The most liberal enclave in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a secret Facebook group that your pastor is likely a part of. I should know — I was a member for years.
I say it is a “secret” group, as opposed to “private,” because if you are not a member and you search for it, it will not come up in the search results. You have to be invited to see it. And boy have I seen a lot.
With over 2,600 members, Adventist Professional Ministers (APM) is a forum where discussion happens between pastors and other individuals in paid ministry positions (ostensibly). It is an international group—which, in reality, means it is mostly comprised of pastors in the NAD, though many represent from other countries. On the surface, this is a good thing!
Professional ministerial associations have long been regarded as positive support groups for pastors—being that ministry is a challenging and, often isolating job. However, the standards and definitions of “Adventism,” “professionalism,” and even “ministry” are stretched to the limit in this group, as it has become a destructive echo chamber for the most progressive ideas found in our church and contemporary society.
For several years, the group’s administrators have allowed name-calling, bullying, unsafe levels of candor, open venting against the church, and tolerance (even promotion) of worldly ideals.
While we can be charitable enough to recognize that administrating a group doesn’t equate to agreeing with everything that is said within that group, it is notable that the administrators do little to stop unhealthy conversation (although they will forcefully shut down pro-Trump or anti-vax sentiments immediately).
They also do not seem to be interested in removing members from the group once they leave ministry in real life. This seems charitable on the surface: the sentiment being that they still have pastoral experiences to share with current pastors.
However, in many cases, pastors leave ministry because of disagreements with the church, battles with personal moral failings, or they simply walk away from their faith. These individuals tend to stay in the group, way past when it is appropriate, and at that point they spew anti-church, worldly, or even anti-Christian rhetoric within the group, without any administrative or moderator intervention. I have personally witnessed both current and former pastors—as well as current and former Adventists—in the group (which, again, is called Adventist Professional Ministers) expressing sentiments that their life experiences have taught them more truth than the Bible.
One of these run-ins was with a group of young pastors, as well as a teacher who was currently not teaching at an Adventist school, who was also openly a homosexual. These things, it should be clear, should have disqualified him from membership. The actions of the others should have disqualified them.
Homosexuality
For instance, a post was shared that mentioned a theory that the word “homosexual” was not in the Bible, that it was only translated that way later on. I had taken five semesters of Biblical Greek, five semesters of Biblical Hebrew, and many more exegesis classes by that point. Red flag warnings were ringing.
So I did a simple exegesis of the text in question. Undoubtedly, the word homosexual was mentioned, and negatively, in the Bible. I shared this, in a comment on the original post and the individuals I mentioned above viciously attacked this threat to their liberal understanding of the Bible. I stated that I only was posting what I did for edification, not to argue, and I was told
‘They were tired of people using what is in the Bible to hurt people in the real world. God loved homosexuals and that’s all they needed to know: that was more important than what the text said.’
The homosexual individual actually apologized to me, as he felt embarrassed about how strongly the Adventist professional ministers attacked me. I thought: how can we have civil conversations about Adventist faith and Biblical study, with individuals like this in the group: triggering LGBTQ ally pastors to feel the need to over-react like this? I contacted an admin. The individual was not removed from the group.
You will find among the group’s members, today, many who fit this bill, including Esther (Kris) Loewen, the former pastor from Redlands who medically transitioned from male to female, and who is now doing consulting work with hospitals to teach how to care for transgender people. This individual is currently still contributing to the group of Adventist professional ministers, as someone who apparently has something meaningful to say to the pastors who belong to the group.
Alicia Johnston, who came out as bisexual and left pastoral ministry, was also a member. It is Alicia’s goal to reconcile Adventist theology with her queerness, and she has made it a point to be a voice of criticism against the church. She is not currently in the group, from what I can tell, but she was a member for years after she came out and quit ministry. Adventist Professional Ministers…indeed.
The Cost
With these members, and many more who fit a similar bill, being tolerated by the administrators of the group, you can correctly assume that being a member of this group is affecting your pastor, and not in an uplifting way. Many pastors come into the group with fairly conservative ideals, but get bullied mercilessly—mocked by group members who no longer feel it is appropriate to hold to Adventist standards, as well as by divergent (but tolerated) folks like Esther.
On a number of occasions, pastors who hold a conservative viewpoint are told that they are the ones who aren’t Adventist, because they believe in the traditional Adventist interpretation of Daniel 7, a conservative biblical stance toward the LGBTQ community, or even in Ellen White herself.
