Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (2024 Report)
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church: Most people leave the Seventh-Day Adventist Church because of doctrinal differences. Teachings and opinions on the interpretation of the Bible and prophecy and day of worship have led to many people leaving the SDA Church.
According to Errol Webster, more than 42 percent of people have left the Adventist Church in the past 50 years or more.
Jeff Parker, Adventist youth director for Australia, revealed at the Church’s 2018 Youth Engagement Summit that “around 62 percent of young people who attend a church in Australia leave before they’re 30.”
So why are people leaving the Seventh-Day Adventist Church? We have researched all the available reasons and materials. Find all the information on “Why I Left The Seventh-Day Adventist Church below.
Why People Leave the Seventh-Day Adventist Church
The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church has a rich history and a strong sense of community. However, there are various reasons why people decide to leave this denomination. Here are some of those reasons and the experiences of those who have made this difficult decision.
1. Doctrinal Differences
One of the most common reasons for leaving the SDA Church is doctrinal disagreement. People may find themselves at odds with specific teachings or interpretations of the Bible. These differences can range from views on prophecy and the end times to the observance of the Sabbath.
2. The Sabbath as a Point of Contention
The SDA Church places significant emphasis on observing the Sabbath (Saturday) as the day of rest and worship. While many members find this practice meaningful, others may feel burdened by the strict rules surrounding Sabbath observance. Some individuals leave because they no longer resonate with this particular doctrine.
3. Ellen White and Her Influence
Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the SDA Church, is considered a prophetess by the denomination. Her writings have shaped SDA beliefs and practices. However, some people question her authority and the extent to which her teachings align with the Bible. For those who find discrepancies, leaving the church becomes a logical step.
4. Legalism and Rigidity
Critics argue that the SDA Church can sometimes become legalistic and rigid. The pressure to conform to certain lifestyle choices, dietary restrictions, and dress codes can be overwhelming for some members. Leaving the church allows them to seek a more flexible spiritual path.
5. Personal Experiences and Hurt
Like any religious community, the SDA Church is composed of imperfect people. Some individuals leave because they’ve experienced hurt or disappointment within the congregation. Whether due to interpersonal conflicts, judgment, or exclusion, these negative experiences can lead to departure.
Personal Experiences – Why I left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Report by Spencer D Gear)
Here are the reasons his friend left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church:
In my sojourn of 15 years with them, I found that what they say to their prospective converts can be totally different to what they really believe. Walter Martin so rightly said of SDAs that they “speak out of both sides of their mouth.” All I am prepared to say to an SDA at this moment can be summarised as my seven solid reasons for leaving the SDA organization.
See the seven reasons he gave for leaving the Seventh-Day Adventist Church below:
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 1
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I am convinced that Jesus Christ was sinless. I could never believe in the Adventist statement that Christ inherited a sinful nature. God’s word clearly says, “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). They are trying to discredit the Lord Jesus here.
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 2
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because God’s word tells me that our Lord Jesus Christ paid the full price for the sins of the whole world by victoriously completing his atonement on Calvary’s cross. I could never believe in the Adventist teaching of an incomplete atonement. How subtle and evil to use the name of Jesus as a convenient come-on to those who want to believe and then dishonor and discredit him by nullifying his redemptive power in this manner!
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 3
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I cannot accept their teaching that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he had to stand around in an imaginary ante-room in heaven for 1800 years, at which time the Adventists were given the commission to preach to the rest of the world! This is indeed a most hideous, unbiblical, bigoted, and revolting doctrine and an insult to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My Bible tells me that Jesus went straight into the presence of God and sat at His right hand.
