5. Overall, members with disabilities are engaged in the world church. However, they
experience more barriers. If the church wishes to increase the participation of those with
disabilities it may need to address barriers such as transportation, access issues to church
buildings, and increase the use of sign language.
28
Ability Status
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(derived from Q3.1) Disabled or not disabled?
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Disability Type
6%
Proportion
4%
2%
0%
Deaf Mobility Hearing Visual Cognitive Speaking Other
(derived from Q3) Disability type.
Church Attendance x Ability Status

No Disability
Disability
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

(Q25.01) Social religious activities: church (how often last 12 months)
Ability
Status
Valid Respondents:
Ability Status: 60040
Disability Type: 60400
Attendance x Ability:29
59518
30 29
Church Size and Setting
A part of understanding the sample is to examine the size and context of the churches that the
members represent.
Q20 – What is the setting where the church is located?*

Q19.1 – Approximately how many people attend your church on a typical Sabbath?
Conclusions
1. The data show that the respondents attend churches in a wide variety of settings – About
24% attended church in a town or a village (the most frequently chosen category). About
21% attended church in a downtown location. If non-downtown city location is added,
about 34% attended a church in a city.
2. The respondents in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division are the most likely to attend church in
a rural area (25%) with respondents from Northern Asia-Pacific Division most likely to
attend church in a city at (46%) – Overall, the data show that Seventh-day Adventists
attend churches in very diverse settings.
3. About 58% of the respondents attend a church where 100 or less attend each Sabbath –
Only about 7% of the respondents attended a church with an attendance of 500 or more.
4. The Trans-European and Euro-Asia Divisions appear they have the largest number of small
churches with about 90% of the respondents attending churches of 100 or less – Overall,
the data suggest that the European Divisions are particularly a collection of small churches
in comparison to the rest of the world.
5. Respondents in the East-Central Africa, North American, and Southern-Africa & Indian
Ocean Divisions are the most likely to attend church with 500 or more in attendance (at
20%, 19% and 16% respectively) – It is important to note that, even in these divisions, more
respondents attended churches with 100 or less in attendance than attended large
churches.
6. Overall, the global Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is noted for its institutions, is a
global community of small churches.
*Because of the late addition of this item to the instrument, the SPD, IAD, and SAD were unable to
include it in their data collection protocol.
30
Perceived Attendance
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q19.1) Approximately how many people attend
NAD
your church on a typical Sabbath? TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Setting
WAD
ECD
SID
SAD
IAD
(Q20) What is the setting where the church is located?
NAD
TED
EUD
ESD
NSD
SSD
SUD
SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Church
Context
Valid Respondents:
Attendance: 60876
Setting: 36819
31
30 31
32
Reach the World Objectives
In this section we report on items measuring Key Performance Indicators for the Reach the
World 2015-2020 Strategic Plan Objectives. Each pair of facing pages in this section forms a
module that can be examined independently or in concert with other modules in this report.
33
Objective #1 – To Involve Adventist Members in Regular Bible Study:
1A. Individual Bible Study
Biblical understanding is central to the spiritual life and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church.
Q26.01 – Read the Bible (how often most of the time).

Q26.02 – Engage in personal devotions (how often most of the time).
Q26.03 – Study the Sabbath School lesson (how often most of the time).
Conclusions
1. A Bible-reading people – Seventh-day Adventist Church members can be described as a

people of the Book in all of the world divisions with at least 70% of members in each world
division studying the Bible more than weekly. Overall, 76% of members reported studying
the Bible more than weekly, an increase from 73% of members in the available 2013 data.
2. High rate of personal devotions – The majority of church members had at least daily
personal devotions with over 68% engaging in devotions more than weekly in all of the
divisions. Overall, 74% of members reported having personal devotions more than weekly, a
small increase from 72% of members in the available 2013 data.
3. The majority of respondents in most divisions study the Sabbath School lesson frequently –
Almost 63% of the church members studied the Sabbath School lesson more than weekly
with the majority of divisions having at least 55% engaging in more than weekly lesson
study. The exception was the NAD with 39% doing so.
4. Bible study most common form of personal devotions – Church members were more likely
to engage in daily or more Bible study than other personal devotions or Sabbath School
lesson study.
5. Major differences in Bible reading and devotions by division – There were major differences
between the world divisions of the church in member’s devotional lives. The West-Central
Africa Division was the highest in daily or more Bible study at 56%. The Southern Asia,
Southern Asia-Pacific, and South American Divisions had the lowest rates with about 13%
reading the Bible less than weekly. Euro-Asia led the world divisions in personal devotions
with 87% reporting engaging in daily or more whereas the Inter-American Division had the
lowest rate of personal devotions with about 20% having them less than monthly.
6. Sabbath School lesson less a part of spiritual life in NAD – Study of the Sabbath School
lesson was lowest in the North American Division with 41% reporting studying the Sabbath
School lesson less than monthly, but that division was #2 in personal devotions with 59%
reporting daily or more personal devotions. The Inter-American Division was highest in
Sabbath School lesson study but lowest in personal devotions. It may be that the Inter-
American Division members use the Sabbath School lesson as the basis of personal
devotions.
34
Bible Reading
(Q26.01) Personal & family religious activities (how

Personal Devotions often most of the time): Read the Bible
(Q26.02) Personal & family religious activities (how often

Sabbath School Lesson most of the time): Engage in personal devotions
(Q26.03) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the time): Study the Sabbath School lesson
Bible Reading Personal Devotions Sabbath School Lesson

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#1.1A
Valid Respondents:
Bible: 59782
Devotions: 58009
Lesson: 58007 35
30 35
1B/C. Morning and Evening Worship with Family & Small Group Worship
Since its origins, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has placed a strong emphasis on the family
as a core value. In addition, the church has also emphasized the importance of small group
worship. Together, family worship and small groups constitute social Bible study practices.
Q26.05 – Have morning or evening worship with members of my family (how often most of
the time).
Q25.03 – Attended a small group organized through my church (how often last 12 months).
Conclusions
1. There is no majority pattern for frequency of family worship – About 37% of the global
respondents reported daily family worship with an additional 17% percent reporting more
than weekly family worship. About 35% reported family worships less than monthly. The
data show considerable variance in this practice with over one-third having daily family
worship and nearly the same proportion rarely or never having family worship.
2. Family worship is an area for growth in members’ regular Bible study – The East-Central
Africa (52%) and the Southern Asia (53%) Divisions were the only divisions where a majority
reported daily family worship. In two of the world divisions about 50% reported less than
monthly family worship: the Northern Asia-Pacific and the North American Divisions. While
the proportion of members engaging in daily or more frequent family worship is consistent
from 2013 to 2017, there is a 10% increase in members in the 2017 survey reporting family
worship less than once per month or not at all.
3. Small group participation also varies widely across individuals – About 36% of the global
respondents reported that they participated in a small group weekly or more, while about
31% participated only two or fewer times in the last year. This was one of the most evenly
distributed responses in the survey. The 2013 response set was quite different, but the rate
of 36% reporting “always” attending small group meetings appears to be similar.
4. The European and North American Divisions are the least likely to participate in small
groups with the Northern Asia-Pacific and East-Central Africa Divisions being the most likely
(over 40% weekly or more) – Parts of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division are in a very non-
Christian cultural context and small groups may be important to maintain members’ faith in
an environment hostile to Christianity in a way that is consistent with a collectivist cultural
milieu. The East-Central Africa Division appears to be one of the most active and involved in
the world.
5. Strongly individualist cultures are associated with lower social Bible study practices – The
North American and European Divisions have substantial room for growth in social Bible
study practices including family worship and small groups. Since these are individualist
cultures it will require the church to be intentional in developing new methods of fostering
social Bible study practices.
36
Family Worship
(Q26.05) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the time):
Have morning or evening worship with members of my family
Small Group Worship
(Q25.03) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months): Attended a small group organized through my church
Family Worship Small Group Worship

WAD WAD
ECD ECD
SID SID
SAD SAD
IAD IAD
NAD NAD
TED TED
EUD EUD
ESD ESD
NSD NSD
SSD SSD
SUD SUD
SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#1.1B
#1.1C
Valid Respondents:
Family Worship: 56850
Small Group: 56239
37
30 37
Summary of Bible Study and Devotional Practices
A number of religious practices involving or following from regular Bible study should structure
the lives of Seventh-day Adventists.
Q26.01 – Read the Bible (how often most of the time).

Q26.02 – Engage in personal devotions (how often most of the time).
Q26.03 – Study the Sabbath School lesson (how often most of the time).
Q26.06 – Have personal prayer at times other than meals (how often most of the time).
Q26.04 – Read the writings of Ellen G. White (how often most of the time).
Q26.05 – Have morning or evening worship with members of my family (how often most of
the time).
Conclusions
1. The majority of Seventh-day Adventist Church members are committed to religious

practices shared with other denominations – Bible reading, personal devotions, and
personal prayer were all practiced by at least 70% of respondents more than once a week;
personal devotions and personal prayer were practiced by a majority of respondents every
day.
2. The Sabbath School lesson is a core regular Bible study practice – The majority (63%) of
respondents reported studying the Sabbath School lesson more than weekly; more than
three-quarters (80%) studied the lesson at least once a week. This means that Seventh-day
Adventists across the globe share in a focused study of a particular portion of scripture each
week and that the focus of the Sabbath School lesson can be a foundation for a Biblical
conversation between Seventh-day Adventists across the globe.
3. Only a slight majority of members engage with the writings of Ellen G. White each week –
Variations in the accessibility of Spirit of Prophecy materials in the local language and use of
mobile devices do not seem to account for this lack of engagement. Linking the reading of
Ellen White’s writings to existing core Bible study practices may be able to increase the
frequency of this practice.
4. Family worship is a less frequent Bible study practice – When the sample is limited only to
people who reported at least one other person in their household, the rates of family
worship are essentially unchanged, suggesting that the lower rate of family worship is not
due to people who live alone. Again, linking family worship to existing core Bible study
practices may be a means to increase the proportion of members engaging in family
worship.
38
Bible Reading

Personal Devotions often most of the time): Read the Bible

Sabbath School Lesson most of the time): Engage in personal devotions

Personal Prayer most of the time): Study the Sabbath School lesson

Read the Writings of Ellen White often most of the time): Have personal prayer
(Q26.04) Personal & family religious activities (how often most

Family Worship of the time): Read the writings of Ellen G. White
(Q26.05) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the time):
Have morning or evening worship with members of my family
Bible Study
and
Devotional
Practices
Valid Respondents:
Bible Reading: 59782
Personal Devotions: 58009
Lesson: 58007 39
30 Prayer: 58285
Ellen White: 57137 39
Family Worship: 56850
Objective #2 – To Engage All Members in Doctrinal Study:
1A. Salvation by Faith
At its very core, the gospel is the good news about the salvation offered through the vicarious
atonement of Jesus Christ. Seventh-day Adventists, while emphasizing that it is the intercession
of Christ that saves human beings, also emphasize the importance of obedience to the law as
the result of a saving relationship with Christ.
Q31.01 – How often does your pastor preach on the following topics? Righteousness by Faith.
Q42.16 – I am saved the moment I believe and accept what Jesus has done for me.
Q42.07 – I will not get to heaven unless I obey God’s law perfectly.
Conclusions
1. Seventh-day Adventist pastors preach righteousness by faith frequently in all of the world
divisions – 70% of all respondents reported that they heard righteousness by faith sermons
at least frequently with 26% reporting very frequent and with no division falling below 64%.
2. Seventh-day Adventist Church members strongly agree that they are saved as soon as they
accept Christ as their Savior – About 66% of global respondents strongly agreed that they
are saved the moment they accept Jesus as their Savior with an additional 24% agreeing
with that statement (90% total). Over 90% of members also agreed with this statement in
the 2013 survey. There is little difference by division. However, in the Northern Asia-Pacific
and the Southern Asia Divisions, less than 50% strongly agreed with the statement (45% and
36% respectively).
3. A large majority of Seventh-day Adventists believe that they must perfectly obey the law to
be saved – About 42% strongly agreed that they need to perfectly obey the law to be saved
with an additional 23% agreeing. This overall 65% agreement (67% in the subset of 7
divisions reporting in both surveys) is less than the 85% reported in the 2013 survey*.
Members from the East-Central Africa Division were the most likely to believe that the law
must be obeyed perfectly with 64% strongly agreeing with the perfection statement.
4. Members from the North American Division are the most likely to disagree about the need
for perfection for salvation – About 76% of the respondents in the North American Division
disagreed about the need to keep the law perfectly to be saved while only 17% agreed. The
majority (57%) of respondents in the Trans-European Division also disagreed.
5. The data suggest that there is a complex relationship between understandings of
righteousness by faith and the role of obedience to the law with large variance between
world divisions – A large majority of members in all divisions agreed that salvation is by faith
in the atonement and intercession of Christ and, outside of the North American and Trans-
European Divisions, over 45% also in the need for perfect obedience to the law.
* The 2013 survey did not have an “unsure” option and only had four response options instead of five.
40
Sermons on Righteousness by Faith
(Q31.01) Sermon topics: Righteousness by Faith
Saved by Faith
(Q42.16) Fundamental beliefs: I am saved the moment I

