Financial troubles spur Texas conference to close Valley Grande Academy

Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventist’s executive committee voted Feb. 26 to close Valley Grande Adventist Academy, a 100-year-old boarding school in Weslaco, Texas. This seems to be the final chapter for an institution founded in 1911 that has long been a feeder school for Southwestern Adventist University. This decision was taken despite a 39 percent increase in enrollment at the K-12 educational facility, from 121 students last year to 168 students in the current school year.

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Report on the International Conference on the Bible and Science

This August I was blessed to attend the International Conference on the Bible and Science: Affirming Creation, which was put on by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ Faith and Science Council, with significant contributions by the General Conference Education Department and Loma Linda University Department of Earth and Biological Sciences. The 400+ attendees came primarily from Adventist unions, conferences, and educational institutions all over the world. They included scientists, theologians, graduate students, and church administrators as well as some lay members and a few guests from other denominations.

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[UPDATE] SCC distances itself from Eric Walsh

Southern California Conference (SCC) released a statement Tuesday distancing itself from the controversy surrounding past comments made by Pasadena Public Health Director and SDA associate pastor Dr. Eric Walsh regarding homosexuals, Catholics and Muslims. SCC spokeswoman Betty Cooney said, "[H]e does not hold ministerial credentials from the Adventist Church, does not speak on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and as far as we know, does not represent his views as anything other than his own.”

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Netherlands Union Conference begins process to ordain women

In the past three weekends are representatives of all municipalities in the Netherlands met for the five-year union congress. During this important event, the new directors of the church in the Netherlands appointed and that often receives the most attention in the immediate coverage. Yet there are two other important parts of the union congress: evaluating the past five years, and together look forward to the next five. The delegates evaluate on the basis of the reports of the union officials, and looking ahead do so by filing motions and plans.

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