About Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant church with approximately 19 million members worldwide, including more than one million members in North America. The Seventh-day Adventist Church seeks to enhance quality of life for people everywhere and to let people know that Jesus is coming again soon.
Adventists believe a Trinity of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—make up one God. They made salvation possible when Jesus, the Son, came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem and lived a sinless life in accordance with the Father's will. When Jesus was crucified for the sins of the people of the world and arose from the dead on the third day, victory was won for everyone.
When He returned to heaven following the resurrection, Jesus left the Holy Spirit to serve as our Comforter and Counselor. He promised to return to earth a second time to complete His plan of salvation and take His people to heaven. Adventists are among the believers who look forward to that day.
Adventists believe that God is concerned with the quality of human life, and that everything—the way we live, eat, speak, think, treat each other, and care for the world around us—is part of His plan. Our families, our children, our jobs, our talents, our money, and our time are all important to Him.
In the year 1927 several Adventist were meeting in the St. Helens area in private homes for Sabbath services. Following a series of meetings with G. E. Johnson, and then later with the Verden brothers, the group grew rapidly. in 1928 a small church building was erected on 17th street in St. Helens. the church was officially organized on July 27, 1929. this small brown-stained building became affectionately known as "The Little Brown Church." As the church family grew the need of a larger facility became apparent. The Grace Baptist church purchased it and their new church sits on the property it and their church sits on the property now.
In 1938 a site was purchased by Walther Haffner on S. Columbia River Highway, and a new church was build the next year under the building chairmanship of Sam Blehm Sr. (Sam's son Walt later became the President of the Oregon Conference.) This building, with some later additions, served the congregation from Nov. 4, 1939 when the first meeting was held in the unfinished building in July 11, 1959, when fire damaged it to such an extent it was unfeasible repair. With the decision to build a new church school along with a new church, present property was secured with the school constructed first.