Obey Law Perfectly believe and accept what Jesus has done for me.
(Q42.07) Fundamental beliefs: I will not get to

heaven unless I obey God’s law perfectly.
Sermons Saved by Faith Obey Law Perfectly

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1A
Valid Respondents:
Sermons: 58271
Saved by Faith: 56846
Obey Law Perfectly: 41
56641
30 41
1B. State of the Dead
One of the core beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the unity of body and soul as
reflected in the unconsciousness of the dead.
Q42.11 – When people die, their bodily remains decay and they have no consciousness or
activity until they are resurrected.
Q42.03 – The soul is a separate, spiritual part of a person and lives on after death.
Q42.23 – The dead have powers to communicate with and influence the living.
Conclusions
1. Near consensus that the dead are unconscious – Overall, the proportion of respondents
that strongly agreed that the dead are unconscious was about the highest of all questions.
Almost 90% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement, a slight increase from 86% in
2013. Given that this is a core and relatively unique belief, this indicates that there was
significant consensus that the dead are unconscious. However, there were major
differences by divisions.
2. Historically Christian divisions are most likely to accept that the dead are unconscious –
Over 80% of the respondents in the North American, Trans-European and Inter-European
Divisions strongly agreed that the dead are not conscious.
3. Divisions from Hindu and Buddhist parts of the world are least likely to believe dead are
unconscious– World divisions from Hindu and Buddhist parts of the world, the Southern
Asia-Pacific and Southern Asia Divisions, were the least sure of this core doctrine with about
19% and 17% respectively disagreeing with or uncertain about this doctrine.
4. Less agreement on dualism – The data on the immortality of the soul is more complex.
While about 59% of the global respondents disagreed that the soul lives on after death,
about 33% agreed that the soul did live on after death.
5. Majority Hindu, Buddhist, and Animist divisions most likely to view the soul as living on after
death – With a few exceptions, the divisions where the dead were viewed as unconscious
were the divisions who were least likely to view the soul as living on after death.
Conversely, the divisions where members were less sure that the dead were unconscious
were more likely to believe that the soul lives on after death. In fact, in the Southern Asia-
Pacific and Southern Asia Divisions, 52% and 67% respectively agreed that the soul lives on
after death.
6. Only 12% of the global respondents believed the dead could communicate with and
influence the living. However, 43% of the respondents in the Southern Asia Division
believed this.
7. Success among historically Christian divisions – The data suggest that even though most
Christian traditions support the belief in the eternal soul, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
has been very successful among believers from historically Christian divisions in changing
that belief. There has been less success among divisions from Polytheistic traditions.
(See the second part of this discussion on immediately following pages)
42
State of the Dead
(Q42.11) Fundamental beliefs: When people die, their bodily remains decay
Dualism/Immortal Soul and they have no consciousness or activity until they are resurrected.
(Q42.03) Fundamental beliefs: The soul is a separate,

Spiritualism spiritual part of a person and lives on after death.
(Q42.23) Fundamental beliefs: The dead have powers to communicate with and influence the living.
State of the Dead Immortal Soul Spiritualism

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1B
Valid Respondents:
State of the Dead: 56809
Dualism: 55997
Spiritualism: 56568 43
30 43
1B: Power of Prayer Over Witchcraft and Spiritualism
As a core Christian denomination, Seventh-day Adventists have always emphasized the power
of Jesus in all things from healing to defeating Satan and his agents. Consistent with that
position, the church has also emphasized that is was wrong to seek healing from what are
traditionally called witch doctors.
Q42.11 – When people die, their bodily remains decay and they have no consciousness or
activity until they are resurrected.
Q42.10 – Christians may go to witch doctors or spiritual healers for protection or healing.
Q42.22 – Prayer in the name of Jesus is the only way to defeat evil powers and demonic
spirits.
Conclusions
1. A large proportion of church members (82%) disagree that Christians can go to witch
doctors – Moreover, about 70% of members strongly disagree. The North American Division
was the most likely to strongly disagree (88%; 97% disagreement overall).
2. About 31% of the respondents from the Southern Asia and 25% from the Southern Asia-
Pacific Divisions agree that Christians may go to witch doctors – Conversely, over 84% of the
respondents from the North American, the Inter-American, and all the European Divisions
disagreed that Christians could go to witch doctors. Only the three African divisions asked
this question in 2013; in those divisions, agreement that Christians could go to witch
doctors fell from 30% in 2013 to about 16% in this survey.
3. Almost all of the global church members (90%) agree that the only way to defeat evil
powers was prayer in the name of Jesus – About 67% of members strongly agreed
worldwide. At least 80% of respondents in all but one division agreed that prayer in the
name of Jesus was the only way to defeat evil powers. The exception was the Southern Asia
Division with 67% agreeing. Respondents from the South Pacific Division were the most
likely to strongly agree with this statement (78%).
4. Divisions from historically Hindu and Buddhist parts of the world are least likely to believe
the dead are unconscious – The Southern Asia-Pacific and Southern Asia Divisions were the
least sure of this core doctrine with about 19% and 16% disagreeing, respectively. Members
in divisions from traditionally Christian cultures, on the other hand, were most likely to
believe that the dead are unconscious, that Christians should not visit witch doctors, and
that power of prayer in Jesus’ name is the only way to defeat evil powers.
5. Belief in consciousness after death is related to acceptance of spiritualist practices – The
data suggest that stronger belief that the dead are conscious is reflected in the higher level
of acceptance of going to witch doctors (r = .34); acceptance of going to witch doctors is
related to lower certainty of the power of prayer in Jesus’ name as the only way to defeat
evil powers (r = -.16).
(See the first part of this discussion on the immediately preceding pages)
44
State of the Dead
(Q42.11) Fundamental beliefs: When people die, their bodily remains decay
Witch Doctors and they have no consciousness or activity until they are resurrected.
(Q42.10) Fundamental beliefs: Christians may go to witch

Prayer in Jesus’ Name doctors or spiritual healers for protection or healing.
(Q42.22) Fundamental beliefs: Prayer in the name of Jesus is the

only way to defeat evil powers and demonic spirits.
State of the Dead Witch Doctors Prayer in Jesus’ Name

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1B
Valid Respondents:
State of the Dead: 56809
Witch Doctors: 56660
Prayer: 56859 45
30 45
1C. The Church
A belief that the church is the bride of Christ, the equality of all church members in Christ and
the need for church unity has been core to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Q42.13 – The head of the Church is Christ.

Q42.19 – All believers are called by God to serve each other without distinction of race,
culture, education, nationality, gender, or wealth.
Q42.26 – Church unity means uniformity in more than doctrinal belief.
Q42.27 – Different regions of the world should be allowed to set their own policies in order to
meet differing needs.
Conclusions
1. There is consensus that Christ is the head of the church – About 83% strongly agreed with
this statement with an additional 13% agreeing. While there were some minor differences
by division, 78% or more respondents in each division agreed that Christ is the head of the
church (see Part 1 figures).
2. There is consensus that all are called to serve each other equally regardless of socio-
demographic characteristics – Respondents indicated a high level of agreement that in
Christ church members are one body with no distinctions; about 68% of church members
strongly agreed and a further 23% agreed (see Part 1 figures).
3. A large majority agree that church unity means uniformity in more than doctrine – About
42% responded “strongly agree” with an additional 31% responding “agree” which means
about three-quarters of all church members support this statement. Only in the Euro-Asia
Division did a majority strongly agree (59%; see Part 2 figures). The North American Division
was the most likely to disagree at 41%.
4. “Not sure” and agree are the most common response for the need for diversity of policy to
meet different regional needs -- Almost one-third (32%) disagreed with this statement and
44% agreed. These data suggest that this issue remains one of the most divisive issues
among church members (see Part 2 figures).
5. There are major differences in views by division – The Southern Asia Division had the
highest level of agreement on the need for diverse policies (64%) with the Northern Asia-
Pacific Division next highest (63%). Other divisions where the majority agreed on the need
for different regional policies include the North American and Inter-European Divisions (see
Part 2 figures).
6. Strongest disagreement with policy diversity occur in the Inter-American Division and the
three African divisions – In these divisions, around 40% of members disagreed that different
regions within the church should have different policies (see Part 2 figures).
7. Strong consensus on headship of Christ and equality in Christ with significant division
differences on need for diversity in policy – The data strongly suggest that church members
are more likely to be uncertain about the need for diverse policies with major differences
between divisions from different cultural contexts.
(The figures for this discussion appear on this pair of pages and the following pair. The discussion is repeated with both sets
figures for ease of reading.)
46
Christ is Head of Church
(Q42.13) Fundamental beliefs: The head of the Church is Christ.
Equality in Christ
(Q42.19) Fundamental beliefs: All believers are called by God to serve each other
without distinction of race, culture, education, nationality, gender, or wealth.
Christ is Head of Church Equality in Christ

WAD WAD
ECD ECD
SID SID
SAD SAD
IAD IAD
NAD NAD
TED TED
EUD EUD
ESD ESD
NSD NSD
SSD SSD
SUD SUD
SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1C
PART 1
Valid Respondents:
Head: 57268
Equality: 56661
47
30 47
1C. The Church
A belief that the church is the bride of Christ, the equality of all church members in Christ and
the need for church unity has been core to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Q42.13 – The head of the Church is Christ.

Q42.19 – All believers are called by God to serve each other without distinction of race,
culture, education, nationality, gender, or wealth.
Q42.26 – Church unity means uniformity in more than doctrinal belief.
Q42.27 – Different regions of the world should be allowed to set their own policies in order to
meet differing needs.
Conclusions
1. There is consensus that Christ is the head of the church – About 83% strongly agreed with
this statement with an additional 13% agreeing. While there were some minor differences
by division, 78% or more respondents in each division agreed that Christ is the head of the
church (see Part 1 figures).
2. There is consensus that all are called to serve each other equally regardless of socio-
demographic characteristics – Respondents indicated a high level of agreement that in
Christ church members are one body with no distinctions; about 69% of church members
strongly agreed and a further 23% agreed (see Part 1 figures).
3. A large majority agree that church unity means uniformity in more than doctrine – About
42% responded “strongly agree” with an additional 31% responding “agree” which means
about three-quarters of all church members support this statement. Only in the Euro-Asia
Division did a majority strongly agree (59%; see Part 2 figures). The North American Division
was the most likely to disagree at 41%.
4. “Not sure” and “agree” are the most common response for the need for diversity of policy
to meet different regional needs – Almost one-third (32%) disagreed with this statement
while 44% agreed . These data suggest that this issue remains one of the most divisive
issues among church members (see Part 2 figures).
5. There are major differences in views by division – The Southern Asia Division had the
highest level of agreement on the need for diverse policies (64%) with the Northern Asia-
Pacific Division next highest (63%). Other divisions where the majority agreed on the need
for different regional policies include the North American and Inter-European Divisions (see
Part 2 figures).
6. Strongest disagreement with policy diversity occur in the Inter-American Division and the
three African divisions – In these divisions, around 40% of members disagreed that different
regions within the church should have different policies (see Part 2 figures).
7. Strong consensus on headship of Christ and equality in Christ with significant division
differences on need for diversity in policy – The data strongly suggest that church members
are more likely to be uncertain about the need for diverse policies with major differences
between divisions from different cultural contexts.
(The figures for this discussion appear on this pair of pages and the preceding pair. The discussion is repeated with both sets of
figures for ease of reading.)
48
Christ is Head of Church
(Q42.13) Fundamental beliefs: The head of the Church is Christ.

Unity and Uniformity
(Q42.26) Fundamental beliefs: Church unity means

Different Regional Policies uniformity in more than doctrinal belief.
(Q42.27) Fundamental beliefs: Different regions of the world should be

allowed to set their own policies in order to meet differing needs.
Christ is Head of Church Unity and Uniformity Different Regional Policies

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1C
PART 2
Valid Respondents:
Head: 57268
Unity & Uniformity: 55029
Different Policies: 54548
49
30 49
1D. The Second Coming
The Seventh-day Adventist Church at its very core has believed in the soon second coming of
Christ.
Q45.05 – Belief acceptance: The church’s interpretation of end-time prophecies.

