JOINING AND REMAINING : A Look at the Data on the Role of Adventist Education

iven the effort and the such as the C ognitiveGenesis r e- Joining the Church costs involved, Seventh- search,2 which have examined the In the biblical model, conversion day Adventist parents academic performance of students in is expressed through baptism. 3 Bap - G sometimes wonder: “Does Adventist schools, this article will tism, in turn, is a public statement of Adventist education truly make a dif - focus on two key outcomes: acces- one’s desire to formally join the ference? Do the benefits gained out - sion and retention—joining the Ad- church. Is there support for the role weigh the expenditure? Is sending my ventist Church and remaining in the of Adventist education in accession child to the Adventist school an ex - denomination. to the church? pense or an investment?” So what do we know about access Adventist education is the longest Pastors and other church leaders and retention, and the role of Sev- and largest evangelistic event held by also ponder: “Is Adventist education enth-day Adventist education? In the Adventist Church. It is also one of truly evangelism? Does it justify the short, there is a consistent and impor- the most effective. resources that we invest? If so, how tant relationship between attending Depending on the country and can we present a persuasive case for an Adventist school and the likeli- the educational system, the duration Adventist education to parents and hood that a child or youth will join of a school day can range from five other church members?” the Adventist Church and then to nine hours, and a school year can Writing to church leaders and edu - choose to remain a member. We’ll range from 160 to 260 days. 4 An in - cators, Ellen White declared that the take a look at the evidence. dividual student could attend an Ad - all-important issue in Adventist edu - ventist school from a single year to cation is the conversion of the stu - perhaps 16 years or more. At mini - dent. 1 While there have been studies,

BY JOHN WESLEY TAYLOR V http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 39 mum, if a student attends an Ad - A 1990 study, for example, ana - only 3.1 percent were never baptized ventist school for just a single year, lyzed 844 children and youth from Ad - (see Figure 1). this represents an evangelistic op - ventist families in the Southern Union Another study conducted in 1985 portunity of at least 800 hours. To Conference of the North American Di - of 807 children and youth from Ad - use evangelistic terminology, this vision. 7 Of those children and youth ventist families in the Lake Union equates to a person attending an who had no Adventist education, 40.1 Conference of the North American evangelistic series two hours per percent were never baptized. Of those Division found similar results. 8 Of night for 400 nights. If a student, with one or more years of Adventist those children and youth with no however, continues in Adventist ed - education, 15.4 percent were never Adventist education, 38.3 percent ucation from 1st grade through uni - baptized; while in the group with 11 never joined the church. In the versity studies, the evangelistic po - or more years of Adventist education, group with some Adventist educa - tential could increase to more than 37,000 hours. In Adventist education, 5,705 Figure 1. School Attendance and Baptism evangelistic sites specialize in chil - Source: Kenneth James Epperson study dren 5-12 years old, with 51,965 evangelists and 1,188,910 persons at - tending each day. Also, 2,336 evan - gelistic sites focus on adolescents 13- 3.1% 16 years old, with 36,711 evangelists 15.4% and 583,946 in attendance. For youth 40.1% and young adults, there are 167 evan - Never gelistic venues, with 14,103 evangel - baptized ists and 142,530 attending. All told, 96.9% Adventist education represents more 84.6% Baptized than 8,000 evangelistic sites, with 59.9% more than 100,000 evangelists in - volved and nearly 2 million in atten - dance each day. 5 Certainly, it is the largest evangelistic endeavor of the church. No Adventist 1+ years Adventist 11+ years Adventist education education education Is it effective? Each year for the past 10 years, there have been at least 30,000 and in some years, more than Figure 2. School Attendance and Church Membership 50,000 students in Adventist schools Source: Warren Minder study baptized during the school year, pri - marily in culminating events such as a Week of Prayer. The total for the 0.0% 2006-2015 period was 427,313 bap - 4.6% tisms. 6 To look at it another way, this 38.3% is equivalent to a typical-size confer - Never ence being established each year joined the through the evangelistic ministry of church Adventist education. 95.4% 100.0% While only a few studies have Joined the compared attendance at Adventist 61.7% church schools with the baptismal rate of children from Adventist families, the ones that have examined this connec - tion concluded that Adventist educa - tion does make a significant differ - No Adventist Some Adventist 12 grades Adventist ence in terms of children and youth education education education joining the church.

40 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org Figure 3. Faith Development Factors Source: V. Bailey Gillespie, Valuegenesis 3 tion, 4.6 percent never joined the church, while 100 percent of those in 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% the sample who studied all 12 grades in Adventist education joined the Attending an Adventist school church (see Figure 2).

