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Australian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia is formally organised as the Australian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (often abbreviated by Australians as "the Union"), a subentity of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists. As of 30 June 2021, baptised church membership stands at 63,401.[1] Despite its small size, the Australian church[2] has made a significant impact on the worldwide Adventist church. There is a particularly large Seventh-Day Adventist Church presence in the suburb of Cooranbong in the Lake Macquarie region of Newcastle.[3] As of the 2021 census, 23.5% of the suburb is Seventh-day Adventist, which is higher than every other religious denomination besides "no religion".[4] HistoryThe first Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia was the Melbourne Seventh-day Adventist Church, which formed on 10 January 1886, with 29 members.[5] Ellen White, one of the church's founders, spent nine years ministering to the Australian Adventist community from 1891 to 1900. Outreach to the Australian Aborigines has occurred since the 1890s.[6] For a representative sample of Adventist theology as taught by Australian lecturers and church leaders see the textbook Meaning for the New Millennium: The Christian Faith from a Seventh-day Adventist Perspective. It is not an "official" statement of belief (the 28 Fundamentals play this role), but rather "constitute[s] how a representative group of Australian teachers explain their beliefs".[7] StatisticsThe number of people who consider themselves Seventh-day Adventists is:
The 1996 National Church Life Survey revealed that of all churches in Australia, Seventh-day Adventists have the highest level of church attendance, highest proportion of members with post-graduate degrees, and the highest proportion who regularly contribute financially to their church. OrganisationsThe church's main tertiary educational institution is Avondale University College in the Lake Macquarie region in New South Wales. It offers numerous degrees including nursing, teaching and theology.[citation needed] Despite being one of the smaller churches in Australia, the Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia operates a large number of schools In 1992, the church had the 3rd largest number of faith-based schools (with the Catholic and Anglican churches having a larger number of schools each). However, the number of students at each Adventist school was low compared to other independent schools.[12] The Signs Publishing Company which serves the South Pacific Division, is based in Victoria and prints the Signs of the Times magazine. There are also two other magazine's printed by the Signs Publishing Company for the church. The first is the internal church magazine called The Record. The second is a youth focused magazine called The Edge. The church also operates the Sydney Adventist Hospital and the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company based in Australia and New Zealand.[citation needed] The Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia is a senior member of the Australian Christian Research Association.[13] Local Conferences The Australian Union Conference (website) comprises nine smaller subdivisions of "local Conferences". Greater SydneyThe Greater Sydney Conference (website) covers the city of Sydney and its surrounds, in the state of New South Wales. North New South WalesThe North New South Wales Conference (website) covers the region of New South Wales north of Sydney. Northern AustraliaThe Northern Australia Conference (website) covers the northern part of the state of Queensland as well as the adjacent Northern Territory. South AustraliaThe South Australia Conference covers the state of South Australia. South New South WalesThe South New South Wales Conference (website) covers the region of New South Wales south and west of Sydney including the Australian Capital Territory.[14] South QueenslandThe South Queensland Conference (website) covers the southern part of the state of Queensland. TasmaniaThe Tasmanian Conference (website) covers the island state of Tasmania. VictoriaThe Victorian Conference (website) covers the state of Victoria. The Adventist church in Victoria is likely best known to the community for its annual production "Road to Bethlehem" (website), a dramatic reenactment of events leading up to the birth of Jesus.[15] Western AustraliaThe Western Australia Conference (website) covers the state of Western Australia. See also
Further reading
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seventh-day Adventist churches in Australia.
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