Q42.09 – Fulfillment of prophecy and events in the world indicate that Christ’s coming is very
near.
Q42.21 – I am confident that Jesus Christ will return in my lifetime.
Conclusions
1. Strong belief in end-time prophecies and soon coming – Overall, the data suggest that the
church has had considerable success at maintaining a belief in end-time prophecies with
about 66% wholeheartedly endorsing end-time prophecies and about 93% believing that
Jesus is coming soon (over 71% strongly agreeing).
2. Relatively small difference between divisions on end-time prophecies and soon second
coming – Except for the Southern Asia Division (at 38%), the majority of respondents in all
divisions wholeheartedly accept end-time prophecies and over 80% in all divisions agree in
the soon second coming.
3. Less certainty about Jesus coming in lifetime – Only about 34% of the respondents strongly
agreed that Jesus would come in their lifetimes, while 35% were unsure about the
statement. There was no division where a majority strongly agreed that Jesus would come
in their lifetime. The South Pacific Division had the highest percentage that strongly agreed
(48%). Similarly, in the 2013 survey, only 38% of members agreed that Christ would come in
the next 20 years.
4. The Majority in the Euro-Asia, Trans-European, and North American Divisions were not sure
that the second coming would be in their lifetimes – 71% of the Euro-Asia Division and 61%
of Trans-European Division respondents were unsure that Jesus would return in their
lifetimes followed by the North American Division at 55%.
5. Southern hemisphere divisions most likely to believe in soon second coming – About 48% of
the members in the South Pacific, 45% in the Southern Asia-Pacific, and 43% in the South
American Divisions strongly agreed that Jesus would come in their lifetimes.
6. Soon coming does not mean coming within lifetime – It is important to note that the large
majority of members in all divisions believed in the soon second coming of Christ. However,
members from divisions with European cultural traditions, perhaps because of secularism,
did not see “soon” as within their lifetimes.
50
End-Time Prophecies
(Q45.05) Belief acceptance: The Church’s interpretation of end-time prophecies.
Second Coming Very Near
(Q42.09) Fundamental beliefs: Fulfillment of prophecy and events

Second Coming in Lifetime in the world indicate that Christ’s coming is very near.
(Q42.21) Fundamental beliefs: I am confident that Jesus Christ will return in my life time.
End-Time Prophecies Second Coming Very Near Second Coming in Lifetime

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1D
Valid Respondents:
Prophecies: 54572
Very Near: 57247
Lifetime: 56280 51
30 51
1E. Creation
The belief that God created the whole universe and the belief in a recent creation of this world
in 6 literal 24-hour days is a core belief of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is also core to
the meaning of the Sabbath that celebrates the creation of the world.
Q42.17 – I believe God created the universe.

Q42.05 – I believe God created the world in six days of 24 hours each in the relatively recent
past.
Conclusions
1. Strong belief in creation – About 80% of the respondents strongly agreed that God created
the universe. In the South Pacific Division only about 36% strongly agreed.
2. Strong belief in short creation – About 65% of the respondents strongly agreed that God
created the world in 6 literal 24 hour days in the recent past.
3. In almost all divisions a large majority strongly agreed in a short creation. In the Southern
Asia Division, only 44% strongly agreed that the earth was created in 6 literal 24 hours days
in the recent past.
4. Remarkable success in maintaining belief in short creation – In a world where long-
timescale evolution is considered an unquestioned scientific fact, the Seventh-day Adventist
Church has been very successful in maintaining member belief in a recent, literal creation.
This has occurred even in such culturally secular areas as the North American, Trans-
European and Inter-European Divisions with over two-thirds of members in these divisions
strongly agreeing with a recent literal 6 day 24 hour creation.
5. Belief in creation essentially unchanged since 2013 – The 2013 survey used a different scale
that did not allow for “unsure” responses; nevertheless, the percentage of church members
disagreeing with the belief in God as Creator and a recent, literal creation is essentially
unchanged.
52
God is Creator
(Q42.17) Fundamental beliefs: I believe God created the universe.
Recent Creation
(Q42.05) Fundamental beliefs: I believe God created the world

in six days of 24 hours each in the relatively recent past.
God is Creator Recent Creation

WAD WAD
ECD ECD
SID SID
SAD SAD
IAD IAD
NAD NAD
TED TED
EUD EUD
ESD ESD
NSD NSD
SSD SSD
SUD SUD
SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#2.1E
Valid Respondents:
God is Creator: 57018
Recent Creation: 56104
53
30 53
1F. The Sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment
The belief that in 1844 Christ began an investigative judgment in the Most Holy Place in the
heavenly sanctuary is unique to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Generally, the church has
seen this belief as an important part of why it began and as core to its last warning message.
This doctrine has also been among the more disputed among scholars and church
administrators from Ludwig Conradi to Desmond Ford.
Q42.28 – The sanctuary doctrine is vital to Adventist theology.

Q45.02 – The investigative pre-Advent judgment began in 1844.
Q45.03 – Belief acceptance: Christ is acting as our advocate before God in the heavenly
sanctuary right now.
Conclusions
1. Strong support for the view that the Sanctuary Doctrine is vital to Adventist theology and
for acceptance of 1844 as the beginning of the Investigative Judgment – A majority (56%) of
global church members who responded to the survey strongly agreed with each statement.
Over 85% agreed that the Sanctuary Doctrine is vital to Adventist theology; 64%
wholeheartedly embraced 1844 as the beginning date of the Investigative Judgment.
2. Support for 1844 as the beginning of the Investigative Judgment is stable – Wholehearted
acceptance of 1844 as the beginning of the Investigative Judgment has increased slightly
from 61% in the 2013 survey to 64% in the 2017 survey.
3. Highest level of support is for the belief that Christ is our advocate – The highest level of
wholehearted acceptance surrounding the Sanctuary Doctrine is the belief that Christ is
acting as our advocate with over 81% of members embracing this view worldwide. At least
70% of members in every division, except for Southern Asia, wholeheartedly embraced the
beliefs that Christ is acting as our advocate in the heavenly sanctuary. About 35% of those
who answered this question in the Southern Asia Division did not agree that Christ is acting
as our advocate.
4. Support for Sanctuary Doctrine is lowest in the North American Division – About 21% did
not agree that this doctrine is vital to church theology. The second highest at about 19%
was the South Pacific Division. The data from the South Pacific Division and the North
American Division may reflect the influence of Desmond Ford given that these are the
divisions where he worked and wrote.
5. Unique doctrine has strong support – It is important to recognize that while there are parts
of the world where there is less support for the Sanctuary Doctrine, it is more accurate to
focus on the high level of agreement and wholehearted support for this belief amidst many
years of significant questions raised about the doctrine.
54
Sanctuary Doctrine
(Q42.28) Fundamental beliefs: The sanctuary doctrine is vital to Adventist theology.
Investigative Judgment
(Q45.02) Belief acceptance: The investigative pre-Advent

Christ, Our Advocate judgment began in 1844.
(Q45.03) Belief acceptance: Christ is acting as our advocate before God in

the heavenly sanctuary right now.
Sanctuary Doctrine Investigative Judgment Christ, Our Advocate

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OBJECTIVE
#2.1F
Valid Respondents:
Sanctuary Doctrine: 56023
Judgment: 55231
Advocate: 56300 55
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1G. Beliefs are Bible-Centered Doctrines that Reflect a Loving, Gracious God
Seventh-day Adventists regard our Fundamental Beliefs as based on clear eternal Biblical truths
and reflect the loving, gracious character of God who seeks a personal relationship.
Q42.01 – The Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs are the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Q42.02 – I believe in a personal God who seeks a relationship with human beings.
Q42.30 – The Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs as a whole reflect the loving and
gracious character of God.
Conclusions
1. Strong agreement that Adventist Fundamental Beliefs are based on scripture – Almost all
(94%) global members believe the Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs are based on
scripture, about 69% of members strongly agreed that the Fundamental Beliefs are based
on scripture with about 26% agreeing.
2. Small differences by world division on viewing Adventist beliefs as based on scripture –
While there were some differences by division, the differences are in the strength of
agreement. The North American Division (52%), the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (58%),
and the Southern Asia Division (43%), were the only divisions to have less than 60% of
members who strongly agreed that the Fundamental Beliefs were based on scripture– but
these members simply agreed instead of strongly agreeing. The West-Central Africa Division
was the most likely to strongly agree at 78%.
3. Strong belief in a personal God who seeks a relationship with human beings – About 74% of
all respondents strongly agreed that there is a personal God with an additional 21%
agreeing.
4. The was a major difference by world division on belief in a God who seeks personal
relationships with humans – In four of the world divisions, over 80% strongly agreed that
God seeks a personal relationship with his people. These were the North American (88%),
the Inter-European (85%), the Inter-American (81%), and Trans-European (85%) Divisions.
The Southern Asia Division had the lowest proportion of members who strongly agreed
(46%). However, the difference was strength of agreement, not overall agreement.
5. Strong agreement that Adventist beliefs reflect a loving and gracious God – About two-
thirds of all respondents strongly agreed that Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs
reflect a loving and gracious God with an additional 28% agreeing (overall agreement: 93%).
Only the North American Division had less than 50% strong agreement; about 85% of
members in this division agreed. The difference was in the strength of agreement, not
overall agreement.
(see the second part of this discussion on immediately following pages)
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Teaching of Holy Scripture
(Q42.01) Fundamental beliefs: The Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental

Personal God Beliefs are the teaching of Holy Scripture.
(Q42.02) Fundamental beliefs: I believe in a personal God who seeks a

Reflect God’s Character relationship with human beings.
(Q42.30) Fundamental beliefs: The Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs

as a whole reflect the loving and gracious character of God.
Teaching of Holy Scripture Personal God Reflect God’s Character

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OBJECTIVE
#2.1G
PART 1
Valid Respondents:
Teaching: 57805
Personal God: 57250
God’s Character: 56546
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1G. Beliefs are Bible-Centered Doctrines that Reflect a Loving, Gracious God
Seventh-day Adventists regard our Fundamental Beliefs as based on clear eternal Biblical truths
and reflect the loving, gracious character of God who seeks a personal relationship.
Q29.16 – I apply what I learn from the Bible to my daily life.

Q43 – Mark one statement that is closest to your understanding of what the Bible is.
Conclusions
1. Seventh-day Adventists believe that they apply the Bible to their daily lives – 30% of church
members strongly agreed and 54% agreed that they apply the Bible to their daily lives
(overall agreement: 84%).
2. Differences in perceived application by world division – Respondents in the North American
Division had the highest proportion of respondents that strongly agreed that they applied
the Bible to their daily lives at about 41%.
3. Seventh-day Adventists view the Bible as containing eternal truths – Overall about 65% of
all respondents believed that the Bible contains eternal truths expressed at a certain place
and time. The next highest response category represented about 20% of respondents who
viewed the Bible as bound to time and place. Both of these positions reflect thought
inspiration, although only the former (the Bible expresses eternal truths) is most consistent
with the Adventist position on the Holy Scriptures. 7% of members held the position of
verbal inspiration, that God dictated the Bible word for word. Only 8% of members held
views outside of the strong Adventist doctrine of divine inspiration. 5% viewed the Bible as
the work of people who loved God and described their understanding of God’s actions, 1%
viewed the Bible as a collection of wise human stories and 2% viewed the Bible as no truer
than other books.
4. Substantial changes from the 2013 Global Church Member Survey – Member responses
showed substantial movement towards recognizing the thought inspiration of the Bible
(2013: 9%; 2018: 20%) and the eternal truths that the Bible contains (2013: 60%; 2018:
65%). Views of the Bible as verbally inspired (2013: 20%; 2018: 7%) were less frequent in
the current survey, as were views of the Bible as a human creation (2013: 11%; 2018: 8%).
However, the divisional makeup of the two surveys were somewhat different.
5. Major difference in views of the Bible by division – The North American Division had the
largest proportion of those who viewed the Bible as containing eternal truths (82%) and the
lowest with views inconsistent with inspiration (2%). The Southern Asia Division had the
lowest proportion of views of the Bible as containing inspired eternal truths (30%), the
highest proportion who viewed the Bible as more confined to time and place (39%) and the
highest proportion of views inconsistent with divine inspiration (14%). Views of verbal
inspiration were highest in the Southern Asia Division (17%), the West-Central Africa
Division (11%) and the Euro-Asia Division (12%).
(see the first part of this discussion on immediately preceding pages)
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Apply Bible to Daily Life
(Q29.16) Religious attitude and experiences: apply Bible to daily life
View of Inspiration
(Q43) Mark one statement that is closest to your understanding of what the Bible is.
Apply Bible to Daily Life View of Inspiration

