Seventh-day Adventist Church

Seventh-day Adventist Church

12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600
United States

Attesting Officer
Kathleen Jones
Assistant for General Statistics


Media Contact
Dir., Communication, Williams S. Costa, Jr.

39.0610333, -76.9655662


The Seventh-day Adventist Church grew out of a worldwide religious revival in the mid-19th century. People of many religious persuasions believed Bible prophecies indicated that the second coming or advent of Christ was imminent.
When Christ did not come in the 1840s, a group of these disappointed Adventists in the United States continued their Bible studies and concluded they had misinterpreted prophetic events and that the second coming of Christ was still in the future. This same group of Adventists later accepted the teaching of the seventh-day Sabbath and became known as Seventh-day Adventists. The denomination organized formally in 1863.
The church was largely confined to North America until 1874, when its first missionary was sent to Europe. Today, over 154,000 congregations (churches and organized companies) meet in 216 countries and areas of the world. Membership exceeds 20 million.
In addition to a mission program, the church has the largest worldwide Protestant parochial school system with approximately 8,208 schools with more than 1,922,900 students on elementary through college and university levels.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) helps victims of war and natural disasters, and many local congregations have community service facilities to help those in need close to home.
The church also has a worldwide publishing ministry with 61 publishing houses producing magazines and other publications in over 375 languages and dialects. In the United States and Canada, the church sponsors a variety of radio and television programs, including Christian Lifestyle Magazine, It Is Written, Breath of Life, Voice of Prophecy, and La Voz de la Esperanza.
The North American Division of Seventh-day Adventist includes 58 Conferences and one Mission (comprised of United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Guam and Micronesia) which are grouped together into nine organized Union Conferences; and the one Mission. The various Conferences work under the general direction of these Union Conferences; the Mission works directly under the Division.


Full Communicants Average Attendance Other Members Total Inclusive Members Total Churches Membership Calculation Method
1955
277,162
2,858
1954
270,079
2,845
1953
260,742
2,835
1952
253,889
2,776
1951
245,974
2,728
1950
237,168
237,168
2,712
1947
215,545
2,589
1944
194,832
0
208,030
2,531
1942
169,135
17,343
186,478
2,491
1940
171,518
4,700
176,218
2,565
1938
151,987
4,218
156,205
2,362
1936
149,595
0
149,595
2,274
1933
135,766
3,666
139,432
2,277
1929
119,843
119,843
2,250
1925
112,255
112,255
2,253
1923
104,405
104,405
2,184
1922
98,106
98,106
2,101
1921
100,673
100,673
2,232
1919
87,583
87,583
2,115
1917
79,355
79,355
2,011
1916
82,287
82,287
2,038
1915
73,343
73,343
1,987
Serving Churches Retired Other Service to the Church Total Clergy
1955
2,196
2,106
1954
1,818
1,628
1953
2,246
2,084
1952
0
1,482
1951
0
1,449
1950
0
1,752
1,752
1947
995
1944
995
1942
995
1940
995
1938
995
1936
995
1933
915
1929
915
1925
835
1923
1,062
1922
1,005
1921
1,046
1919
645
1917
582
1916
582
1915
552
Total Schools Staff Pupils Total Individuals
1954
2,939
38,685
226,758
265,443
1953
2,931
28,500
224,910
253,410
1952
2,903
22,243
223,784
246,027
1951
2,889
22,243
213,908
236,151
1950
2,815
22,243
200,182
222,425
1926
1,383
0
0
81,067
1923
2,728
103,367
1922
2,593
95,835
1921
2,849
97,961
1919
2,730
86,125
1917
1,929
15,298
74,863
1916
1,947
15,255
75,340
Total Benevolences Total Financials Total Giving Local Expenses Method
1921
$6,405,677
1919
$2,206,970
1917
$1,887,772