Adventist Voices by Spectrum: The Journal of the Adventist Forum

I talk with Greg Kewdar about his film Sing Sing which will probably be nominated for the Academy Awards. It stars Coleman Domingo plays Divine G, an innocent man incarcerated at the New York prison. He is part of the longstanding Rehabilitation Through the Arts program and it's the men who create in this space that bring the story of conflict and redemption to life.

I interview journalist Eliza Griswold about her just released book, “Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church.”

She embedded for several years with four pastors in Philadelphia and shares on their personal and public struggles as they pursue their radical Christian vision while dealing with the realities of misogyny, racism, and attendance decline.

Griswold is currently a contributing writer to The New Yorker and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her 2018 book, “Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America.”

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Erik VanDenburgh, president of the Hawaii conference speaks to me while driving a truck and 26 foot trailer to Gillette, Wyoming, to attend the International Pathfinder Camporee. He shares interesting details about the logistics involved in getting over 250 youth and support staff from the islands 3,400 miles across sea and land. A former youth leader, VanDenburgh explains why experiences like this matter and how his clubs are sharing the aloha spirit in Adventism.

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I interviewed Alan Reinach, Esq, president of the Church State Council, the education, advocacy, and legal services ministry of the Pacific Union. He is representing his client, Jeffery Lemasters Tahir, who until recently worked security at Disneyland. They talk about the Sabbath observance issues involved in the case and why the Adventist Church takes an interfaith legal and mission approach to religious liberty protections. 
Reinach is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Law in 1987, and of the State University of New York at New Paltz, with special honors in history, in 1984.

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During his first week leading La Sierra University, Christon Arthur, PhD, shared his vision for the progressive Adventist culture of the campus, his Caribbean and Catholic upbringing, and his core values of equity and duty. 

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For a German perspective on Adventism, I talk with Stefan Höschele, Professor for Systematic Theology and Adventist Studies at Friedensau Adventist University. We discuss his new publication, “Interchurch Relations in Seventh-day Adventist History: A Study in Ecumenics.“ Given his background in education in Malawi and Tanzania, we discuss how Africa has shaped his appreciation for Adventism. We also talk about the soul of European Adventism and the problem with evangelistic triumphalism.

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In this conversation, Ben Archer, an Adjunct Research Fellow at Avondale University, shares about his recently published research on faith engagement in schools. In utilizing a scoping review methodology, Archer presents empirical literature related to faith formation activities with children. Activities covered included prayer, worship, chapel, evangelization, retreats and bible studies. His findings highlight that school-based programs do not appear to have a specific influence on student faith development. Rather it is teacher-student relationships that are the most significant influences in enhancing a student’s faith.

Article Cited:

Archer, Ben. “Moving From Faith Development to Faith Engagement in Christian Schools: A Scoping Review.” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 17, no. 1 (2024): 136–154.

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The president of Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International talks about what pride means to him. We discuss how it’s different from the biblical vice of ego and about how some Christians don’t understand what conversion means in terms of sexuality, orientation, and spiritual maturity.

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An interview with Marianne Thieme, Dutch political leader, convert to Adventism, and environmental activist. With others, she founded the Party for the Animals in 2009 and was its chairwoman from 2002 to 2010. An attorney who has studied at the Sorbonne and recently at Newbold College, she won election every two years allowing her to serve in the House of Representatives from 2006 until she resigned in 2019. Marianne is now working on a PhD with the goal of drawing on biblical social ethics and Adventist vegetarian thought as she expands her eco advocacy around the world.

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Filmmaker Kyle Portbury talks about his film, The Hopeful, which tells the early Adventist story for any audience. The film premiered on 900 cinema screens across North America. In this second part of our conversation, Kyle shares his creative vision and discusses why storytelling matters.

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