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#2.1G
PART 2
Valid Respondents:
Apply: 58105
Inspiration: 55254
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The Trinity
Belief in the Trinity consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as co-equal and eternal beings
is a core Fundamental Belief of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. While there are a number of
questions that indirectly measure this belief, Q45.01 is a very direct measure.
Q45.01 – There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three eternal equal Persons.
Conclusions
1. Consensus in acceptance of the Trinity among Seventh-day Adventists – This is one of the
very few beliefs that had over 95% of global church members accepting the doctrine with
the statement regarding the Adventist belief in the Trinity with almost 84% embracing it
wholeheartedly.
2. Belief in the Trinity strongest in historically Christian divisions, but very small differences
overall – In four divisions, over 90% of the respondents wholeheartedly embraced the
statement. These included the Inter-American (93%), Inter-European (93%), North
American (92%), and Euro-Asia (91%) Divisions. Less than 80% wholeheartedly accepted the
Trinity statement in only three divisions. These were the South Pacific (74%), Southern Asia
(45%), and Southern Asia-Pacific (79%) Divisions.
3. Seventh-day Adventists hold a strong belief in the Trinity across the globe – It is important
to note that there was considerable consensus on this belief with 74% or more from each
division wholeheartedly accepting the statement on the Trinity, except for in the Southern
Asia Division at 45%.
4. Success in teaching about the Trinity – Overall, the data suggest that the Seventh-day
Adventist Church has been very successful in teaching about the Trinity to most of its global
members and gaining their wholehearted acceptance regardless of their cultural
backgrounds.
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Belief in the Trinity
(Q45.01) Belief acceptance: There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three eternal equal Persons.
Belief in the Trinity

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OBJECTIVE
#2
Valid Respondents:
Trinity: 54295
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Sex and Marriage
Modern society is characterized by high levels of sexual promiscuity and increasingly positive
attitudes toward same-sex marriage. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has maintained a belief
that sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage and that marriage is only between a male and
female.
Q42.31 – The Bible teaches that sexual intercourse should be exclusively reserved for
marriage.
Q42.32 – The Bible teaches that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
Conclusions
1. Strong support for the belief that sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage – About 68%
of global church members strongly agreed that sexual intercourse is for marriage only. An
additional 24% agreed with the statement, which means that about 92% of all respondents
supported the traditional church belief that sexual intercourse is exclusively reserved for
marriage.
2. Few differences by division on the belief that sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage –
Only the Southern Asia Division had less than a majority strongly agreeing with the
statement, but 87% said they agreed, so the differences were in the strength of agreement.
3. Very strong support for heterosexual marriage – About 76% of all respondents strongly
agreed that marriage should only occur between a male and female with an additional 19%
agreeing (overall: 95%).
4. Few differences by division on heterosexual marriage – While only 45% of the members in
the Southern Asia Division strongly agreed that marriage is only to occur between males
and females, 30% agreed. This division had the largest “I’m not sure” response at 22%.
5. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is counter-cultural – Given the high levels of sexual
activity among unmarried youth and young adults and the increasing levels of support for
gay marriage worldwide, the data suggest that the overwhelming majority of Seventh-day
Adventists maintain a traditional view of marriage.
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Sexual Intercourse Reserved for Marriage
(Q42.31) Fundamental beliefs: The Bible teaches that sexual intercourse should
be exclusively reserved for marriage.
Marriage Between Man and Woman
(Q42.32) Fundamental beliefs: The Bible teaches that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.
Intercourse Reserved for Marriage Marriage, Man and Woman

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#2
Valid Respondents:
Sexual Intercourse: 54022
Man and Woman: 54220
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2. Health Message: Beliefs (Part 1)
One of the unique aspects of Seventh-day Adventist beliefs is the integration of spiritual health
with physical and emotional health. This position has led Seventh-day Adventists to believe that
God wants His people to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs and view physical and
emotional health as a part of spiritual growth.
Q42.12 – God wants me to take care of my body by avoiding alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
Q51.6 – The Adventist Health Message emphasizes physical health, mental health, emotional
well-being, social support, and relationships as a part of spiritual growth.
Q47, Q48 – Alcohol (Q47) and tobacco (Q48) use in last 12 months.
Conclusions
1. Strong support for the integration of spirit, mind, and body – About 59% of church members
strongly agreed that emotional and physical health were integral to spiritual growth with
another 33% agreeing. At least 74% of respondents in all divisions agreed with the
statement (see Part 1 figures).
2. Strong support for avoiding substances – Overall, about 77% of members strongly agreed
that God wants us to take care of our bodies with an additional 18% agreeing. Except for
the Southern Asia Division, a large majority in all divisions strongly agreed with this
3. Very high rates of abstinence from alcohol use – About 91% of all global respondents
reported that they did not use alcohol in the last 12 months, with the lowest rates of use in
the Euro-Asia (4%), East-Central Africa (4%), and Southern Asia (1%) Divisions. The Trans-
European (14%), West-Central Africa (13%), and Northern Asia-Pacific (13%) Divisions had
the highest rates of alcohol use (see Part 2 figures).
4. Very high rates of abstinence from tobacco use – About 97% of all respondents reported
that they did not use tobacco in the last 12 months. No division had a use rate of over 8%
and the Euro-Asia and North American Divisions had the lowest rates of tobacco use at less
than 1%. The highest rates of use were in the Southern Asia-Pacific (8%) and South Pacific
(5%) Divisions (see Part 2 figures).
5. Successful communication of a wholistic health message – The data strongly suggest that
the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been very successful in achieving member support
for integrating mind, body, and spirit and in maintaining abstinence from alcohol, tobacco,
and illicit drugs.
(The figures for this discussion appear on this pair of pages and the following pair. The discussion is
repeated with both sets figures for ease of reading.)
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Care for Body
(Q42.12) Fundamental beliefs: God wants me to take care of

my body by avoiding alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
Health Message
(Q51.6) Health message beliefs: The Adventist Health Message emphasizes physical health (e.g. diet, exercise),
mental health, emotional well-being, social support, and relationships as a part of spiritual growth.
Care for Body Health Message

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#2.2
PART 1
Valid Respondents:
Care for Body: 57199
Health Message: 56715
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2. Health Message: Alcohol and Tobacco Use (Part 2)
One of the unique aspects of Seventh-day Adventist beliefs is the integration of spiritual health
with physical and emotional health. This position has led Seventh-day Adventists to believe that
God wants His people to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs and view physical and
emotional health as a part of spiritual growth.
Q42.12 – God wants me to take care of my body by avoiding alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
Q51.6 – The Adventist Health Message emphasizes physical health, mental health, emotional
well-being, social support, and relationships as a part of spiritual growth.
Q47, Q48 – Alcohol (Q47) and tobacco (Q48) use in last 12 months.
Conclusions
1. Strong support for the integration of spirit, mind, and body – About 59% of church members
strongly agreed that emotional and physical health were integral to spiritual growth with
another 33% agreeing. At least 74% of respondents in all divisions agreed with the
2. Strong support for avoiding substances – Overall, about 77% of members strongly agreed
that God wants us to take care of our bodies with an additional 18% agreeing. Except for
the Southern Asia Division, a large majority in all divisions strongly agreed with this
3. Very high rates of abstinence from alcohol use – About 91% of all global respondents
reported that they did not use alcohol in the last 12 months, with the lowest rates of use in
the Euro-Asia (4%), East-Central Africa (4%), and Southern Asia (1%) Divisions. The Trans-
European (14%), West-Central Africa (13%), and Northern Asia-Pacific (13%) Divisions had
the highest rates of alcohol use (see Part 2 figures).
4. Very high rates of abstinence from tobacco use – About 97% of all respondents reported
that they did not use tobacco in the last 12 months. No division had a use rate of over 8%
and the Euro-Asia and North American Divisions had the lowest rates of tobacco use at less
than 1%. The highest rates of use were in the Southern Asia-Pacific (8%) and South Pacific
(5%) Divisions (see Part 2 figures).
5. Successful communication of a wholistic health message – The data strongly suggest that
the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been very successful in achieving member support
for integrating mind, body, and spirit and in maintaining abstinence from alcohol, tobacco,
and illicit drugs.
(The figures for this discussion appear on this pair of pages and the preceding pair. The discussion is
repeated with both sets figures for ease of reading.)
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Health Message
(Q51.6) Health message beliefs: The Adventist Health Message emphasizes physical health (e.g. diet, exercise),
mental health, emotional well-being, social support, and relationships as a part of spiritual growth.
Alcohol Use
(Q47) Alcohol use last 12 months

Tobacco Use
(Q48) Tobacco use last 12 months
Health Message Alcohol Use Tobacco Use

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#2.2
PART 2
Valid Respondents:
Health Message: 56715
Alcohol: 57020
Tobacco: 56397 67
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2. Health Message: Diet, Long Life, and Salvation (Part 3)
Seventh-day Adventists are one of the few Christian denominations that have made spiritual
meaning of diet. There has been a strong emphasis on being a vegetarian. Scientific research
has shown that Seventh-day Adventists, generally, have a considerably longer lifespan than
most non-Adventist groups do. Issues of diet and the health message can also become a part of
some members’ view of salvation.
Q46 – Dietary patterns.

Q51.2 – Following the Health Message increases the probability that a person will live longer.
Q51.5 – Following the health message ensures my salvation.
Conclusions
1. On a global level, a minority of church members report that they are vegetarians – Across all
respondents, 19% reported being vegetarian or vegan. The most frequently selected
category at 32% was eating meat once a week or less. This group is often called
“flexitarian”.
2. Substantial differences between divisions in dietary patterns – Only in the North American
Division were the majority of respondents vegetarians or vegan; in the NAD, 16% reported
being vegan and 35% reported being vegetarian. About 60% of the respondents from the
South American Division and 51% of the respondents from the West-Central Africa Division
ate meat a few times a week or more.
3. There is a strong consensus that following the Seventh-day Adventist health message will
result in a longer life with about 92% of all church members agreeing with this statement –
The Inter-American Division had the highest level of strongly agree responses at 73%, but it
is important to note that there were very few differences by agreement by division. The
data suggest that the church has been very successful, backed by scientific research, in
convincing members that following the health message results in a longer life.
4. There is a confusion between the health message and salvation – Overall, about 47% of the
global respondents reported that they thought that following the health message ensured
their salvation.
5. Substantial differences between divisions in understanding the relationship between the
health message and salvation – About 77% of respondents from the Southern Asia Division
and 74% of the respondents East-Central Africa Division agreed that following the health
message ensured their salvation. The data suggest that members in these divisions have
confused diet with salvation. Respondents from the North American Division were the least
likely to agree with the statement that following the health message ensures salvation at
4% with 68% strongly disagreeing. Interestingly, the data suggest that respondents from the
North American Division were the most likely to follow the health message (at least in terms
of dietary choices) and the least likely to link that decision with their salvation.
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Diet
(Q46) Diet
Live Longer
(Q51.2) Health message beliefs: Following the Health Message
Ensures My Salvation increases the probability that a person will live longer.
(Q51.5) Health message beliefs: Following the health message ensures my salvation.
Diet Live Longer Ensures My Salvation

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#2.2
PART 3
Valid Respondents:
Diet: 56215
Live Longer: 56966
Salvation: 55822 69
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3. Use of Mobile Devices for Study
Technology has changed the world in major ways in the last decade with instant social media
communication and access to all types of written material including the Bible and Ellen White’s
writings.
Q26.12 – Read or respond to Adventist social media (how often most of the time).
Q26.20 – Use a mobile device for Bible study/personal devotions (how often most of the time).
Q26.21 – Use a mobile device for reading Ellen White’s writings (how often most of the time).
Conclusions
1. The frequent use of Adventist social media is uncommon among church members –
About 49% of all respondents indicated that they never used this type of media and only
21% use it more than once a week. Overall rates of social media use were higher; 40%
used social media in general more than once per week and 36% never used social
media. Thus, Adventist social media were used less frequently than social media overall.
2. The Southern Asia Division leads the world membership in the frequent use of Adventist
social media with the Inter-European and North American Divisions being the least likely
to frequently use – About 59% of members from the Southern Asia Division used
Adventist social media more than once a week whereas only about 10% of the
respondents in Inter-European and about 9% of respondents in the South Pacific
Divisions used Adventist social media more than once a week. However, the North
American Division leads the world divisions in general social media use (59% more than
once a week).
3. More frequent use of mobile devices for Bible study than for Adventist social media –
Almost 41% of global church members reported using a mobile device to study their
Bibles or for personal devotions more than once a week. About 36% had never used a
mobile device to study their Bible or for personal devotions.
4. Differences between divisions in use of mobile devices for Bible study – The Inter-
American Division leads the world with about half of members using a mobile device to
study the Bible or for personal devotions more than once a week. The South Pacific
Division had the lowest rate of more than once a week use (31%).
5. Less frequent use of mobile devices for reading Ellen White’s writings than for Bible
study – The majority of the global respondents (about 53%) never used a mobile device
to read Ellen White’s writings. However, almost 24% of church members used mobile
devices more than once a week.
6. Differences between divisions in using mobile devices to read Ellen White’s writings* –
The Southern Asia Division leads the world in using mobile devices to read Ellen White’s
writings with about 46% doing so more than once a week. The South Pacific and South
American Divisions were the most likely to never use mobile devices to read Ellen
White’s writing (63%).
* The Southern Asia-Pacific Division did not return data for this item.
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Use of Adventist Social Media