Remaining in the Church Family I grew up in While joining the church is foun - dational, retention is equally impor - Mother’s faith tant. Sadly, many of those who join the Adventist Church subsequently leave the denomination. Over the School weeks of prayer past 50 years (1965-2015), for exam - ple, there have been 34,385,004 ac - cessions in the Adventist Church Father’s faith worldwide. During the same period, 9 13,737,205 people left the church. Grandparent’s faith This represents a net loss of 39.95 percent. In effect, for every 10 people who joined the church, four have Adventist summer camps slipped away. The ratios are no better for young Student weeks of prayer people. In the Youth Retention study that attempted to track more than 1,500 baptized 15- and 16-year-olds Pathfinders in the North American Division for 10 years (1988-1998), results indi - Very much cated that in most of the demo - My Bible teacher graphic groups, at least 40 to 50 per - Not at all cent had left the church by their Bible classes in school mid-20s. 10 Tragically, we are not just losing one of 10 coins, as described in Jesus’ parable. 11 We are losing half of the coins! The question posed by the prophet Jeremiah be - One of the largest studies was tor that had helped them develop comes increasingly poignant: the set of Valuegenesis surveys, con- their religious faith, with the Ad - “Where is the flock entrusted to ducted over a 20-year period, from ventist school ranking more highly you, your beautiful flock?” 12 1990 to 2010. 13 Valuegenesis1 data than any other factor (see Figure 3). We turn now to the matter of the from 2,267 12th-grade Adventist stu- Across all three Valuegenesis studies retention of children and youth in dents in Adventist schools in the (1990-2010), a full 75 percent of Ad - the Seventh-day Adventist Church. North American Division, for exam- ventist students in Adventist schools Over a span of some 25 years, at ple, showed that the more years of believed that the chances of their re - least seven studies have examined Adventist schooling, the greater the maining in the Adventist Church at the role of Adventist education in re - person’s reported loyalty to the Sev- age 40 were good to excellent. tention, with the most recent re - enth-day Adventist Church, his or We have noted the Youth Reten - search reported in 2014. Some of her belief in the fundamental teach- tion study, which endeavored to fol - these studies have focused on spe - ings of the church, and his or her low high school students for 10 years, cific regional populations, while oth - intention to remain an Adventist at utilizing a sample about evenly di - ers are more global in nature. Some age 40. In the 2010 Valuegenesis3 vided between students in Adventist present a snapshot in time, while survey, 81 percent of all students in- schools and in non-Adventist schools others have taken a longitudinal ap - dicated that attending an Adventist in the U.S. and Canada. One of the proach. While each has inherent school was the most important fac- key findings of this research was that limitations, as do all studies, to - the number of years in an Adventist gether they present a picture that is school was positively related to com - consistent and clear. mitment to Jesus Christ and to com -

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 41 Figure 4. Youth Retention Study Source: Roger L. Dudley study mitment to personal Bible study, as well as to the statements “My rela - Remained in the Adventist Church 10 years later tionship with Christ is stronger now” and “Religion is important in my 9% 14 life.” Furthermore, intention to 35% marry an Adventist in students who Probability attended an Adventist school was of leaving nearly twice the proportion of those the church: who had not attended an Adventist 91% school (83 percent vs. 46 percent, re - 65% 3.9x spectively). At the 10-year mark, the greater probability of leaving the Adventist Church was 3.9 times greater for Yes No those who had attended non-Advent - Non-Seventh-day Adventist schools Seventh-day Adventist schools ist schools, compared to those who had attended Seventh-day Adventist schools (see Figure 4). Figure 5. Church Attendance Several doctoral dissertations have Source: Kenneth James Epperson study studied retention in the context of Adventist education. In Kenneth James Epperson’s study, children of 4.5x more Adventist families in the Southern 9.3% likely Union Conference who had no Ad - 20.8% ventist education were 4.5 times 42.0% Infrequent more likely to have infrequent or no or no church church attendance, compared to attendance those who had 11 or more years of 90.7% Adventist education (see Figure 5). 15 79.2% Regular This is a significant finding, given 58.0% church that a lack of active involvement in attendance the church is often a precursor to leaving the church. 16 In 1990, Robert Rice carried out a longitudinal study in which he com - No Adventist 1+ years Adventist 11+ years Adventist education education education pared baptized Adventist youth in southern California who graduated from public high schools and those Figure 6. Retention and Baptism who graduated from Adventist acade - Source: Robert Rice study mies. 17 Thirteen years after gradua - tion, 37 percent of those who had { graduated from public high schools 6% 23% remained in the church, compared 18% 13% with 77 percent of those who had 63% 5% graduated from Adventist academies 38% Never baptized (see Figure 6). Rice also found that No longer a member those who had graduated from Ad - { 77% Member not attending 7% ventist academies were twice as likely Baptized and attending to pay tithe (50 percent vs. 26 per - cent), twice as likely to attend an Ad - 37% ventist church service regularly (59 percent vs. 32 percent), twice as in - clined to educate their own children Public high school Adventist academy graduates in an Adventist school (59 percent vs. graduates 29 percent), and nearly three times more likely to have married an Ad -

