Adventist Voices by Spectrum: The Journal of the Adventist Forum

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Filmmaker Kyle Portbury talks about his film, The Hopeful, which tells the early Adventist story for any audience. The film premieres on 900 cinema screens across North America on April 17 and 18. Kyle shares how the film came to be and some details about the aestheic and narrative choices he made. The Hopeful is the true story of a community whose lives were transformed as they learn what it means to truly wait for Jesus. This sweeping drama, set in 19th century New England, invites audiences of all ages to imagine how hope can change the world. In this story the audience sees blossoming the seeds of a new global movement of faith—the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Get tickets here: The Hopeful See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 27, 2024, “Testament: Story of Moses” premiered on Netflix. Spectrum correspondent Kevin McCarty interviews series producer Kelly McPherson about the docudrama approach. By using a docudrama (documentary and drama) approach, the viewer is led through the Exodus account in a vivid fashion, while also receiving wisdoms and insights from passionate scholars, theologians, and historians. These speakers represent all three traditions that hold Moses as a prophet, being the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. By engaging with the story in this manner, McPherson hopes to cause emotional responses in the viewer. For those who may not already know the story to see the enduring quality of it, showing why it still speaks to something within us to this day. And to add new layers and surprises for those who think they might know this epic story. Grounded in the humanness of Moses, this fresh look into one of the most epic stories of all time brings together many elements of storytelling in a new way. The result is an incredible journey for both newcomers and those returning to Moses’ story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Historian and retired university president Eric Anderson discusses next steps after the Ellen White working conference last fall at Pacific Union College. He discusses the meanings behind the joint statement and makes an argument that appreciating her writing as devotional offers Adventists a way forward. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the third in a three-part series on Sex, Love, and Purity Culture. This episode focuses on next steps in growth and development past Purity Culture. Sofia, Ari, and Kendra are joined by Ezrica Bennett, who graduated with a BS in Biology from Oakwood University. She recently received a Princeton University grant for her ministry work with young adults at Loma Linda University Church. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the second in a three-part series on Sex, Love, and Purity Culture. This episode focuses on the creation of purity culture as well as the history and political ideology behind it. Sofia, Ari, and Melodie are joined by Christina Cannon, who studied at Wycliffe Hall/ University of Oxford and graduated in 2023 in the Scholars Program at Southern Adventist University with a BA in History. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This begins a three-episode conversation about the history, theology, and personal impact of purity culture. Although rooted in socioreligious mores that pre-date the term, purity culture emerged in the 1990s as an evangelical Christian cultural movement. It continues to influence Seventh-day Adventist understandings of dating and marriage, sexual expression and gender identity as well as female modesty and male headship. This limited series, “Sex, Love, and Purity Culture,” introduces our next-gen video podcast called Youth Group which seeks “to look without prejudice at all sides of a subject, to evaluate the merits of diverse views, and to foster intellectual and cultural growth.” That is also a quote from the founding mission statement written on the opening page of the inaugural issue of a journal named Spectrum over fifty years ago. That commitment to creating community through conversation continues today with: Kendra Arsenault, who studied International Development & African American Studies at UCLA and earned an MDiv in Professional Chaplaincy from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. She has created several popular podcasts and works at Stanford University Medical Center. Ari Bates studied film at Southern Adventist University and is the Creative Director of Aberration Film Studios in Portland, Oregon. Sofia Lindgren graduated in 2023 with a BA in Business Administration from Pacific Union College. She is Spectrum’s Office Manager. Melodie Roschman earned her PhD in English from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her dissertation is on “Identity, Counternarrative, and Community in Progressive Christian Women’s Memoir.” She was editor of The Student Movement at Andrews University and graduated with a BA in English and Journalism in the J. N. Andrews Honors program. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seventh-day Adventist judge Daniel Nsereko has lived a remarkable life: from humble beginnings in a small rural village in Uganda, to the highest levels of international law in The Hague where he served as a judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC). In this interview he shares his educational and professional journey as well as the moment his ethical consciousness was awakened. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pastor Claval Hunter leads the Berean Transformation Center, a Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Bend, Indiana. He shares how engaging his community on social and political issues transformed his congregation and added missional energy and baptisms. Born in the Bahamas, Pastor Hunter served as the Director of Urban Ministries for the Lake Region Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He is currently serving as Associate Director of the Andrews University Center for Community Change. He holds a BA in Ministerial Theology from Oakwood University and a MDiv degree from the Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I interview Hanz Gutierrez about his retracted theological teaching endorsement by the General Conference’s International Board of Ministerial and Theological Education. Gutierrez is a longtime Spectrum columnist and chair of the Systematic Theology Department at the Italian Adventist Theological Faculty of Villa Aurora. He recently wrote about the lack of communication and process in this surprising move by the IBMTE and we discuss his experience and his ideas in this special episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the gritty neighbourhoods of Sydney, Australia, Nimrod faced the stark challenges of racial discrimination. Battling racial profiling and mistreatment by white law enforcement, his refuge came when he was invited to his white girlfriend's church. It was within this community that Nimrod discovered God hadn't abandoned him; instead, the church embraced him completely. Fuelled by these transformative experiences, Nimrod dived into theology, ultimately becoming a pastor and currently leading at Church in the Valley. “They bought into my leadership because I learned in university that you can’t truly be who you are when you get out into ministry. Because it’s governed by white men, it’s led by white men, and as a Samoan, there’s no conference where I look at and there’s been a Samoan president, we’re rare, so you can’t dream for that because you don’t see it [in Australia].” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elizabth Pule started her career journey aimed at becoming a lawyer, when an unexpected mission call changed her mind. With support from the Ontario Conference she attended Andrews University to then return to her home church as a pastor. Having had various opportunities as a chaplain, and ministry director, Elizabeth now pastors at the College Heights Church located on the Burman University campus. “I do believe the inclusion of all individuals who are neurodiverse is so important to the body of Christ. We can’t ignore what the Bible says about every single one of us has been gifted a specific role and gift, and we all matter in that body of Christ. I do believe there are forgotten parts in the body of Christ. We need to amend that.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Iron Claw (2023) director and writer Sean Durkin talks with Alexander Carpenter about the meaning in his film. In theaters now, the saga of the Von Erich professional wrestling family stars Zac Efron as he seeks to break the tragic curse of his name. The film includes a heaven-like scene of fraternal reunion, and Durkin discusses the mythological references as well as why he thinks wrestling helps us understand the human condition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Alex now serves as Sligo Church’’s senior pastor. He came to understand God from among diversities of cultures around him while seeing church as a community of God in location. In his academic work and leadership role, Alex seeks to celebrate his past and honour his mother as sources of identity. “Part of being human gives us the complexity to say maybe religion isn’t just reading something or understanding it, but it’s smelling it, it’s tasting it, it is moving or non-movement and that the world is truly such an enormous neighbourhood.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up in Kenya, Jeanne was confused by God’s calling into pastoral ministry, as she never knew women could be any kind of church leader. With time spent in the USA during her university years, Jeanne came to see the unique ways God equips people for the work He has planned. Returning to Kenya with her Ph.D in urban planning and development, yet choosing instead to be known as pastor Jeanne. “I’m so grateful to God that He took me out of the environment in which I was raised. I loved the environment I was raised in, because it created a wonderful, strong foundation for me in my Adventist faith. However, I was a good Adventist, but I was not a good Christain, and there’s a great distinction between the two.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up in Washington State, Anthony saw two very different cultural sides to Adventism. With a move to Seattle so his father could pastor a mainly black church, Anthony realized how much of his image of church was based off of “white suburbia.” This awakening forced him to search out his own blackness and what it might mean to be Caribbean. “I think this is a borderline universal fear, it’s that fear, like what if I’m myself in front of this new group of people and they don’t accept me? What if I bring my true self, as I actually am, not a projection, but the real me, will I be accepted? Will I be loved? Will I be enough?” Check out Anthony’s podcast as they ask “What is an Adventist?” Seeking What They Sought Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/seekingpodcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Courtney Ray started her academic career with a double major in theology and psychology, becoming an ordained minister of the Adventist church. She now works as a neuropsychologist with her private clinic in the Eastern United States, along with leadership roles within her local church and the Society for Black Neuropsychology. “I think that you honestly have to disconnect yourself from logic to both be an Adventist and say that women cannot be in ministry. There’s no coherent argument that allows you to hold both those things at the same time.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Hoenes is a career pastor with more than 25 years of ministry experience in the Central and Southern California Conferences. He became the West Region Director of the Southern California Conference in 2015, where he still serves. Since 2013, Greg has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Studies at La Sierra University. He earned a PhD in Practical Theology at Claremont School of Theology in 2021, focusing in the area of food, ecology, and religion/spirituality. He also studies the ways that racial categorization, racism, and the construct of “whiteness” connect to ecologies of land and environment, humans, and animals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom TV shows featuring Stan Brock. In this Adventist Voices conversation I talk with Paul Michael Angell, the director of Medicine Man, a new documentary on Brock’s adventurous life and later altruistic work leading Remote Area Medica providing free medical care for underserved communities. I also interviewed the RAM CEO Jeffery Eastman about the incredible work the organization and how they translate Brock’s radical values into a sustainable model for connecting volunteers with people in need. The 1 hour and 36 minute award winning film premieres on November 14 in theaters across North America See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hailing from Eastern Canada, with time spent as a chaplain in Western Canada. Ben now works as the youth pastor at La Sierra University Church. By being connected to and inspired by, his Ghanaian roots, he creates safe spaces for cultural minorities. “The reality of humanity, that we can be part of an organization, Christianity or Adventism, that is Christ centered and yet does not prioritize people … We can have a cognitive dissonance between being Christian and following the sacraments, or the flow of tradition and also never really care about all people at all times.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.