Bible Study of the time): Read or respond to Adventist social media
(Q26.20) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the
Reading Ellen White time): Use a mobile device for Bible study or personal devotions
(Q26.21) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of

the time): Use a mobile device for reading Ellen White’s writings
Adventist Social Media Bible Study Reading Ellen White

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OBJECTIVE
#2.3
Valid Respondents:
SDA Social Media: 55705
Bible Study: 56359
Reading Ellen White:71
49768
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Objective #3 – To Better Acquaint Members with Ellen White’s Ministry:
1. Increased Personal Study of Ellen White’s Writings
3. Faithful Applications of Ellen White’s Counsel for the Twenty-First Century
As one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and as a Prophet, Ellen White’s
writings have always held a special place in the hearts and minds of Seventh-day Adventist
Church members. A significant proportion of church members can trace their decisions for
Christ to her writings. We consider the study and application of Ellen White’s writings together
to clarify whether application depends on frequent reading.
Q26.04 – Read the writings of Ellen G. White (how often most of the time).
Q29.18 – I apply what I learn from Ellen White’s writings to my daily life.
Conclusions
1. On a global level, there is limited reading of Ellen White’s writings – About 47% of the
respondents read material from Ellen White’s books less than once a month, an increase
from 43% from 2013. About 36% read her writings more than once a week; down just
slightly from 38% in 2013.
2. Differences between divisions – Respondents in the South Pacific, South American, and
West-Central Africa Divisions were the most likely to read Ellen White’s writings less than
monthly (50% or more of respondents). These are very diverse divisions and likely reflect
local issues. The divisions most likely to read Ellen White’s writings more than once a week
were the North American (40%), Euro-Asia, Northern Asia-Pacific (44% each), and Southern
Asia Divisions (64%).
3. Strong support for the applicability of Ellen White’s writings to daily life – About 68% agreed
or strongly agreed that they applied Ellen White’s writings to their daily lives. No division
fell below 60% when combining the agree categories.
4. Application to daily life follows the general pattern of reading by division – In two divisions,
the Euro-Asia and North American Divisions, about 78% of the respondents agreed or
strongly agreed that they applied Ellen White’s writings to their daily lives. The South Pacific
and South American Divisions were the least likely to agree or strongly agree at 65% and
60% respectively.
5. Strong support for the applicability of Ellen White’s writings to daily life – Overall, almost
two-thirds of respondents read Ellen White’s writings once a week or less. However, there
was a very high rate of applying her writings to daily life. The high level of reading and
applying Ellen White’s writings in her home division, the North American Division, should be
noted; Ellen White’s visibility in the discourse of the church may encourage reading.
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Read the Writings of Ellen White

of the time): Read the writings of Ellen G. White
Apply Ellen White’s Writings to Life
(Q29.18) Religious attitude and experiences: apply Ellen White’s writings to daily life
Read Ellen White Apply Writings to Life

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#3.1
#3.3
Valid Respondents:
Read Ellen White: 57137
Apply Writings: 56980
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2. Belief in Ellen White and the Spirit of Prophecy
One of the unique aspects of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the belief in the Spirit of
Prophecy as evidenced in the writings of Ellen White.
Q42.15 – Ellen White’s writings are the result of the spiritual gift of prophecy.
Q45.06 – Ellen G. White was a prophet.
Conclusions
1. Very strong support for the writings of Ellen White as the gift of prophecy – Overall,
about 69% of global church members reported strong agreement with the statement
that Ellen White’s writings are the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy with an additional 23%
agreeing with the statement (overall: 92%).
2. A majority of members in all divisions strongly agree that Ellen White's writings are the
result of the gift of prophecy – The highest level of strong agreement was in the East-
Central Africa Division (75%) with the lowest strong agreement in the Southern Asia
Division (40%).
3. Very low rate of rejection of the gift of prophecy in all divisions – No division had more
than 3% of members who disagreed with the statement about the writings of Ellen
White as the gift of prophecy. The worldwide level of disagreement was less than 2%.
4. High rate of wholehearted acceptance of Ellen White as a prophet – Overall, 72% of
global church members wholeheartedly accepted Ellen White as a prophet. This level of
wholehearted acceptance is essentially unchanged from the 2013 survey.
5. A large majority of members in almost all of the world divisions wholeheartedly accept
Ellen White as a prophet – The highest rate of whole hearted acceptance was in the
Euro-Asia and Inter-European Divisions at over 80% with the lowest rate of
wholehearted acceptance in the Southern Asia Division at 43%.
6. Consensus about Ellen White and the Spirit of Prophecy – While there are some
differences, there is strong support for the Spirit of Prophecy in Ellen White’s writings
among church members, as well as a high degree of wholehearted acceptance of Ellen
White as a prophet.
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Spirit of Prophecy
(Q42.15) Fundamental beliefs: Ellen White’s writings are the result of the
spiritual gift of prophecy.
Ellen White was a Prophet
(Q45.06) Belief acceptance: Ellen G. White was a prophet.
Spirit of Prophecy Ellen White was a Prophet

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OBJECTIVE
#3.2
Valid Respondents:
Spirit of Prophecy: 56904
Prophet: 55621
75
30 75
4. Availability of Ellen White’s Writings in Local Languages
5/6. Accessing Ellen White’s Writings on Mobile Devices
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has placed a major emphasis on making the writings of Ellen
White available in all local languages. Availability may play a major role in utilization of White
writings.
Q30 – Have you been able to access the books by Ellen G. White that you want to read in your
local language?
Q 26.21 (see also Objective #2.3) – Use a mobile device like a cell phone or tablet for reading
Ellen White’s writings (how often most of the time).
Conclusions
1. Good access to Ellen White’s writings overall – Almost half of the global respondents (49%)
indicated that they always had access to Ellen White’s writings in their language. A further
18% had access to major works such as Steps to Christ and the Conflict of the Ages series.
Only 15% said they had no access to her writings.
2. There are substantial differences in access by division – The West-Central Africa Division
had the lowest level of access with 47% reporting no ability to read materials in the local
language. Generally, the African divisions reported the lowest levels of access to all
materials in local languages.
3. Generally, the North American Division and the European divisions report the highest level
of always having access – The North American Division reported the highest level of access
to all materials at 93%.
4. About 98% of all global respondents have heard of Ellen White – This suggests the church
has been very successful in familiarizing members with the Spirit of Prophecy.
5. Less frequent use of mobile devices for reading Ellen White’s writings than for Bible study –
The majority of the global respondents (about 53%) had never used a mobile device to read
Ellen White’s writings. However, almost 24% of church members used mobile devices more
than once a week.
6. Differences between divisions in using mobile devices to read Ellen White’s writings* – The
Southern Asia Division leads the world in using mobile devices to read Ellen White’s writings
with about 46% doing so more than once a week. The South Pacific and South American
Divisions were the most likely to never use mobile devices to read Ellen White’s writings
(63%).
7. The North Asia-Pacific Division report a high level of always having access to Ellen White’s
writings (74%) and were the second most likely to read Ellen White’s writing via mobile
devices more than weekly – Given that these members live in a culture often hostile to
Christianity it may be safer to use mobile devices to read Ellen White’s writings than to have
written material.
76
Spirit of Prophecy Availability
Mobile Devices for Reading Ellen White
(Q26.21) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the
time): Use a mobile device for reading Ellen White’s writings
Availability Mobile Devices

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OBJECTIVE
#3.4
#3.5/6
Valid Respondents:
Availability: 54487
Mobile Devices: 49768
77
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Objective #4 –Increase Engagement in Biblically Authentic Spiritual Practices:
Prayer and Meditation Upon the Life of Jesus
A core objective of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is for its members to get to know Jesus
Christ as their personal Savior through prayer and to have a strong commitment to Christ.
Q26.06 – Have personal prayer at times other than meals (how often most of the time).
Q26.22 – Spend time thinking about Jesus’ life (how often most of the time).
Q32 – Which of the following best describes your commitment to Jesus Christ?
Conclusions
1. Almost two-thirds of all respondents have personal prayer once a day or more – An
additional 17% had prayer more than weekly and only about 10% prayed less than monthly
or never.
2. Members in the European and the North American Divisions have the richest personal
prayer life – Respondents in the Euro-Asia Division led the world with 91% reporting daily or
more prayer. In three other divisions, more than 75% reported having daily prayer: the
Inter-European, Trans-European, and North American Divisions. The members in the South
American and East-Central Africa Divisions were the most likely to pray less than monthly at
15% and just over 12% respectively.
3. A high level of focus on the life of Jesus – The majority of the global respondents (51%)
thought about the life of Jesus once a day or more. An additional 23% did so more than
once a week.
4. Strong Christ-centric lives in two African divisions – The highest level of daily or more focus
on the life of Jesus occurred in the East-Central Africa and Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean
Divisions (64% and 61% respectively). These two divisions were the only ones to be over
60%. The lowest level of daily focus was in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division with only 23%
having a daily or more focus on the life of Jesus. About 43% of Northern Asia-Pacific Division
members reported a focus less than monthly to never. It should be noted, that the cultural
context of much of this division is non-Christian or hostile to Christianity; the presence of
Christ is not reflected in symbols of general culture.
5. High level of commitment to Christ* – About 38% of the global respondents indicated that
their commitment to Christ developed gradually over time and an additional 30% noted
that they had a commitment since childhood. About 16% experienced a notably sudden
conversion. These percentages are very similar to the 2013 data. The data suggest a high
level of commitment to Christ with only 16% not sure they have a commitment, having had
a commitment at a specific moment in the past, or indicating that they have no
commitment.
6. The commitment to Christ is strong in each division with difference occurring in the context
of commitment; since childhood or developing – The Northern Asia-Pacific Division had the
lowest level of commitment with 31% indicating they are not sure of their commitment, not
committed to Christ or were once committed but are no longer. Again, this may reflect the
cultural context of this division.
78
Personal Prayer

Think About Jesus’ Life often most of the time): Have personal prayer
(Q26.22) Personal & family religious activities (how often most of the time): Spend time thinking about Jesus’ life
Commitment to Christ
(Q32) Which of the following best describes your commitment to Jesus Christ?
Personal Prayer Think About Jesus’ Life Commitment to Christ

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OBJECTIVE
#4
Valid Respondents:
Personal Prayer: 58285
Think: 51507
Commitment: 5808679
30 79
Objective #6 – Regular Patterns of Worship:
1A. Corporate Worship
For the Christian church, corporate worship has been at the core of a sense of a community of
faith. A wide variety of research has also documented the mental and physical health benefits
of corporate worship. In addition, particularly for Protestants, an important part of worship is
an aspect where members actively study important lessons from the scripture.
Q25.01 – Attended church services (how often last 12 months).
Q25.02 – Attended Sabbath School (how often last 12 months).
Conclusions
1. Large proportion of church members attend church weekly – About 71% of the global
members reported that they went to church at least weekly. This is a decrease from the
77% who reported attending four or more times per month in the 2013 survey. The
decrease was about the same when only the 7 divisions who returned raw data from the
2013 survey were included in the comparison.
2. A majority in each division attend at least weekly – In all of the world divisions, at least 58%
of members attended church services at least weekly.
3. Divisions in the southern hemisphere most likely to attend more than weekly – The Inter-
American Division had the highest rate of more than weekly church attendance at 45%
followed by the West-Central Africa Division at 36% and the South American Division at
35%.
4. The oldest and newest divisions least likely to attend weekly – About 42% of the members
responding from the North American Division reported that they attended services less than
weekly followed by the newest world division, Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean Division
(36%). It should be noted that a large majority in both divisions did attend at least weekly.
5. High rate of Sabbath School attendance – About 68% of the global membership reported at
least weekly Sabbath School attendance with major differences by division.
6. Lowest rate of weekly Sabbath School attendance was in the North American Division –
Only 45% of members in this division indicated they attended Sabbath School weekly with
27% reporting attending monthly or less.
7. Corporate worship matters for lifetime commitment – The more frequently members
attend church and Sabbath School the more likely they are to have a lifetime commitment
to the Seventh-day Adventist Church (r = .18 and .15). These correlations are, however,
small. About 86% of those who attend church service weekly or more were very likely to
foresee a lifetime commitment compared to less than 65% of those who attend monthly or
less.
80
Church Attendance
(Q25.01) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months): Attended church
services
Sabbath School Attendance
(Q25.02) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months): Attended Sabbath School
Church Attendance Sabbath School Attendance

