In recent years, some Christian denominations have discovered that their membership rolls are growing mightily in the Global South. Often those growing Christian communities are quite conservative on issues of gender and sexuality. We are now seeing such conflicts among the Seventh-day Adventists, which has passionately debated the ordination of women. A church that was once regarded as a purely U.S. phenomenon has become one of the worldâ??s fastest growing and most diverse.
The Adventists grew out of the millenarian fervor that swept the United States in the 1840s. In 1844, William Miller warned of the Christâ??s imminent return and the worldâ??s destruction. In fact, he did so twice, and the double failure provoked what is termed the Great Disappointment. A remnant of Millerites then reconstructed their movement under the visionary leadership of New Englandâ??born Ellen G. White.
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