42 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org ventist spouse (78 percent vs. 27 per - studied at the tertiary level. Current their highest education were three cent), compared to those who gradu - members who had secondary educa- times as likely to have studied in an ated from a public high school. 18 tion as their highest education were Adventist elementary school, com - Warren Minder’s study, conducted 2.5 times as likely to have studied in pared to ex-members who had ele - in the Lake Union Conference, also an Adventist school, compared to mentary education as their highest considered retention, identifying ex-members who had secondary ed- level of studies (see Figure 9). This those who joined and remained, and ucation as their highest level of may suggest that early Adventist ed - those who joined but subsequently studies. Finally, current members ucation is an especially powerful left the church. 19 In sum, only 50.8 who had elementary education as factor in retention. percent of those youth from Adventist families who had not experienced Ad - ventist education joined and re - mained in the church, compared to Figure 7. Retention and Membership 98.2 percent of those who had stud - Source: Warren Minder study ied all 12 grades in Adventist schools (see Figure 7). 0.0% The Center for Creative Ministry 1.8% recently conducted a global qualita - 4.6% tive study in which 925 former or in - 38.3% 16.4% Never joined active church members were inter - viewed. Findings indicate that only Joined but 98.2% 17 percent of lapsed and ex-mem - 10.9% then left bers had received any form of Ad - Joined and ventist education, compared to 56 78.9% remained percent of those who were current members. 20 This threefold difference 50.8% provides evidence that those who have not experienced Adventist edu - cation are disproportionately more likely to become inactive or leave (see Figure 8). The study concluded No Adventist Some Adventist 12 grades Adventist education education education that one of the greatest retention is - sues for the Adventist Church relates to young adults rising into the mid - dle class. These were individuals Figure 8. School Attendance of Former and Inactive Members who joined the church when they Source: Center for Creative Ministry study were younger and had less educa - tion. As their education, predomi - nantly in non-Adventist institutions, progressed, however, they quit at - tending regularly and eventually left the Adventist Church. 44% Only SDA n Global studies conducted by the 83% educatio General Conference Office of Other Archives, Statistics, and Research in education 2013 and 2014 have also revealed 3x key differences between ex-members 56% and current members in terms of the proportion who have attended Ad - 17% ventist schools. 21 Current members were twice as likely to have Seventh- Lapsed Adventist Current members day Adventist tertiary education members compared to ex-members who had