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0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#6.1C
Valid Respondents:
Church: 59518
Sabbath School: 58797
81
30 81
Objective #7 – To Enhance Unity and Community Among Church Members:
2. Reclamation of Former and Inactive Members
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always placed a high priority on reclaiming members
who have left the church.
Q33.07 – Change or stay the same: Overall reclaiming of former members by my church.
Q33.08 – Change or stay the same: My involvement in reclaiming of former church members.
Conclusions
1. Over three-fourths of global church members believe that their local church should increase
attempts to reclaim former members – 40% believed efforts should increase greatly with an
additional 35% believing it should increase somewhat.
2. A majority of respondents from all divisions (except Southern Asia) believe that their local
church should increase efforts to reclaim former members – There were some major
differences by division with about 50% of respondents in the East-Central Africa Division
believing that their local church should greatly increase reclamation effort compared to only
17% of the Northern Asia-Pacific and 19% from the Southern Asia Divisions having this view.
3. Over three-fourths of the global church members responding believe that they should
increase their personal efforts in reclaiming former members – About 38% perceived that
they needed to greatly increase their efforts with another 38% perceiving the need to
increase their efforts somewhat.
4. A majority of respondents in all divisions, except Southern Asia, perceive a need to increase
their personal reclamation efforts – There were some differences with only 15% of the
respondents from the Northern Asia-Pacific and 18% of those from Southern Asia Divisions
believing they needed to greatly increase their personal reclamation efforts compared to
48% of members from the East-Central Africa Division.
5. Overall, the data show that the members of the East-Central Africa Division are the most
interested in greatly increasing former member reclamation while the members in the
Southern Asia and Northern Asia-Pacific Division do not perceive the need to do so — this
likely reflects the difficulties in evangelism in a non-Christian context hostile or indifferent
to Christianity. It may be perceived as too dangerous to reclaim former members who have
returned to their previous non-Christian beliefs.
82
Church Reclaiming Former Members
(Q33.07) Change or stay the same: Overall reclaiming

of former members by my church
Personal Involvement
(Q33.08) Change or stay the same: My involvement in reclaiming of former church members
Reclaiming Former Members Personal Involvement

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OBJECTIVE
#7.2
Valid Respondents:
Reclaiming: 55632
My Involvement: 55315
83
30 83
3. Pastor-Church Officer Cooperation and Teamwork
Effective achievement of the church’s mission, to a significant extent, depends on the perceived
qualifications of the pastor and lay leadership of a local church as well as on how well they work
together.
Q29.09 – My pastor(s) are well qualified to lead my local church.

Q29.10 – My lay leaders are well qualified to lead my local church.
Q29.08 – The pastor(s) and lay leaders in my church work together well as a team.
Conclusions
1. A near-global consensus that the pastors of local Seventh-day Adventist Churches are well-
qualified to provide leadership – About 82% of the global respondents agreed that their
pastor was well qualified to lead the local church with 37% strongly agreeing. All divisions
had at least 75% that agreed that their pastors are well qualified to lead with less than 9% in
any division disagreeing.
2. Strong perception that lay leaders are well-qualified to provide leadership – About 71% of
respondents perceived their local lay leaders to be well-qualified to provide leadership.
About 23% strongly agreed that lay leaders are well qualified to provide leadership.
3. Some differences between world divisions on perception of lay leaders – The East-Central
Africa and the Southern Asia-Pacific Divisions indicated the highest level of strongly agree at
31%. The Southern Asia Division had the highest level of disagreement with 16% indicating
that their lay leaders were not well qualified.
4. About three-fourths of all respondents agree that the pastor and lay leaders work well
together as a team – About 28% strongly agreed that pastor and lay leaders work well
together with only 8% disagreeing.
5. Similar pattern of differences between world divisions as with perceptions of qualifications
– The East-Central Africa Division had the highest level of those that strongly agreed that
their pastor and lay leaders worked well together at 37% followed by the South Pacific
Division at 36%. The Trans-European Division had the lowest level of strong agreement at
16% and the highest level of disagreement at 11%.
6. Overall, the data suggest that, in all divisions, the church members perceive that their
pastors and lay leaders are well qualified and that they work well together as a team –
Pastors had a higher percent that perceived them as well qualified at 82% compared to
about 71% of the lay leaders. This difference may reflect a lesser awareness of the
qualification of the lay leaders. Lay leaders received a higher level of not sure at 20% than
did pastors at 12%.
This analysis also applies to:
Objective #10 – To Affirm the Administrative Role of Pastors
Objective #16 – To Engage All Church Members in Full Partnership
84
Pastor Qualified to Lead
(Q29.09) Religious attitude and experiences: My pastor(s)

are well qualified to lead my local church
Lay Leaders Qualified to Lead
(Q29.10) Religious attitude and experiences: My lay

leaders are well qualified to lead my local church
Work Well Together
(Q29.08) Religious attitude and experiences: The pastor(s) and lay

leaders in my church work together well as a team
Pastor Qualified Lay Leaders Qualified Work Well Together

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OBJECTIVE
#7.3
Valid Respondents:
Pastor: 57924
Lay Leaders: 57527
Work Well: 57918 85
30 85
4/5. Cross-Cultural and Conflict Resolution Training
As a denomination that spans the globe, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has placed a high
priority on training members to work across cultures and to resolve conflicts between fellow
believers.
Q29.20 – My local church has the ability to communicate across cultures, clans, tribes, and
religion.
Q29.21 – Religious attitude and experiences: My local church offers training on conflict
resolution and reconciliation through my local church.
Conclusions
1. The majority of church members agree that their local church has the ability to
communicate across cultures – A total of 60% of respondents agreed with this statement;
about twice as many agreed (41%) as strongly agreed (19%).
2. Most divisions have at least half of members agreeing that their local church is able to
communicate across cultures – The East-Central Africa (78%) and Euro-Asia (73%) Divisions
were the most likely to perceive the ability of the local church to communicate across
cultures; the Inter-American (47%) and South American (46%) Divisions were the least likely.
3. Fewer church members perceive that there is training on conflict resolution and
reconciliation than that the local church was prepared to communicate across cultures –
50% of church members agreed to some degree that training was offered (36% agree, 14%
strongly agree).
4. A few divisions report notably low perceptions of the availability of training in conflict
resolution – The North American (15% agree or strongly agree), Trans-European (17%), and
Inter-European (27%) Divisions were unlikely to agree that training in conflict resolution was
available and were likely to disagree (46%, 54%, and 42% disagree or strongly disagree,
respectively). The response patterns for these divisions differed substantially from the other
ten divisions.
5. Overall, these data suggest that in many parts of the world there is an opportunity to
improve cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution -- Respondents from the
Northern Hemisphere churches suggest the need for training in conflict resolution with
respondents from the Inter-American and South American Divisions suggesting the need to
improve communication across cultures.
86
Cross-Cultural Communication
(Q29.20) Religious attitude and experiences: My local church has the

ability to communicate across cultures, clans, tribes, and religion
Conflict Resolution Training
(Q29.21) Religious attitude and experiences: My local church offers training on

conflict resolution and reconciliation through my local church
Cross-Cultural Communication Conflict Resolution Training

WAD WAD
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OBJECTIVE
#7.4
#7.5
Valid Respondents:
Cross-Cultural: 56408
Conflict Resolution: 56420
87
30 87
Objective #8 – To Nurture Believers in Discipleship and Service:
1. Lifelong Commitment to and Satisfaction with the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in all of its programs seeks to foster a lifelong commitment.
Adventists believe that the church has a unique mission to the world that requires a strong
committed membership.
Q36 – How likely is it that you will be attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church for the rest of
your life?
Q35 – How satisfied are you with your local church?
Conclusions
1. Overall, the data show a very high level of lifelong commitment to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church – About 82% of global church members reported that it is very likely that
they will be members for their entire lives. All divisions had a least 67% reporting “very
likely” except the Southern Asia Division at 44%.
2. African divisions have highest proportion reporting lifelong commitment – Over 90% of the
West-Central Africa and the East-Central Africa Divisions reported “very likely” lifelong
commitment to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
3. Satisfaction with the local Seventh-day Adventist Church varies significantly by division –
Overall about 48% of all members reported that they were very satisfied with their local
church. However the range of very satisfied varied from 18% (Trans-European Division) to
75% very satisfied (East-Central Africa Division). The scale used to measure satisfaction with
the local church used a ten-point scale in 2013 and so is not directly comparable; however,
the distribution suggests a 2-3% decrease in satisfaction at the most.
4. Two geographically scattered divisions have the highest rate of dissatisfaction – The North
American Division had the highest rate of dissatisfaction at about 18% with the West-
Central Africa Division at nearly 13% dissatisfaction and the highest rate of very dissatisfied
at 9%. These numbers may reflect specific division issues rather than broader cultural
patterns.
5. Satisfaction with local church is important to lifelong commitment – Analysis showed a
correlation of .28 between satisfaction with the local church and lifelong commitment to
the church. About 94% of those who were very satisfied with their local church reported
that it is was very likely that they would be lifelong members of the church whereas less
than 72% of all other levels of satisfaction indicated that they were very likely to remain
Seventh-day Adventist for their lifetimes.
6. Church activities for the family are very important for satisfaction with local church –
Analysis showed that a predictor of being satisfied with the local church was agreeing that
the local church had programs for the family; r=.20. Of those who strongly agreed that their
local church provided family programming, 86% were satisfied with their local church
compared to 58% who strongly disagreed that their local church had family programming.
Of those who strongly disagreed that their local church had family programming, 23% were
dissatisfied compared to only 6% of those who strongly agreed that their local church had
family programming.
88
Lifetime Commitment to Adventist Church
(Q36) How likely is it that you will be attending a Seventh-day

Adventist Church for the rest of your life?
Satisfaction with Church
(Q35) How satisfied are you with your local church?
Lifetime Commitment Satisfaction with Church

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OBJECTIVE
#8.1
Valid Respondents:
Commitment: 57825
Satisfaction: 57676
89
30 89
2. Church-Member Involvement in Service in the Church and Community
A core concept of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Servant Leadership. Adventists are not
to be a passive audience watching distant spiritual rituals but are to be active in worship, in
service to the church and in making a difference in the community.
Q25.11 – Helped with a church ministry during the week (how often last 12 months).
Q25.17 – Spent time meeting the needs of non-Adventists in my community (how often last 12
months).
Q37.1 – Commitment to others: I help others with their religious questions and struggles.
Conclusions
1. About 28% of the global respondents report that in the last year, they helped in a church
ministry during the week at least once a week or more – Nearly the same proportion (24%)
reported that they never helped-out. “Never” was the most often selected response. 34% of
members reported helping in the church on Sabbath every week and an additional 15%
almost every week.
2. Substantial differences in helping the church during the week by division – About 55% of
respondents in the Southern Asia Division reported helping out during the week once or
more. The Inter-European Division had the lowest level of helping every week or more at
12% with 37% reporting never helping. Similar patterns were present for helping on
Sabbath (Q25.10; data not displayed in figure).
3. Less involvement in meeting the needs of community than in helping the local church –
About 20% of the respondents reported that in the last year they met the needs of non-
Adventists in their community weekly or more. About the same amount (17%) indicated
that they never did so. 24% reported that they only meet needs once or twice during the
last year, and this was the most often selected response category.
4. Substantial differences by division for meeting the needs of the community – About 41% of
respondents from the Southern Asia Division met the needs of non-Adventists weekly or
more in the last year. The Northern Asia-Pacific Division respondents had the lowest level of
meeting community needs with about 61% reporting having done so only once or twice or
never in the last year. This may reflect that these members live in a context often hostile to
Christians.
5. Global membership is involved in spiritual conversations with others – Respondents
indicated a high level of helping others with their spiritual questions and struggles with 44%
indicating that they did this often with only 15% indicating rarely or never. These numbers
are relatively stable when compared to the 2013 data.
6. In all divisions there is a relatively high level of spiritual engagement with others – About
70% of the East-Central Africa Division respondents reported often helping others spiritually
with the West-Central Africa Division next at 69%. Respondents from the Southern Asia
Division were the least likely to spiritually help others with 21% reporting they rarely or
never did so.
90
Helped with Ministry During the Week
(Q25.11) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months):

