Seventh-day Adventist Church

Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (Seventh-day Adventist Church) is the sixth largest evangelical denomination in number of members in Brazil (1.52 million members), behind Assembleia de Deus (12.3 million), Baptist (3.7 million), Congregação Cristã do Brasil (2.2 million), IURD (1.87 million and Igreja do Evangelho Quadrangular (1.8 million).

Founded in the United States in 1863 by Guilherme Miller and Ellen G. White, the church emphasizes a preaching around “Jesus Christ’s return to this world” which should be soon, and defends a lifestyle based on “water, healthy eating, fresh air, sunlight, physical exercises, temperance, rest and trust in God”, having Saturdays – instead of Sundays, as in most christian churches – as rest day. The first adventist missionaries to arrive in Brazil late in the 19th century brought literature produced in the recently created Argentinian Adventist Church.

In 1896 the first Brazilian Adventist Church was created in Gaspar Alto (Santa Catarina state) by pastor Frank H. Westphal. The church is currently present in 206 countries divided in 13 regions, all of them responding to the world headquarters located in Silver Spring, Maryland, in the United States. The South American Division, founded in 1916 has its headquarters in Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil. Everywhere where they operate, they count on a structure involving not only churches, but also hospitals, schools, universities, food industry, publishers, recorders and communication vehicles, among other businesses. Once a month, the church’s webpage is updated with Falando de Esperança (Talking about Hope), a webTV show hosted by pastor Erton Köhler, South American leader of the Adventist Church, on the church’s positioning “regarding current affairs”.

Annually, the institution’s General Assembly elaborates official statements. Currently, in the church’s website we can find the following statements: O uso de filmes para o cumprimento da missão (The use of movies for the mission’s fulfillment); Estilo de Vida e Conduta Cristã (Christian lifestyle and conduct); Filosofia Adventista do Sétimo Dia com relação à música (Seventh-day philosophy concerning music); Observância do Sábado (Shabbath’s observance); Posição da Adventista do Sétimo Dia sobre a Homossexualidade (Seventh-day Adventist’s positioning regarding homosexuality); Documento Rumo ao Lar (Toward home document); Os adventistas e a política (The adventists and politics); Declaração de confiança nos escritos de Ellen G. White (Declaration of trust in Ellen G. White’s writings); Resolução sobre a Santa Bíblia (Resolutions on the Holy Bible); Os Cristãos e a Guerra (Christians and War); e Justificativas de participação em reuniões da ONU e no Conselho Mundial de Igrejas (Justification for the participation at UN meetings and World Council of Churches). In the chapter about politics, the church declares not to support any parties or official candidates and that it doesn’t allow political meetings in their temples; it advises its members to take part in elections and chose candidates “that defend the principles of temperance – which includes policies against smoking and alcohol consume –, religious freedom of expression, separation between state and church, and who have effective concrete proposals for the improvement of the general population’s life quality, specially in what concerns health, education and family”; and that adventist politicians stay quiet about their church activities, not using its name for their political actions. Regarding sexuality, they condemn homosexuality, “separating His love for sinners from His clear teachings on sinful practices”, sex outside marriage, prostitution, adultery, pornography and other practices. Regarding the arts and communication vehicles, the church does not demand an exclusive consume of religious products, but recommends that “the christian should avoid books and magazines, radio and television programs, internet, games and other modern media or equipment whose contents might pollute their hearts and minds. Everything that leads to evil or promotes violence, dishonesty, disrespect, adultery, pornography, all sorts of vices, disbelief, obscene language and curse words among other things should be avoided”.

The Adventist Church was a pioneer in the use of mass communications in Brazil. They alread had print vehicles when, in 1943, their first religious radio program first aired, Voz da Profecia, defined as a “radiophonic documentary”, broadcast, still in 1943, by 14 stations (Rádio Difusora in São Paulo and Sergipe, Rádio Guarani in Belo Horizonte, Rádio Clube in Espírito Santo, Curitiba, Ribeirão Preto, Rádio do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Pernambuco, Fortaleza and Belém, Rádio Sociedade in Juiz de Fora and Rádio Farroupilha in Porto Alegre).

This program, which is still aired and received a television version in 1983, is the Brazilian version of a homonym program (The Voice of Prophecy) inaugurated in the United States in 1937 and currently present in over 30 countries. Its founder, pasotr Roberto Mendes Rabello, used to translate North-American pastor’s sermons and songs from the King’s Herald’s group, until the Brazilian quartet Arautos do Rei was formed in 1962, and recorded their first album in the following year. At that time the program was already transmitted by over 250 stations. Still in 1962 the program inaugurated its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The Arautos do Rei and The King’s Heralds were presente, as well as personalities such as the President of the Republic, Juscelino Kubitschek.

In the following years, the church created other radio and TV programs, such as the radio show Fé para Hoje (1962), and television shows Encontro com a Vida and Está Escrito (1980s), broadcast by TV Manchete and TV Bandeirantes, until the church obtained the concessions for their own communication vehicles in 1989, during José Sarney’s government (PMDB, 1985-1990). The first grant was Rádio Difusora Guanduense Ltda, in Espírito Santo state.

One of the programs supporters was the businessman Milton Soldani Adonso, who had worked at the church’s hospital and owned the health company Golden Cross. Considered “patron of adventist communication”, he was also to donate the area for the construction of Rede de Comunicação Novo Tempo’s second headquarters in Nova Friburgo (Rio de Janeiro state) in 1996. Other adventist businessmen supported the church’s communication project through FE – Adventist Businessmen, Executives and Professionals in Brazil, created during A Voz da Profecia 50 years anniversary celebration. In 2006 the network’s headquarters was transferred to Jacareí (São Paulo state), and currently counts with a recorder as well.

Rede Novo Tempo de Comunicação produces content in portuguese and spanish for all countries comprising the church’s South American Division. The Division also has a Communication Department, which sets guidelines for the entity’s media work and promotes courses and exchange between communication professionals. They are part of the Global Adventist Internet Network (GaiN), a “conference destined to promote the use of technology, media and internet in order to aid the Adventist Church’s mission”. The professionals are also entitled to take part in the Adventist Communication Capacitation Program (PAC.com).