Church Denominations Of Bedford County

Seventh Day Adventists

  Members of the Seventh Day Adventist denomination established churches in South Woodbury, Broad Top and Snake Spring Townships and in Everett Borough.

  As noted previously in regard to the Baptists, in the 1840s another denomination emerged which promoted the concept of the Sabbath being Saturday: the Seventh Day Adventists. Although not directly affiliated with the Seventh Day Baptists, the Adventists were somewhat influenced by the Baptists, following a theology of Protestant Christianity that combines elements of the Wesleyan, Lutheran and Anabaptist churches

  The Seventh Day Adventists grew out of the Millerite movement in northern New York. During the Second Great Awakening, William Miller began to preach that Jesus' Second Coming (i.e. His advent) would, according to the Bible (Daniel 8:14-16), take place between spring 1843 and spring 1844. When that year came and went, the followers of Miller, becoming known as Millerites, chose 22 October 1844 as the date for the Second Coming. When Jesus did not appear at that time, many of the Millerites deserted to rejoin the churches from which they had come. Miller rationalized that his interpretation of the scripture in the Book of Daniel had been in error only in that it foretold Jesus' entry into the heavenly sanctuary rather than the earth.

  The Adventist movement continued to grow, and on 21 May 1863, with a membership at 3,500 the church was formally established. The church embraced the Trinitarian theology and gained credibility in the eyes of various other denominations.

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