Met Community Needs Helped with a church ministry during the week
(Q25.17) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months): Spent

time meeting the needs of non-Adventists in my community
Help Others with Religion
(Q37.1) Commitment to others: I help others with their religious questions and struggles.
Helped with Ministry Met Community Needs Help Others with Religion
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SSD SSD SSD
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0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#8.2
Valid Respondents:
Helped w/ Ministry: 54874
Community Needs: 56605
Help Others: 57319 91
30 91
6. Nurture, Retention and Discipling
For a number of years, the church has placed a major emphasis on nurturing its members. It is
believed that nurturing plays a major role in retention. Such an approach is also core to New
Testament Christianity.
Q29.22 – My local church offers training on nurture and discipling of church members.
Q33.05 – Change or stay the same: Overall caring for and nurturing members by my church.
Q33.06 – Change or stay the same: My involvement in caring for and nurturing local church
members.
Conclusions
1. Almost two-thirds of the respondents agree that their local church offered training on
nurturing members – About 19% of members strongly agreed. Respondents in a large
majority of world divisions perceived that the local church offered nurturing training.
2. Three divisions were less likely to perceive that there was training available – In the Trans-
European, Inter-European, and the North American Divisions, the majority did not perceive
that their local church offered training in nurturing. In all three divisions, less than 36%
agreed that this nurturing training was offered.
3. Perceived need for more nurturing is high, but lower than 2013 – About 70% of all
respondents perceived that the overall caring and nurturing in their local church needs to
increase. This is a decrease of 10% compared to 2013. About 30% indicated that it needs to
greatly increase. In the 2013 data, a greater proportion of respondents (54%) indicated that
nurture needed to greatly increase. Only one division was within 10% of that number in the
current survey.
4. A large majority in all divisions perceive that caring and nurturing needs to increase except
for the Southern Asia Division – In that division, 35% thought it needed to increase. The
Northern Asia-Pacific Division also was relatively lower with less than half wanting an
increase. This may reflect cultural traditions in a division that has a very low percentage of
Christians and often-strong cultural opposition to Christianity.
5. Similar patterns for church needs and personal involvement – Almost three-fourths of the
global respondents believed that they needed to increase their nurturing of other church
members. Almost one-third thought they needed to greatly increase.
6. A large majority of all divisions except for the Northern Asia-Pacific Division believe that
they needed to increase their nurturing and caring for other church members – About 49%
of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division believed that they needed to increase. This is
consistent with previous data and may reflect the cultural context.
92
Training on Nurture
(Q29.22) Religious attitude and experiences: My local church offers training on nurture and discipling of church
members through my local church
Church Nurturing Members
(Q33.05) Change or stay the same: Overall caring for and nurturing
Personal Involvement members by my church
(Q33.06) Change or stay the same: My involvement in caring for and nurturing local church members
Training on Nurture Church Nurturing Members Personal Involvement

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OBJECTIVE
#8.6
Valid Respondents:
Training: 56572
Church: 56022
Personal: 55730 93
30 93
Objective #9 – To Increase Engagement of Young People in the Life of the
Church:
1. Preparing Youth to Lead at all Levels of the Church
Young adults founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church. One of the major challenges in any
church is how to pass on beliefs and values to the next generation. The Seventh-day Adventist
Church places a high priority on involving youth in leadership.
Q29.13 – My local church has a program for preparing young people to become leaders.
Q29.14 – My conference/mission has a program for preparing young people to become
leaders.
Q29.15 – My union has a program for preparing young people to become leaders.
Conclusions
1. Local churches are preparing youth for leadership – About 60% of the respondents
agreed that their local church did have a program for preparing youth for leadership.
About 21% strongly agree that their church has such a program.
2. Substantial differences in local church youth leadership training between world divisions
– The Southern Asia-Pacific Division had the highest level of strong agreement that their
local church has a training program for youth leadership (34%). The Trans-European
Division has the lowest rate of strong agreement (4%). Overall, the European divisions
and North American Division were less likely to perceive that their local church has a
leadership-training program for youth.
3. Two-thirds of the global respondents perceive that their conference has a program to
prepare youth for leadership – About 23% strongly agreed that their conference has a
program for training youth for leadership.
4. Substantial differences in conference youth leadership training between world divisions
– The Southern Asia-Pacific Division had the highest proportion of members that
strongly agreed (34%) that their conference has a program for preparing youth for
leadership. The Trans-European, Euro-Asia, and North American Divisions each had less
than 10% who strongly agreed that their Conference has a program for training youth
leadership.
5. Almost two-thirds of the global respondents report that their Union prepares youth for
leadership – About 22% strongly agreed that their Union has such a program.
6. Substantial differences in conference youth leadership training between world divisions
– The Southern Asia-Pacific Division had the highest rate of strong agreement that their
Union has a program to prepare youth for leadership (33%). The Trans-European and
North American Divisions were the least likely to strongly agree that their Unions
prepare youth for leadership with less than 7%.
7. Overall, the respondents perceive that, at all levels, the church is preparing their youth
for leadership with the highest rates outside of the European and North American
Divisions.
94
Church Programs
(Q29.13) Religious attitude and experiences: My local church has

Conference Programs a program for preparing young people to become leaders
(Q29.14) Religious attitude and experiences: My conference/mission

Union Programs has a program for preparing young people to become leaders
(Q29.15) Religious attitude and experiences: My union has a program for preparing young people to become leaders
Church Programs Conference Programs Union Programs

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#9.1
Valid Respondents:
Church: 57246
Conference: 57136
Union: 57010 95
30 95
Objective #10 – To Affirm the Administrative Role of Pastors:
2/3. Perceptions about Pastor Qualifications and Caring
The pastor plays a major role in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Traditionally the pastor acts
as a shepherd to the congregation as well as being key to nurture and retention. In order to
accomplish these objectives, member perceptions about the qualifications of the pastor and
the nurturing and caring nature of the pastor are crucial.
Q29.02 – My pastor cares about me.

Q29.09 – My pastor(s) are well qualified to lead my local church.
Q25.12 – Received a visit from my pastor (how often last 12 months).
Conclusions
1. Large majority agree that their pastor cares about them – Overall 74% of all respondents
agreed that their pastor cared for them with 27% strongly agreeing and 47% agreeing.
The lowest level of agreement was in the Inter-American Division where 59% agreed
that their pastor cared for them. These responses were essentially identical to those for
the 2013 “Pastor helps in times of need” item.
2. Large majority agree that their pastor is qualified to be a spiritual leader – About 82% of
all respondents agreed that their pastor was qualified to be the spiritual leader of their
church. The respondents were more likely to agree (45%) rather than strongly agree
(37%). There were no major differences by division. There was no division where the
majority strongly agreed, but in all divisions, large majorities agreed.
3. Pastor rarely visits members – About 38% of the global respondents reported that they
had never received a visit from their pastor with the next highest category (25%) being a
visit once or twice in the past year. The North American Division led the world with 64%
reporting that they never received a visit. A slight majority in the South Pacific and
Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean Divisions also reported never having received a visit
from their pastor. The Southern Asia Division (36%) and the Southern Asia-Pacific
Division (28%) were the most likely to report pastoral visits every week or more. In
2013, only 12% of respondents reported never receiving a visit from their pastor; no
division was below this number in the current survey and only two divisions were below
25% never receiving a visit.
4. Overall, the pastor is perceived as qualified and caring but rarely visiting – Global church
members perceived that their pastor is qualified to provide spiritual leadership for the
church and does care for them, but they rarely receive a visit from their pastor.
96
Pastor Cares
(Q29.02) Religious attitude and experiences:

Pastor Well-Qualified pastor cares
(Q29.09) Religious attitude and experiences: pastor(s)

well qualified to lead
Visit from Pastor
(Q25.12) Social religious activities: visit from pastor (how often last 12 months)
Pastor Cares Pastor Well-Qualified Visit from Pastor

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#10.2
#10.3
Valid Respondents:
Pastor Cares: 58431
Well-Qualified: 57924
Visit: 56612 97
30 97
Objective #16 – To Engage All Church Members in Full Partnership:
3. Outreach in Evangelism and Witnessing
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the fastest growing denominations in the world.
Outreach to non-members through evangelism and witnessing to others has been a core part of
being a member of the church since its beginning.
Q25.05 – Attended a public evangelistic meeting in my area (how often last 12 months).
Q25.15 – Witnessed to non-Adventists in my community (how often last 12 months).
Conclusions
1. A low frequency of evangelistic meeting attendance for most of the world divisions – About
22% of the global respondents had never attended Seventh-day Adventist evangelistic
meetings with an additional 22% attending only once or twice in the last 12 months.
2. Overall, the divisions in the 10/40 Window are the most likely to attend public evangelism
meetings – The Southern Asia, East-Central African, and Inter-American Divisions all had
more than a quarter of members attend public evangelism meetings once a week or more.
The Southern Asia Division was the highest with 40%.
3. Outside of the 10/40 Window, evangelistic meeting attendance is much less frequent – The
North American Division respondents were the most likely to never attend public
evangelism (44%). An additional 37% reported only going once or twice. No other division
reached these levels of non-attendance. However, about one-third of Northern Asia-Pacific,
Inter-European, and Trans-European Divisions also reported never attending. The context of
the Northern Asia-Pacific Division being in secular and cultural areas hostile to Christianity
may help explain this pattern. The Trans-European, Inter-European, and North American
Divisions may be similarly affected by a secular cultural context.
4. Witnessing more frequent than evangelistic meeting attendance, but not a weekly habit – A
slight majority (51%) of global respondents had witnessed to non-Adventists at least once a
month. Witnessing once or twice in the last 12 months was the most common response
selected at 22%.
5. A minority of church members are frequently engaged in witnessing across most divisions –
Only in the Southern Asia Division did a majority of church members witness at least every
week. All other divisions had greater than 30% of members involved in witnessing at almost
weekly or more, except for Northern Asia-Pacific Division (15%).
6. Cultural geography influences witnessing – Divisions in secular cultural regions or non-
Christian cultural contexts outside of the 10/40 window were the least likely to be involved
in witnessing and attending evangelistic series.
98
Attended Evangelistic Meeting
(Q25.05) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months):

Attended a public evangelistic meeting in my area
Witnessed to Non-Adventists
(Q25.15) Social religious activities (how often last 12 months): Witnessed to non-Adventists in my community
Attended Evangelistic Meeting Witnessed to Non-Adventists

WAD WAD
ECD ECD
SID SID
SAD SAD
IAD IAD
NAD NAD
TED TED
EUD EUD
ESD ESD
NSD NSD
SSD SSD
SUD SUD
SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#16.3
Valid Respondents:
Attend: 55458
Witnessed: 56364
99
30 101
99
Objective #17 – To Increase the Involvement of Young People
It is important to examine the extent to which the respondents perceive that youth are
involved in important decision making within their local church and the extent to which they
are involved in the mission of the church. It is also important to examine if these perceptions
vary by the age of the respondents.
Q29.11 – Youth and young adults play an important role in decision-making in my local
church.
Q29.12 – Youth and young adults are actively involved in carrying out the mission of my local
church.
Conclusions
1. There is a perception that youth are involved in decisions – Overall, about two-thirds of
the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that youth played an important role in
decisions making in their church. About 21% strongly agreed.
2. Some differences by world division in perceived youth involvement – The highest level
of strong agreement was in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division at 31%. The lowest level
of perception of youth involved in decision making occurred in the Trans-European,
North American, and Euro-Asia Divisions where about one quarter disagreed or strongly
disagreed that young people played an important role in decision-making. This may
reflect a cultural context of secularism.
3. Similar perception of youth involvement in mission – About 69% of the global
respondents agreed or strongly agreed that young people were active in mission. Only
about 12% disagreed with this statement.
4. Similar pattern of differences by world division – The South Pacific Division had the
highest level of strongly agree that young people are active in mission at 33% with the
West-Central Africa Division having the highest level of total agreement at 82%. The
Southern Asia-Pacific Division was the only division to have less than 10% in any level of
disagreement with this statement at about 6%. The Trans-European (28%), Euro-Asia
and North American (20%), and Inter-European (18%) Divisions were the most likely to
disagree with the statement on youth involvement in mission. This also may reflect
strongly secular cultures.
5. There are virtually no differences in perceptions of young adult decision-making and
mission involvement by age category – The correlations were r = .03 or less. These data
suggest that the perception of the role of young people is similar regardless of the age
of the respondent and relatively high at all age groups.
100
Important Role
(Q29.11) Religious attitude and experiences: Youth and young adults

play an important role in decision-making in my local church
Involved in Mission
(Q29.12) Religious attitude and experiences: Youth and young adults are
actively involved in carrying out the mission of my local church
Important Role Involved in Mission

WAD WAD
ECD ECD
SID SID
SAD SAD
IAD IAD
NAD NAD
TED TED
EUD EUD
ESD ESD
NSD NSD
SSD SSD
SUD SUD
SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#17
Valid Respondents:
Important Role: 57513
Involved: 57534
101
30 101
103
Objective #18 – To Encourage Local Churches to Take the Initiative in Mission:
Training in Christ’s Method of Evangelism
Evangelism lays at the heart of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventists pay particular
attention to the methods that Christ used in His mission. These included mingling with the
community, understanding their needs, and tailoring his approach to meet their spiritual needs.
Q29.23 – My local church offers training on Christ’s method of evangelism.

