ANN Bulletin - May 27, 2008 - unOFFICIAL ADVENTIST FORUM

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do.
And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with
– even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department.
Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. Romans 14.1: The Message

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#171486 - 05/28/08 11:20 AM ANN Bulletin - May 27, 2008
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 140 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters May 27, 2008 In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Researcher says California Adventists are America's 'Blue Zone' Author Buettner's new book details longevity secrets of modern-day Methuselahs May 27 Loma Linda, California, United States Women's Ministries Day an opportunity for more involvement, church leaders say Resources, sermon available for June 14 event May 23 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Adventist Church's humanitarian agency expands aid in China, Myanmar ADRA reaches Myanmar's outlying islands May 21 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States United States: Adventists urged to vote against Maryland slot machines Spike in crime, addiction expected if referendum passes, church leaders say May 22 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Former Adventist Review editor Wood dies at 90 Gave nearly 70 years of service to Adventist ministry, chaired White Estate Board May 27 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Researcher says California Adventists are America's 'Blue Zone' May 27, 2008 Loma Linda, California, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'The Blue Zone' author Dan Buettner, flanked by California Adventists Ellsworth E. Wareham and Marge Jetton, at a recent book signing in Loma Linda. Buettner thinks the Sabbath rest and a plant-based diet help make Adventists there some of the longest-lived people in the world. [photo courtesy LLU] Reach for the pistachios, not the Doritos. Volunteer. And keep filling that glass, so long as it's with water. It's seemingly simple lifestyle choices such as these that researcher and author Dan Buettner thinks can add a good 10 years to most people's lives, helping them join ranks with cardiac surgeon Ellsworth E. Wareham who, at 93, still picks up the scalpel on occasion to assist with surgeries. Wareham is one of several Seventh-day Adventists near or over the age of 100 who live in Loma Linda, California -- what Buettner calls America's "longevity oasis" in The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest (National Geographic Books, 2008). The close-knit Adventist community in Southern California is one of four Blue Zones around the world where people's lives span a century in rates notably higher than the surrounding population. And, on average, Buettner concludes they live not only longer, but also healthier and happier lives. "It's not coincidental that the way these people eat, interact with each other, shed stress, heal themselves, avoid disease, and view their world yield them more good years of life," Buettner writes, citing habits common among Adventists, such as the Sabbath rest and a plant-based diet. "Adventists instinctively know that their health habits lead to longer, better lives, but I think they appreciated somebody from outside their community who'd done a survey of some of the best science out there, reaffirming what their religious leaders have been telling them for 150 years," Buettner told ANN following his recent visit to Loma Linda. While there, he spoke at the local Adventist church -- "it was like preaching to the choir" -- and taped an interview at the university's School of Public Health. He was most impressed, however, by the "fantastic" Sabbath lunch. His "good friends" Marge Jetton and Wareham -- both of whom he features prominently in The Blue Zone -- popped in to join him for some Adventist dietary staples after church. "There's no temptation to grill steaks because everybody brings these cottage cheese or bean casseroles," Buettner says. "It's very rare that I eat meat these days. I guess I eat more tofu," he says with a laugh. It's a good thing, he thinks, but then again, a 103-year man who indulges in the occasional roasted lamb did beat him at arm wrestling while Buettner was researching the Sardinian Blue Zone. Another habit he's picked up: snacking on nuts in the afternoon. "I've got a jug of them right here in my office, thanks to Dr. Fraser." Buettner is referring to Dr. Gary Fraser, who, along with Dr. Terry Butler, heads up the ongoing Adventist Health Study, which -- funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health -- now involves almost 100,000 Adventist Church members. "I think they're doing some of the most important work in America when it comes to really measuring the long-term impact of a plant-based diet," Buettner says, adding he'd love to collaborate with them on research, but "I'm only science journalist, not a scientist." For his part, Fraser thinks Buettner's book has plumbed lot of research previously buried in academic journals and presented it to the general