My dear brothers and sisters across the North American Division, it breaks my heart to see how we are treating one another right now. In so many places, our churches and conferences are acting like a family at war, divided against itself. Instead of humbly acknowledging our faults and making things right, we are making painful excuses for our poor behavior.
It is deeply sorrowful to see some of us actively judging, gossiping, and condemning those around us, only to hide behind a label of "no judgment" when confronted. We are gaslighting the very people we are called to nurture, claiming they have no right to speak up about the hurt. This deep heartbreak has led many of you to ask a heavy, painful question: Should we leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church, or do we stay?
Remembering Our Roots
Let’s take a gentle step back and look at our history. Throughout time, leaving the "mother church" was never done in haste or out of anger. It only happened after years of sincere, tearful efforts to bring healing and revival. True separation occurred only over vital, foundational truths—never over personal grievances or administrative frustrations.
Martin Luther made sincere and earnest efforts to reform the Catholic Church from within long before he ever left it.
The Puritans attempted for decades to bring the Church of England back into alignment with Scripture.
Our own Millerite pioneers didn’t walk away voluntarily; they were cast out of their churches because of their burning love for Christ’s appearing.
God’s Heart in Prophecy
God has a beautiful, distinct plan for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as shown in the Second Angel’s Message. But we must remember that our Heavenly Father’s heart is wide, and His children are not found only within our denomination.
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Revelation 14:8).
This is a tender, urgent call for God's children to leave confusion behind and step into His clear truth, into his visible church. Right now, His remnant people are both inside and outside of this church. But a time of testing—a shaking—is coming. Like a father carefully sorting the wheat, God will shake out those who have hardened their hearts and corrupted their faith, and He will gather in those from the outside who love Him sincerely.
We see this promise of divine care not only in Revelation, but also in Amos 9:9:
"For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”
(If you want to see just how deeply our church is woven into God’s prophetic heart, I highly encourage you to read Amazing Facts Study Guide 23 online. It is a beautiful reminder of who we are.)
A Pleading Call to Stay
To my fellow conservative believers, I plead with you: please do not give up on our home. When we talk about walking away, it only weakens the voice of truth and leaves the church vulnerable to those who wish to lead it astray. We need your faithful, loving presence to help bring revival and reform; please, don't lose hope.
Don’t let side issues distract you from the bigger picture. Remember the prophet Jeremiah—he was thrown into a dark pit by his own people, yet he remained faithful to God’s organized flock until his very last breath. Jesus, too, stayed and labored for His people, even when the leadership rejected Him.
Look at these beautiful, comforting words Ellen White wrote in the final years of her life. They read like a mother’s appeal for her wandering children:
“The church has failed, sadly failed, to meet the expectations of her Redeemer, and yet the Lord does not withdraw Himself from His people. He bears with them still, not because of any goodness found in them, but that His name may not be dishonored before the enemies of truth and righteousness, that the satanic agencies may not triumph in the destruction of God’s people. He has borne long with their waywardness, unbelief and folly. With wonderful forbearance and compassion, He has disciplined them. If they will heed His instruction, He will cleanse away their perverse tendencies, saving them with an everlasting salvation and making them eternal monuments of the power of His grace.”
“I am instructed to say to Seventh-day Adventists the world over, God has called us as a people to be a peculiar treasure unto Himself. He has appointed that His church on earth shall stand perfectly united in the Spirit and counsel of the Lord of hosts to the end of time.”
A Warning to Leadership
One last word—a warning to conference administrators who are failing to call sin by its right name, who love position and power above principle, and who fail to understand that the Adventist Church in North America is currently failing to live up to God’s standard:
“In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: “Found wanting.” By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged....”
It is not our job—it is not my job—to blindly defend pastors and conference officers when they lose their way; it is our job to uphold the truth and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. However, we can only judge them based on Scripture. Our duty, and our highest act of love, is to uphold the truth and protect the destiny of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Let us stop fighting, refuse to run away, and come back together under the truth. Don’t let unimportant issues divide us.
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“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).