Q42.08 – The most effective method for reaching people for Christ is to mingle with them,
meet their needs, win their confidence, and then bid them to follow Christ.
Q33.03 -- Change or stay the same: Overall efforts by my church to meet the needs of my local
community.
Conclusions
1. Considerable success in local church training to use Christ’s method to reach others – About
70% of the global respondents agreed that their local church trained members in the use of
Christ’s method of evangelism with 25% strongly agreeing.
2. Differences in perceived levels of training by world division – The East-Central Africa
Division led the world divisions with 81% agreeing that their local church trained members
in Christ’s method. The Southern Asia Division had the highest level of strong agreement at
39%. In three of the world divisions, less than 50% agreed that their local church trained in
Christ’s methods: the Trans-European (38%), Inter-European (45%), and North American
(45%) Divisions. It should be noted that these three divisions exist in highly secular culture
contexts.
3. Global church membership understands and accepts Christ’s methods – There was strong
agreement about the effectiveness of Christ’s method of evangelism with 90% agreeing
overall and 63% strongly agreeing.
4. Substantial differences in understanding and acceptance by world division – Over 70% of
three divisions strongly agreed that Christ’s methods are best; these are the West-Central
Africa (77%), Inter-American (73%), and the South Pacific (70%) Divisions. The Northern
Asia-Pacific Division had the lowest level of strongly agree at 37%. This may reflect a cultural
climate hostile to Christ’s message and approach.
5. Global membership would like to see an increase in local church engagement with and
meeting the needs of the community – About 70% of the global respondents believed that
their local church should increase their involvement in meeting local needs with 30%
strongly agreeing.
6. Differences in desire for increased church engagement by world division – The East-Africa
and the Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean Divisions were the most likely to report the need to
greatly increase their meeting local needs at 46% to 20% – Only the Northern Asia-Pacific
and Southern Asia Divisions had less the 50% who wanted to increase involvement to any
degree (49% and 35% respectively). This may indicate that the church membership in this
division feels somewhat estranged from their community.
102
Training
(Q29.23) Religious attitude and experiences: My local church

Most Effective Method offers training on Christ’s method of evangelism
(Q42.08) Fundamental beliefs: The most effective method for reaching people for Christ is to mingle
with them, meet their needs, win their confidence, and then bid them to follow Christ.
Efforts by Church to Meet Needs
(Q33.03) Involvement: efforts by my church to meet needs
Training Most Effective Method Efforts by Church

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#18
Valid Respondents:
Training: 57030
Most Effective: 57034
Efforts: 56024 103
30 103
105
Objective #21 – To Empower the Work and Witness of the Church:
1. Church Members Understand Strategic Mission Priorities of the General Conference (Part 1)
During this Quinquennium, the church has emphasized a number of strategic mission priorities
to implement the Reach the World plan. Two of these that affect members’ daily lives (as well
as the community) are Revival and Reformation and Comprehensive Health Ministries.
Q27.01 – Program awareness: Reach the World Strategic Plan 2010-2015.

Q27.03 – Program awareness: Revival and Reformation.
Q27.07 – Program awareness: Comprehensive Health Ministries.
Conclusions
1. The majority of global church members have not heard of the Reach the World strategic
plan – 53% had not heard of the plan; few had ever knowingly participated in the plan
(18%).
2. African divisions report the highest levels of awareness and participation – The East-Central
Africa Division had the highest rate of participation at 41%. The North American Division
had the lowest rate of hearing of the plan, at 24% and the lowest rate of participation at
4%. Other divisions with less than 6% participation were the Inter-European and Trans-
European Divisions.
3. Revival and Reformation is the most well-known of the strategic mission priorities – About
77% of global membership had heard of the Revival and Reformation program. About 44%
reported that they had participated in the program.
4. African divisions report the highest levels of participation in Revival and Reformation – The
East-Central Africa Division was the most likely to participate in the program (73%). The
North American Division was the least likely to report hearing of the program (42%) with
the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (in a highly non-Christian cultural context) the least likely
to participate at 19%.
5. Almost two-thirds of the global membership have heard of the Comprehensive Health
Ministries Program – About 28% of members reported being involved in the program.
6. Similar but attenuated pattern of differences between divisions – The East-Central Africa
Division was the most likely to have heard of the Comprehensive Health Ministries Program
at 77% and the most likely to have participated at 42%. The North American Division was
the least likely to have heard of the program at 51% and had the lowest rate of participation
in the program at 14%.
7. Overall, members of the East-Central Africa Division appear to be the most aware of the
church global initiatives and to have the highest rate of participation – The data suggest
that division leadership is well aware of the programs, communicates well with the Unions
down to the conferences and to the membership who have a high rate of participation.
104
Reach the World Plan
(Q27.01) Program awareness: Reach the World Strategic Plan 2010-2015
Revival and Reformation
(Q27.03) Program awareness: Revival and Reformation
Comprehensive Health Ministries
(Q27.07) Program awareness: Comprehensive Health Ministries
Reach the World Plan Revival and Reformation Health Ministries

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#21.1
PART 1
Valid Respondents:
Reach the World: 57031
Revival & Reform: 56615
Health: 56235 105
30 105
107
to implement the Reach the World plan. Two of these that involve every member in outreach
are Total Member Involvement and Christ’s Method of Reaching People.

Q27.02 – Program awareness: Total Member Involvement.
Q27.06 – Program awareness: Christ’s Method of Reaching People.
Conclusions
1. The majority of global church members have not heard of the Reach the World strategic
(18%).
had the lowest rate of hearing of the plan, at 24% and the lowest rate of participation at
European Divisions.
3. Just under two-thirds of members are aware of Total Member Involvement – About 63% of
global membership had heard of the Total Member Involvement program. About 35%
reported that they had participated in the program.
4. African divisions and the South Pacific Division report the highest levels of participation in
Total Member Involvement – All were above 50% participation with the East-Central Africa
Division being the most likely to participate in the program (78%). The Inter-American
(63%), South American (55%), and Inter-European (55%) Divisions were the least likely to
report awareness of Total Member Involvement.
5. Almost two-thirds of the global membership have heard of Christ’s Method of Reaching
People – About 32% of members reported being involved in the program.
6. At least half of members in almost all divisions are aware of Christ’s Method of Reaching
People – Only the North American (44%) and the Trans-European (46%) Divisions did not
reach this threshold.
7. Christ’s Method of Reaching People and Total Member Involvement have similar overall
levels of penetration to Total Member Involvement – However, there is much more
variation in awareness for Total Member Involvement, which suggests that some divisions
have developed plans that work for their membership, while others are still working toward
that goal.
106
Total Member Involvement
(Q27.02) Program awareness: Total Member Involvement
Christ’s Method
(Q27.06) Program awareness: Christ’s Method of Reaching People
Reach the World Plan Total Member Involvement Christ’s Method

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#21.1
PART 2
Valid Respondents:
Total Member: 55814
Christ’s Method: 107
56328
30 107
109
to implement the Reach the World plan. Two of these involved an institutional focus on
evangelism through Mission to the Cities and Centers of Influence.

Q27.04 – Program awareness: Mission to the Cities.
Q27.05 – Program awareness: Centers of Influence.
Conclusions
1. The majority of world church members have not heard of the Reach the World strategic
(18%).
had the lowest rate of hearing of the plan, at 24%, and the lowest rate of participation at
European Divisions.
3. The majority of the respondents are aware of Mission to the Cities – About 62% of the
global membership had heard of the Mission to the Cities program. About 23% reported
that they had participated in the program.
4. The majority of members are aware of Mission to the Cities in all but one division – The
East-Central Africa (78%), Southern Asia (75%), Southern-Africa & Indian Ocean (72%), and
Trans-European (70%) Divisions all met above 70% awareness; only the Inter-American
Division (41%) did not reach 50% awareness. The East-Central Africa Division had, by far,
the highest proportion of respondents participating in Mission to the Cities at 43% with the
North American Division the lowest at 7%.
5. Centers of Influence is the least known program – Only about 46% of members reported
awareness of Centers of Influence and about 15% were involved.
6. Similar pattern of differences between divisions with lower awareness overall – Divisions
where members were more aware of Mission to the Cities were more likely to have
members aware of Centers of Influence. Only the Southern Asia (25%) and East-Central
Africa (26%) Divisions had at least 25% involvement in this program.
7. Mission to the Cities and Centers of Influence are the least well-communicated strategic
mission priorities – Across the mission priorities, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has
been most successful in this Quinquennium in driving awareness on priorities that can be
implemented by individuals in their daily lives (Revival and Reformation, Comprehensive
Health Ministries) or in evangelism (Total Member Involvement, Christ’s Method of
Reaching People) than developing awareness for priorities that require institutional
investment on a larger scale (Reach the World and Centers of Influence).
108
Mission to the Cities
(Q27.04) Program awareness: Mission to the Cities
Centers of Influence
(Q27.05) Program awareness: Centers of Influence
Reach the World Plan Mission to the Cities Centers of Influence

WAD WAD WAD
ECD ECD ECD
SID SID SID
SAD SAD SAD
IAD IAD IAD
NAD NAD NAD
TED TED TED
EUD EUD EUD
ESD ESD ESD
NSD NSD NSD
SSD SSD SSD
SUD SUD SUD
SPD SPD SPD
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
OBJECTIVE
#21.1
PART 3
Valid Respondents:
Mission to Cities: 55430
Centers of Influence: 54616
30 109
109
111

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2017-2018 Global Church Member Survey

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Meta-Analysis Final Report

Format of the Report

Adventist Church Members and Christian Worldview

Q1 – Are you male or female?

Q8 – How many people live in your immediate household (including yourself)?

ESD EUD TED NAD

ESD EUD TED NAD

Personal History with SDA Church

Length of Family History in SDA Church

Talk About Religious Issues

Parents Attended Church Regularly

Q5 – What is the highest level of school you have completed?

Experienced Adventist Education

(derived from Q7) At least one year of SDA education IAD

Importance of Adventist Education

Q3 – Ability status across seven categories.

(derived from Q3) Disability type.

Church Attendance x Ability Status

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Q20 – What is the setting where the church is located?*

Q26.01 – Read the Bible (how often most of the time).

1. A Bible-reading people – Seventh-day Adventist Church members can be described as a

(Q26.01) Personal & family religious activities (how

(Q26.02) Personal & family religious activities (how often

Bible Reading Personal Devotions Sabbath School Lesson

Small Group Worship

Family Worship Small Group Worship

Q26.01 – Read the Bible (how often most of the time).

1. The majority of Seventh-day Adventist Church members are committed to religious

(Q26.01) Personal & family religious activities (how

(Q26.02) Personal & family religious activities (how often

(Q26.03) Personal & family religious activities (how often

(Q26.06) Personal & family religious activities (how

(Q26.04) Personal & family religious activities (how often most

(Q31.01) Sermon topics: Righteousness by Faith

(Q42.16) Fundamental beliefs: I am saved the moment I

(Q42.07) Fundamental beliefs: I will not get to

Sermons Saved by Faith Obey Law Perfectly

(See the second part of this discussion on immediately following pages)

(Q42.03) Fundamental beliefs: The soul is a separate,

State of the Dead Immortal Soul Spiritualism

(Q42.10) Fundamental beliefs: Christians may go to witch

(Q42.22) Fundamental beliefs: Prayer in the name of Jesus is the

State of the Dead Witch Doctors Prayer in Jesus’ Name

Q42.13 – The head of the Church is Christ.

(Q42.13) Fundamental beliefs: The head of the Church is Christ.

Christ is Head of Church Equality in Christ

Q42.13 – The head of the Church is Christ.

(Q42.13) Fundamental beliefs: The head of the Church is Christ.

(Q42.26) Fundamental beliefs: Church unity means

(Q42.27) Fundamental beliefs: Different regions of the world should be

Christ is Head of Church Unity and Uniformity Different Regional Policies

Q45.05 – Belief acceptance: The church’s interpretation of end-time prophecies.

(Q45.05) Belief acceptance: The Church’s interpretation of end-time prophecies.

Second Coming Very Near

(Q42.09) Fundamental beliefs: Fulfillment of prophecy and events

End-Time Prophecies Second Coming Very Near Second Coming in Lifetime