Adventist Education:

A Global View

On any given school day, almost one million students attend a Seventh-day Adventist school, college or university around the world. In a ministry that involves 49,000 teachers and more than 5,500 educational institutions, Seventh-day Adventists operate the broadest, unified, church-related international system of education.

The story of Adventist education began in 1853, when five families opened the first home school in the state of New York. In 1875 the first Adventist post-secondary college was founded in the state of Michigan. Our church has since established educational institutions in more than 100 countries, now encircling the globe.

This global educational system is supported by thousands of parents and students, as well as church members, who contribute millions of dollars every year to maintain and expand the service to a student population, about 50 percent of which come from non-Adventist homes.

Purpose

Why do Adventists, with a membership of ten million worldwide, take such interest in education and make such an investment in human and material resources? For five basic reasons:

· To educate children and youth for a useful life in the context of biblical, Christian faith.

· To train Adventist lay leaders and denominational workers who will devote their talents to accomplish the church's mission.

· To strengthen the Christian commitment of Adventist youth and to attract non-Adventist young people to Christ and to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

· To exert an uplifting influence on society in ever-widening circles through service, evangelism, research, and discoveries carried out by Adventist educators, students, and alumni.

· To cooperate with the Church in discovering new truths, developing strategies, and providing Christian answers to issues raised by contemporary society.

The Adventist educational system is coordinated through two bodies at the Church world headquarters. The International Board of Education authorizes the establishment of new institutions and the initiation of new programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels, upon recommendation from educational leaders from the world divisions. The Adventist Accrediting Association is the professional entity that provides regular evaluations of academies, colleges, and universities, ensuring academic quality, spiritual focus, and degree reciprocity. These boards work in coordination with educational leaders in the twelve world divisions.

Philosophy

The educational philosophy that under-girds this global system was initially outlined by Ellen G. White in the Education (1903) and other works, can be summarized in ten fundamental propositions. In Seventh-day Adventist education:

· We see the Christian formation of children, youth, and young adults as part of a cooperative process that involves home/parents, school/teachers, and church/religious leaders.

· The Bible constitutes the basis and reference point of school endeavors. The entire curricular and co-curricular program reflects the worldview and the principles revealed in the Scriptures. Teachers and students believe that the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible writers will guide those who approach it with a teachable attitude.

· Jesus Christ and his teachings are accorded a position of privilege. Students are encouraged to accept him as Creator, Savior, Lord, and coming King, and to commit their lives to him. Establishing a friendly relationship with him brings meaning and hope to their lives.

· Educators seek to promote each student's balanced development in every dimension of lifemental, spiritual, physical, and psycho-social. Students are led to adopt a simple and healthy lifestyle. Their ultimate goal is shalompeaceful harmony with God, themselves, others, and nature.

· The main objective is helping students to develop a solid Christian character, to realize their individual worth as God's children, embrace Christian values, and learn to make principled choices. This goal is best reached in a context of responsible freedom and redemptive discipline.

· Teachers and students recognize that all truth is God's truth, and that every field of study can broaden and deepen their understanding of truth as revealed in Jesus, the Bible, and nature.

· Service to fellow human beings, motivated by God's love, is the ideal purpose of life. Priority is given to the qualities of justice, active compassion, generosity, and honest work. School programs foster activities that alleviate human needs.

· Students are motivated toward informed, independent, and responsible thought. Instead of letting themselves be molded by the surrounding culture, they learn to approach it with critical discernment, from God's perspective, learning to choose the true, the good, and the beautiful.

· Youth learn by experience to take an active part in God's plan of redemption. Acknowledging their roles as salt and leaven, they seek to bring this world into closer harmony with his ideal.

· Students discover their talents and vocation, and prepare themselves for a useful life of self-directed learning. The ultimate goal is to help each of them to qualify as citizens of Christ's kingdom, where their education will continue throughout eternity with God.

Higher Education

In addition to the five universities offering graduate degrees in the United States (Andrews, La Sierra, Loma Linda, Southern, and Southwestern), Adventists operate government recognized universities in eighteen countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Germany, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Currently moving toward university status are our senior institutions of higher learning in Australia, Brazil, England, and Nigeria. Interested students can now pursue recognized medical degrees in three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Argentina.

These institutions pursue the four basic objectives of Seventh-day Adventist higher education:

· Instruction. To provide students, in the context of the biblical-Christian worldview, the knowledge and skills needed for a useful life, discovering and realizing their vocation, achieving economic self-sufficiency, contributing to human well-being, supporting the mission of the Seventh-day Church, and acquiring habits of life-long learning.

· Formation. To convey to students the biblical-Christian beliefs, principles and values they need to develop a noble and balanced character, to make ethical decisions, to establish a Christian home, and to become a positive agent wherever they may be, serving others, sharing their faith, and preparing themselves and others for eternal life with God.

· Research. To encourage teachers and students to explore the worldbroadening and deepening knowledge, under the guidance of the Holy Spiritdiscovering new truths and developing techniques that will improve the quality of human life and fulfill the Church's mission, proposing ethical answers to the issues that modern society confronts and committing themselves to be life-long searchers of truth.

· Extension. To share with various publics the knowledge, truth, beliefs, values, and techniques espoused or discovered by the institution, using diverse media and forums, providing services that alleviate human need, and communicating the saving Gospel.

As featured in this issue, Argentina's River Plate Adventist University (Uni-versidad Adventista del Plata), celebrated its centennial in September 1998. Alumni from this institution have been serving the Church in many countries around the world. Seeking to expand its service to God and humanity, the university launched in 1994 its program in medical studies, which is recognized both by the national government and the Adventist International Board of Education.

Prospects

Someone wisely defined a school as "a building that has four walls and a tomorrow inside." As the world moves rapidly toward the threshold of the new century and Adventist education approaches its 150th anniversary, we envision a broader and stronger program of Adventist education, with teachers and administrators professionally qualified and thoroughly committed to the Seventh-day Adventist message and mission, with a curricular and cocurricular program that is unapologetically Bible-based and Christ-centered, and with a global outlook that embraces the entire human family. We envision Adventist schools that take advantage of the electronic revolution and networking, and intentionally integrate excellence in academics and genuine spirituality. We dream of educating students capable of providing a solid Christian critique of contemporary culture, who have a passion for truth and service, who excel as Christian professionals in whichever field they choose, and who will be ready to continue their education in the earth made new.

Humberto M. Rasi (Ph.D., Stanford University) is an alumnus of River Plate Adventist University and currently serves as director of the Education Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.