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 4
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because of their negative teaching that we can never be certain that we are saved until the second coming of Jesus, at which time we will be judged whether or not we are saved. This is just the opposite of what my Bible tells me. God’s word assures us that we know that we have eternal life. (1 John 5:13). Also, there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. (Rom 8:1)
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 5
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because their belief system is built on a combination of truth and error. They deceive people into believing they are God’s exclusive channel of truth. This is undoubtedly a mark of a Cult, but how they accomplish this is interesting. Extensive interpretations and explanations by Ellen White twist the meaning of Scripture to uphold their denominational claims. For example, the account of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43 has been altered in their Bible teaching by the shifting of a comma as follows:
- A: Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
- B: Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
Please note how the shifting of the comma gives an entirely different meaning to the sentence. Note: being the normal KJV text and being the Adventist alteration. This is done to support their teaching on the state of the dead (Soul Sleep). As the Mormons have their own Bible (The Book of Mormon) and the J.W.s have theirs (The New World Bible), Seventh-day Adventists have the Clear Word Bible, where they have added over 300 words. Adventists accuse Mormons and J.Ws of mutilating the Bible, but what Adventists have done to the Scriptures is incredible.
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 6
I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I believe the Lord’s Day, as acknowledged by the entire Christian world, is the appropriate day for celebrating, remembering and honoring our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that Christians should keep the Jewish 7th day as the day of worship, but God’s word clearly tells us that the early Church began meeting on the first day of the week.
Despite this overwhelming Biblical and historical evidence, Adventists have misconstrued the Bible, claiming that Christians should observe the Old Covenant practice of Sabbath keeping. They defy God’s word, which clearly states that the New Covenant superseded the old. To add insult to injury, Adventist Prophetess Ellen White insists that Sunday keepers will receive the Mark of the Beast. They find it next to impossible now to cover up the insane statements made by Ellen White.
Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Reason 7
Finally, I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because their system was conceived in error and structured on a multitude of presumptions and falsehoods. Founded upon William Miller’s two failed predictions that Christ’s second coming would take place in 1843 and 1844, respectively, Ellen White accredited and continued the work, which was finally called the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their Fundamental beliefs were greatly influenced by her visions, supposed to be from God, but afterward found to be questionable and hidden away in a vault. Thank God for His precious word with which I have confounded Adventism!
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Why I Left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church – Report by Errol Webster
Errol Webster submitted that Adventist Church researcher Monte Sahlin said survey findings show that the cause of members leaving the Adventist Church has less to do with doctrinal disagreements “than with problems people experience in their personal lives.”
Church historian David Trim also said the “creeping secularization” of our world is a factor.
One study of Adventist millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) who still attend church revealed that they have a more negative view of the Adventist Church than U.S. millennials, in general, have about their churches.
Why some Seventh-Day Adventist members leave the church
Full document available here.
In 2011, Seventh-day Adventist church leaders, concerned about evidence that some of its members were leaving the church, decided to conduct a worldwide study of the factors that may be involved. Under the leadership of the General Conference Nurture and Retention Committee, the hope was to identify areas on which to focus the church’s nurture initiatives.
The Nurture and Retention Committee (Adults) and the Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) created a detailed survey for members who were no longer attending worship services (“left”), as well as a companion (and parallel) survey for members who had previously left the church for a period of time but had “returned” to active church membership.
Perceived hypocrisy in other members, marital difficulties, a lack of friends in the church, other family conflicts, a high level of conflict in the local church, and personal conflict with a local church member are the top six reasons for leaving (s).
Reasons why members left the Seventh-Day Adventist Church
The reasons given by the survey why members leave the Seventh-Day Adventist Church are:
- Perceived hypocrisy in other church members
- Marital difficulties
- Lack of friends in the church
- High level of conflict in the local church
- Family conflicts
- Personal conflict with local church members
- Prolonged doubts about Adventist doctrines
- Moved to a new city/church
- Divorce
- Dislike of worship styles
- Decisions taken by higher leaders
- Personal conflict with Pastor
- Prolonged doubts about the truth of Christianity
- Dislike of preaching (sermons)
- Prolong doubts about the existence of God
- The local Pastor was moved to another congregation
- Death of parents/other family members
Why You Should Leave Seventh-Day Adventist Church (When You Leave Adventism)
Robert K. Sanders has this to say in his article titled “When you leave Adventism,” available here:
Some may feel good about leaving the church because they are free from Ellen G. White’s non-biblical teachings as well as those found in the SDA 28 fundamental beliefs. Others may feel hurt that the church has deceived them by learning that Ellen G. White is not the “Spirit of Prophecy,” and that God does not call any denomination a “remnant church”.