public. "I'm the guy who just cranks out the numbers and tries to convince people to fill out long questionnaires," says Fraser, "so it was very encouraging to me to see Dan put a human face on our research -- to see how compelling the whole thing looked." Most compelling to Buettner is how powerful a community of like-minded individuals can be when it comes to establishing and maintaining healthy habits. "There's not the temptation that comes from a social network that has poor heath habits" -- California Adventists report that 80 to 90 percent of their friends share their religious beliefs. The "power of choosing your friends carefully," Buettner says, is "one of the most powerful messages for the rest of America." "The sad reality is that we don't respond as a species very well to behavior modification, but if you put us in the right environment we'll generally do the right thing," Buettner says. "So the question becomes, 'How do you create these environments?'" That sense of community extends beyond just good behavior reinforcement. Buettner suspects it also bolsters faith, and belonging to a spiritual community is one of his "Power 9," or lifestyle "secrets" in The Blue Zone. "I can tell you that of the 200 plus centenarians I interviewed [for the book], 99 percent believed in God, so faith seems to factor fairly prominently." While he doesn't plan on joining the Adventist Church, Buettner says since he began researching The Blue Zone seven years ago, he has been going to church more regularly. Though Fraser says social support from a shared religion is beneficial and likely reduces mortality, research is pending on "whether there's a downside to having a social life in a very restricted community." Fraser says he rather tout the more scientifically based dietary aspects of the Adventist lifestyle. Buettner, whose research is focused on the oldest California Adventists, does worry that the generation he's studying may not be followed by an equally long-lived one, due to processed foods and refined sugar creeping into the Adventist diet. Embracing a purer diet, he says, may stave off the "encroachments of the fast food culture." And that includes going easy on salty, chemical-laden meat analogues -- "you've really got to look carefully at the packages on these things." For more information on Buettner's research, or to measure your own longevity by taking The Blue Zones' life expectancy test -- the Vitality Compass -- visit bluezones.com. Women's Ministries Day an opportunity for more involvement, church leaders say May 23, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventist Church leaders are considering more names for the wall of Adventist Women of Distinguished Service at the church's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Resource packets for the June 14 Women's Ministries Emphasis Day are encouraging local congregations worldwide to show a presentation about the church's women leaders and to submit more names for display. [photo: Ansel Oliver/ANN] Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders hope this year's Women's Ministries Emphasis Day will motivate local churches to involve more women in worship services. The June 14 Sabbath celebration of women is also a chance for churches worldwide to honor the accomplishments of women in their churches and communities. "It's an opportunity for women to lead out in worship, to show their service and a chance to educate the congregation about Women's Ministries in our churches," said Raquel Arrais, associate Women's Ministries director for the Adventist world church. This year's resource packet includes a suggested worship service outline, sermon and a PowerPoint presentation on past and present women church leaders. The Adventist Church has marked this awareness day every year on the second Sabbath of June since 1990. The Women's Ministries department also sponsors an annual International Day of Prayer in the spring and an Abuse Prevention Sabbath each August. For more information, visit wm.gc.adventist.org. Adventist Church's humanitarian agency expands aid in China, Myanmar May 21, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Members of the Adventist Church in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, load disaster relief supplies for earthquake victims. [photos: David Ng/ANN] One of the many Adventist Church members in Sichuan province whose homes were destroyed. The Luoshi Adventist Church in the city of Shifang has about 60 members. Eleven Adventist churches were destroyed and 10 church members have died in the disaster, church officials report. ADRA workers in Myanmar unload supplies for cyclone survivors. More than 41,000 people died in the May 2-3 disaster. [photo: courtesy ADRA] The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is stepping up its assistance to the survivors of two natural disasters in East Asia earlier this month. ADRA workers were the first to deliver aid to stranded survivors in Myanmar's isolated Pyinsalu Islands May 20, two weeks since a cyclone struck the country's coast. ADRA is working with the United Nations and the government of Myanmar to help provide emergency aid to at least 