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 43 Conclusion mate purpose of redemption (see Fig - however. In order to experience Although further research, particu - ure 10). Consequently, the Seventh- shâlôm , our children and youth must larly in specific populations around day Adventist Church must reaffirm be taught by God. the world, would be beneficial, the and uplift the central role of Advent - Taught by God. Through Seventh- research that we have presents a per - ist education in the evangelistic mis - day Adventist education. i suasive conclusion: Adventist educa - sion of the church. tion is a consistent and important The prophet Isaiah wrote: “All predictor of children and youth join - your children shall be taught by the Adapted from a presentation at the ing and remaining in the Seventh-day Lord, and great shall be the peace of 2017 Pan-African LEAD Conference in Adventist Church. As Ellen White ob - your children.” 23 The Hebrew word Kigali, Rwanda, February 15-19, 2017. served: “In the highest sense, the translated “peace” in this passage is work of education and the work of shâlôm . While shâlôm does include redemption are one.” 22 the concept of peace, it incorporates John Wesley Tay - In essence, Adventist education is much more—safety, well-being, lor V, EdD, PhD, mission. Through Adventist educa - health, prosperity, and happiness. serves as an Asso - tion, children and youth experience Shâlôm is what we want for our chil - ciate Director of accession and retention, for the ulti - dren and youth. There is a condition, Education in the General Confer - ence Department of Education in Figure 9. School Attendance of Current Members Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. His Source: General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research grandfather, John Wesley Taylor III, joined the Seventh-day Adventist Only SDA Education Other Education Church while attending an Adventist academy, and later, as a physician, Stayed: 3x 2.5x 2x served as a missionary in South America and in Inter-America. Since 100% that time, three generations have been 90% educated in Adventist schools, have 80% 53.9% remained in the Adventist Church, 70% 64.9% and together have provided more than 60% 84.5% 85.7% 93.1% 87.0% a century of service to the church. 50% 40% 30% NOTES AND REFERENCES 46.1% 20% 35.1% 1. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Chris - tian Education (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern 10% 15.5% 14.3% 6.9% 13.0% Publishing, 1923), 436. 0% 2. CognitiveGenesis was a longitudinal Ex- Current Ex- Current Ex- Current study conducted from 2006 to 2009, involv - Members Members Members Members Members Members ing more than 800 Adventist schools in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda, with { { { Elementary/Primary Secondary/High Tertiary: College/ approximately 52,000 participating students school attendance school attendance university attendance in grades 3-9 and grade 11. Standardized achievement test results indicated that stu - dents in Adventist schools in the U.S. out - performed the national average in all sub - Figure 10. jects; for all grade levels, school sizes, and ethnic groups; and regardless of ability In Adventist education, children and youth experience. . . level. Furthermore, the more years a stu - dent attended an Adventist school, the greater the improvement in performance. This “Adventist advantage” in education Accession Retention Redemption became the subject of a PBS documentary The Blueprint by award-winning producer Martin Doblmeier. Further information on