After a time, conservative pastors either stop contributing to the conversation and watch from the sidelines in horror as the loudest voices tear each other apart, or they leave the group, so as to salvage their mental health from the anxiety of constantly having to defend their faith against their “colleagues” in ministry. Alternatively, to save themselves from ridicule, there are many young, conservative pastors who end up letting the group transform them, as they become more and more liberal themselves.
An Observation Deck
Another dimension of this secret group, which is more practical and perhaps a silver lining of sorts, is that it has become a space for conference administrators to observe as flies on the wall, and get to know who they would like to hire, who they would not like to hire, and even in some cases who they would like to cease to employ.
One young, liberal pastor (who is no longer employed by the church) has been vocal about how his conference president communicated that he disapproved of things he said within the group. While it may or may not directly be connected, the eventual outcome of that relationship is that the young employee was let go from his position in pastoral ministry. So you may even want to tell your pastor that, if they are in the group, their conversation isn’t as secret as they might hope.
A Silver Lining
On an even more positive note, some level-headed pastors have reported that, due to their refusal to go with the crowd and stand up for truth, conference presidents hired them. These are the bright spots on APM, which put our ministers in a good light. There is even a small group of vocal, conservative pastors who exist in the group only to do battle with bad theology and to try and keep young pastors from being transformed by the worldly values of the group.
However, those examples stand in stark contrast with the rebellious rancor that is the majority of the discussion taking place by the loudest voices. Common topics of group discussion range from how the church is too old-fashioned in the way it views trans people, how people who voted for Trump are stupid and evil, how DEI is an important topic that needs to be pushed by the church, how the Bible is no longer as important as personal feeling and experience when it comes to interpretation and worldview. How Desmond Ford was right about his criticisms of the sanctuary model, how Ellen White is not a helpful source of information, and much, much more.
Free at Last
I have left the group, because I find it to be a toxic environment that I don’t want to participate in currently. There is a part of me that would like to help reform the group…but you might say that at this point in my ministerial journey, I feel like I am too busy being an Adventist professional minister to participate in the time-consuming infighting of the Adventist Professional Ministers group. If I need counsel or advice, I have formed meaningful relationships with my colleagues in my local conference, and I have other small groups of good, faithful Adventist individuals—pastors, teachers, and lay people—who I know I can count on. Everyone needs that.
If I could say anything to those who remain a part of the Adventist Professional Ministers group, it is this: there are much better options for emotional, spiritual, and professional support. If I could say anything to those who administrate and who are the loudest voices, it is this: understand that the world of Adventist professional ministry is bigger than you and your gripes about your local church or the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization, that people cannot unsay things that they have said (especially on the internet), and that who we surround ourselves with and who we take advice from has a huge impact on who we are as individuals.
Prayers
If you are reading this and you are a church member, you won’t be able to see the group, but I want to encourage you to pray over them. Pray, first of all, that your pastor is not a part of this secret group: that they are seeking counsel and advice from other, more reputable places. Pray that, if they are a part of it, they can stand strong in their Adventist ideals, or quit before peer-pressure affects them.
And pray that your conference administrators are keeping a watchful eye, in order to keep these rebellious pastors out of your pulpits. Otherwise, one of the more incendiary members of the group may find themselves at your local church preaching about why you’re a bigot for not marching for trans rights, about how the sanctuary doctrine is wrong, or that you are no longer an Adventist if you believe people are sinners.
We know God holds the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and your local church, in His hands; and we know that drawing near to Him is the best antidote for apostasy. However, we also want to encourage our pastors and administrators to be diligent watchmen for truth, so as to keep pastoral apostasy far from our church doors.
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Pastor Zack Payne has been serving as a professional minister for thirteen years, and is currently serving as the Youth Director for the Wisconsin Conference. He has been married to his wife and partner in ministry, Allison, for eleven years and they have four children together. Zack has a Bachelor of the Arts in Theology from Southern Adventist University, a Masters of Divinity from the Andrews University Theological Seminary, and is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry degree through Andrews University, as a part of the Leadership Cohort. His ministry goal is to equip lay people and youth with the knowledge that God has a plan for their life, to help them discover what that plan is, and then equip them with tools toward pursuing that goal, to the glory of God.
Disclaimer: Opinions and points of view expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect any official position of the Wisconsin Conference, where he is employed.