30,000 residents of the hard-hit southern Irrawaddy Delta region. More than 78,000 people have died and 56,000 remain missing, The Associated Press reported today. ADRA teams traveling by boat have each delivered enough food for some 2,000 people for a week. Relief workers have also distributed medical supplies, water purification systems, kitchen kits, blankets and clothing. ADRA is also partnering with the World Food Program to provide some 25 metric tons of rice to approximately 50,000 internationally displaced persons in 14 camps. ADRA's emergency response efforts to last week's 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China are centered in the town of Jiulong in Sichuan province, where about 12,000 people are expected to receive direct assistance. ADRA's emergency personnel of 40 volunteers have already conducted the first distribution of relief goods with the assistance of local authorities. The death toll has topped 67,000 with another 20,000 missing, reports indicate. This disaster is considered the worst earthquake in China since 1976 when another quake killed more than 240,000 people. More emergency supplies are on their way to the disaster site. ADRA officials reported the local mood was still tense due to ongoing aftershocks, landslides and heavy rains. For more information, visit adra.org. United States: Adventists urged to vote against Maryland slot machines May 22, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventist Church leader Roy Adams is urging church members in Maryland to vote against a referendum that would legalize slot machines in the state, which is home to the headquarters of the global Protestant denomination. In a recent editorial addressed to Marylanders, Adams said gambling would increase addictions and endanger families in the state. Elm Diez-Prida/ANN Seventh-day Adventist Church members should join concerned Maryland residents by voting against a referendum on their November ballot to authorize 15,000 slot machines across the state, church officials agreed in a leadership meeting this week. In a May 22 editorial in the Adventist Review, associate editor Roy Adams urged Maryland Adventists to join him in galvanizing concerned citizens against the "critical" referendum, which, if passed, would amend the state's constitution. He suggested Adventists support coalitions against the proposal and write letters to their governor and other prominent state leaders, among other tangible ways to influence voters and legislators alike. Maryland is home to the headquarters of the 16 million-strong global Protestant denomination. Adams faulted "misguided leaders and special interests" in Maryland for glossing over what many concerned citizens wager will result from legalizing large-scale gambling: increased crime and a spike in addiction levels. Adams also cited a March 8 Washington Post article, which specified insurance fraud, increased domestic abuse, juvenile crime and drug- and alcohol-related felonies as additional risks. The measure, backed by Maryland's governor and labor unions, is expected to pad state coffers with more than $600 million a year. Adams called support for the proposal an "unconscionable" way to "balance the budget by destroying the lives of the most vulnerable ... citizens, leading many into dependency and addiction." Responding to the editorial, Adventist Church President Jan Paulsen called its suggestions "timely" and "appropriate." "It is so destructive to a community when gambling becomes the official approved way of life," Paulsen said, welcoming church members' efforts against the referendum. Another church leader said even though Adventists "should be very clearly and decidedly against this [referendum]," the church should "frame it in a positive way." He suggested church members and leaders take their cue from their church's historic health and temperance work and perhaps launch a 12-step gambling addiction program. In 2000, the Adventist Church spoke against gambling, calling it "incompatible with a Christian lifestyle" in part because it "violates the Christian sense of responsibility for family, neighbors, the needy and the church." The statement continues by urging state authorities to "prevent the ever-increasing availability of gambling with its damaging effects on individuals and society." Former Adventist Review editor Wood dies at 90 May 27, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Mark A. Kellner, Adventist Review/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth H. Wood served for 16 years as editor-in-chief of Adventist Review. [photo courtesy Adventist Review] Kenneth H. Wood, for 16 years editor-in-chief of Adventist Review and 28-year chairman of the board of the Ellen G. White Estate, died Sunday, May 25, 2008 in Potomac, Maryland. He was 90 years old and had been ill in recent months. His wife of 69 years, Miriam Wood, a longtime Review columnist, died in March. Until his recent illness, Wood was a regular presence at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Even at age 90, Wood could be found three mornings a week at his White Estate office. "I'm a little bit like Cal Ripken, the baseball shortstop who set a