Do you remember hearing this statement, if you leave the “truth” meaning the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church then you soon start questioning the Bible and will lose your salvation? This is a flat out lie that the church uses to try to hold its members.
It may be true in some cases that some may leave God, but it is not true for all. Those individuals that leave God after leaving the Adventist church did not have their faith in Christ to start with, but had their faith in Adventism and Ellen G. White for their salvation. When the church failed them they had no anchor for their soul.
If you have been a dedicated Christian and believed that Jesus Christ was your Savior as a Seventh-day Adventist, then there is no reason to be afraid in leaving the Adventist Church. Remember this, you are renouncing a church with non-biblical doctrines and a false prophet, not your baptism and your faith in Jesus Christ. You will only loose your salvation by renouncing Christ and His Word.
Ellen believed and taught that God bestowed his supreme affection only on the Seventh-day Adventist Church and all other churches were Babylon. We know this is a falsehood, as the Bible teaches all Christians are precious in his sight, and Jesus died for each of us, and Jesus does not show favoritism to Christians by denominations.
How is Seventh Day Adventist Different From Christianity?
Ellen G. White, the founder and “prophet” of Adventism, wrote a slew of books about the “visions” God gave her. Among those visions was the “prophecy” of the “Sunday law,” which is central to the end-of-the-world scenario. It goes like this: all mainstream Christianity worships on Sunday in order to follow the “beast” of Revelation, the Catholic Church. According to the fourth commandment, Adventists worship on Saturday.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Millennialist Protestant Christian denomination that was founded in the 1860s in the United States.
The term “Seventh-day Adventist” refers to the Church’s practice of keeping the “biblical Sabbath” on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. The term “Advent” means “coming” and refers to their belief that Jesus Christ will soon return to earth.
Seventh-day Adventists differ from mainstream Trinitarian Christian denominations in only four areas of belief. These are the Sabbath day, the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary, the status of Ellen White’s writings, and their second coming and millennium doctrines.
Many people are leaving the Seventh-Day Adventist Church because of these doctrinal differences. These differences arise from the Bible’s (and the New Testament’s) authority as the Word of God and final authority.
The Sanctuary Doctrine
The Sanctuary Doctrine is the most distinctive Adventist doctrine. Orthodox Christians commonly hold that Jesus, as our high priest, intercedes for us at God’s right hand (Heb 4:14-16; 6:20; 7:25). But SDAs also believe that Christ entered the “sanctuary in heaven” and after a “prophetic period of 2,300 days” (ending in 1844) he entered the second and last phase of his atoning ministry, a work of “blotting out” sin. As Kenneth R. Samples explains,
From his ascension until 1844, Jesus had been applying the forgiveness he purchased on the cross in the first compartment of the sanctuary, but in 1844, he entered the second compartment and began to investigate the lives of those who had received forgiveness to see if they were worthy of eternal life. Only those who passed this judgment could be assured of being translated at his coming. This doctrine gave rise to what later became known as the sinless perfection teaching (perfect commandment-keeping in order to find acceptance in the judgment). Following the investigative judgment, Christ would come out of the heavenly sanctuary and return to earth bringing to every man his reward, and ushering in the great and terrible day of the Lord. It is 1844, and the events described above, which mark the beginning of SDA.
To date, some evangelical denominations considered SDA to be a non-Christian cult (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses). Hence, so many are leaving the Church.
We would like to know your views about the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and if you have left the Church, why did you take those steps? Use the comment section below to drop your views.
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