record for consecutive games played," Wood said in his last interview. "He never had any thought of setting a record. [Ripken] said, 'I just went to work every day.' Going to work has just always been a part of my life and my work ethic." Adventist Church President Jan Paulsen referred to Wood as an "influential" and "significant" thinker and writer of the Adventist Church. "He was a man of strong convictions and absolute loyalty to historic Adventism; never reluctant to express his convictions, whether shared or not," Paulsen said. "Elder Wood was widely and highly respected," Paulsen said. "He will be missed by many to whom he was both a colleague and friend, but the loss will be felt particularly acutely by his family. They will be in our prayers as we offer our heartfelt condolences. We look forward to the morning when our Lord will do away with losses such as this." Adventist Review editor Bill Knott said Wood "opened his heart in his writing and preaching to an uncommon degree. We knew how seriously he took the call to discipleship by what he shared with us. His was a rare combination of godly passion, literary skill, and the good judgment to know how to pastor the people of God through print." The Review editor who followed Wood, William G. Johnsson, said he was "shocked and grieved at the sad news." Johnsson noted that Wood followed longtime Review editor F.D. Nichol, and added, "Kenneth Wood quickly put his stamp on the paper. Under his leadership, the Review became a more open forum in the church, which is what the times demanded." Johnsson said that "openness" was also apparent in Wood's "second career" chairman of the board of trustees for the Ellen G. White Estate, which exists to safeguard and promote the writings of the church's co-founder. Current estate director James Nix said "Wood was one of the most thoroughly Christian people that I have ever met in my life. He certainly loved the Lord and believed in this church and its mission and its ultimate success." Wood was born in Shanghai, China, November 5, 1917, to lifetime American missionary parents. He attended Far Eastern Academy there before continuing his education in the United States. He graduated from the academy of Southern California Junior College in 1934 and from Pacific Union College in 1938 with a major in Bible and minors in speech and French. In 1979 Andrews University conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. Wood served the Adventist Church first as a ministerial intern in Fresno, California. That same summer he married Miriam Brown. The couple spent four years assisting in evangelistic meetings -- some held in churches, some in tents, and others in Quonset huts. In January 1942, Wood studied for a term at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, then located in Takoma Park, Maryland. He later served as a church pastor in the West Virginia and Ohio. In 1947, Wood accepted a call to serve as a ministries director in New Jersey, and in 1951 he was elected Sabbath School and Lay Activities director for the church's Columbia Union in the mid-Atlantic. Wood, however, never lost interest in publishing. He contributed numerous articles to various Adventist magazines and journals, which may have caught the attention of Francis D. Nichol, editor in chief of the Review. In 1955 Nichol invited Wood to join the staff of the Review as one of the editors. Soon after accepting the position, Wood earned his master's degree in systematic theology and Greek from the Adventist Theological Seminary. Then in 1966, after Nichol's unexpected death, the Review board elected Wood as editor-in-chief of the church's general paper -- a position he held until he "retired" in 1982. Along with the hundreds of editorials and articles he wrote for the Review and other journals, Wood also authored the books Meditations for Moderns and Short Essays on Relevant Religion, and with his wife, Miriam, coauthored His Initials Were F.D.N., a biography of Nichol, his predecessor. As well as being the parents of two grown daughters, the couple had seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Arrangements for a memorial service honoring both Kenneth and Miriam Wood are pending. -- additional reporting by Sandra Blackmer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- news.adventist.org ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters. Reproduction Requirements: Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged. When reproducing this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must appear under the headline or immediately following the article. The words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be given equal prominence to any other source that is also acknowledged. Ground 7 News Podcast: Ground 7 News is a review of news and information issued by the Communication Department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. Reproduction of the ANN podcast is encouraged. When rebroadcasting this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be mentioned before and after the podcast. ANN Staff: Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
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