44 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org the CognitiveGenesis study may be found in tween the ages of 16-23. The 7th grade was ist Education Affect Youth Attitudes?” The “CognitiveGenesis (CG): Assessing Aca - the most frequent grade level at which Journal of Adventist Education 52:4 (April- demic Achievement and Cognitive Ability children were baptized, with 61.0 percent May 1990): 24-29, 45, 46; Jerome Thayer, in Adventist Schools,” Journal of Research of those baptized having been baptized be- “The Impact of Adventist Schools on Stu - on Christian Education 21:2 (2012): 99-115 tween grades 5 and 8. dents.” Paper presented at the 4th Sympo - by J. Thayer and E. Kido. A summary is 8. Warren E. Minder, A Study of the Re- sium on the Bible and Adventist Scholar - also available at http://adventisteducation. lationship Between Church-sponsored K-12 ship, Riviera Maya, Estado Quintana Roo, org/assessment/cognitive_genesis/overview. Education and Church Membership in the Mexico, March 16-22, 2008: http://fae. 3. Matthew 3:6, 11; 28:19; Mark 1:5; Seventh-day Adventist Church. EdD disser- adventist.org/ essays/iv_Thayer_Jerry.pdf. 16:16; Luke 3:3; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 13, 36- tation, Western Michigan University, 1985. The Valuegenesis 1 survey (1990) received 38; 13:24; 16:31-33; 18:8. Unless otherwise In this study, 400 family units were ran- responses from 10,641 Adventist students in indicated, all Scripture quotations in this ar - domly selected from the Lake Union Con- Adventist schools and 457 Adventist stu - ticle are taken from the New International ference in the North American Division. dents in non-Adventist schools in North Version (NIV). Holy Bible, New International The study reported a return rate of 71.8 America. Thayer subsequently analyzed a Version ®, NIV ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, percent and a sampling error of approxi- sub-sample consisting of 2,267 12th-grade 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permis - mately 3.25 percent. The study found a sig- Adventist students in Adventist schools. sion. All rights reserved worldwide. nificant relationship (p<.001) between the The report of a replication of the Valuegene - 4. “School Days Around the World”: number of years in grades 1 to 12 that a sis 1 survey in the South Pacific Division in https://norberthaupt.com/2012/04/20/school- person attended an Adventist school and 1993 is available at http://circle.adventist. days-around-the-world/; “School Days whether or not the person was baptized org/files/download/VGCORERE.pdf. A fur - Around the World” (June 2015) Infographic: into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. ther replication of the Valuegenesis 1 survey http://elearninginfographics.com/school-days- There was also a significant relationship was conducted in Puerto Rico in 1995, with around-world-infographic/. Total number of (p<.001) between the church membership reports available at http://digitalcommons. hours in school can range from 15,200 in Fin - of each parent and baptism of the child, as andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1 land to 37,400 in China, which holds the well as between parental active involve- 184&context=dissertations and http:// record for both highest number of hours per ment in the church and baptism of the digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcon day and highest number of days per year, at 9 child (p=.0011 for the mother; p=.0191 for tent.cgi?article=1468&context=disserta and 260 respectively. the father). Minder also cited results from tions. See V. Bailey Gillespie, Michael J. 5. General Conference Office of Archives, an earlier study, “A Study of Seventh-day Donahue, Ed Boyatt, and Barry Gane, Ten Statistics, and Research, 2016 Annual Statis - Adventist Church Members,” conducted in Years Later: A Study of Two Generations tical Report: 152nd Report of the General Con - the Pacific Union Conference in 1962 (Riverside, Calif.: La Sierra University Press, ference of Seventh-day Adventists ® for 2015 : (N=83,662; 68 percent return rate). That 2003); and V. Bailey Gillespie, “Valuegene - http://documents.adventistarchives.org/ study reported that for young people who sis 2: Adventist Schools Do Make a Differ - Statistics/ASR/ASR2016.pdf. had attended all 12 grades at an Adventist ence,” The Journal of Adventist Education 6. Statistics provided by the Department school, 97 percent had joined the church, 65:1 (October/November 2002): 12-16. of Education, General Conference of Sev - as opposed to 32 percent of the young peo- More than 16,000 Adventist students in enth-day Adventists. ple from Adventist families who did not at- grades 6 through 12 completed the second 7. Kenneth James Epperson, The Rela - tend any Adventist school during elemen- Valuegenesis questionnaire. The Valuegene - tionship of Seventh-day Adventist School tary and secondary schooling. Further, it sis 3 survey (2010) received responses from Attendance to Seventh-day Adventist was reported that in the group that had re- more than 18,000 students in grades 6 Church Membership in the Southern Union ceived some K-12 schooling in Adventist through 12 in Adventist schools throughout Conference . EdD dissertation, Loma Linda schools, 57 percent joined the church. North America (Bailey Gillespie, “Valuegen - University, 1990. In this study, 300 family 9. Figures provided by the Secretariat of esis 3 Update: Research Information Sum - units were randomly selected from the the General Conference of Seventh-day Ad- mary,” Issues 1-5. Published by the John Southern Union Conference of the North ventists. Hancock Center for Youth and Family Min - American Division, and 210 families re - 10. Roger L. Dudley, W hy Our Teenagers istry, Riverside, California). sponded, representing a return rate of 70 Leave the Church: Personal Stories From a 10- 14. Roger L. Dudley, “Understanding the percent. Of the individuals in the study, 40 year Study ( Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Spiritual Development and the Faith Experi - percent had never attended an Adventist Herald, 2000), 35. “At least 40 percent to 50 ence of College and University Students on school. Children and youth from Adventist percent of Seventh-day Adventist teenagers Christian Campuses,” Journal of Research on families who were baptized into the Ad - in North America are essentially leaving the Christian Education 8:1 (Spring 1999): 5-28; ventist Church had attended an Adventist church by their middle 20s.” ______. “Youth Religious Commitment school for 8.06 years on average, while 11. Luke 15:8-10. Over Time: A Longitudinal Study of Reten - those children and youth who were never 12. Jeremiah 13:20 (CEB). Copyright © tion,” Review of Religious Research , 41:1 baptized into the Adventist Church had at - 2011 by Common English Bible. (1999): 110-121; ______, “Christian Edu - tended Adventist schools for an average of 13. Roger L. Dudley and V. Bailey Gil - cation and Youth Retention in the SDA only 2.42 years, yielding a significant rela - lespie, Valuegenesis1 : Faith in the Balance Church,” The Journal of Adventist Education tionship (p<0.000) between the number of (Riverside, Calif.: La Sierra University Press, 62:3 (February/March 2000): 8-13; years in Adventist schools and baptism. 1992); Roger L. Dudley and Janet Leigh ______, Why Our Teenagers Leave the The study also indicated that of those who Kangas, “Valuegenesis1 : How Does Advent- Church: Personal Stories From a 10-year were baptized, 2.6 percent were baptized Study (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, prior to the age of 8 years old, 63.7 percent 2000); Jerome Thayer, “The Impact of Ad - were baptized between the ages of 8 and ventist Schools on Students” (Unpublished 15, while 14.2 percent were baptized be - paper, 2008). This paper included a re-analy -

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 45 sis of the Youth Retention Study data. The no longer regularly attended an Adventist 18. Data from the Youth Retention study Youth Retention study (Roger Dudley) began church, neither parent was a member of yielded complementary findings in regard to in 1988 with 1,523 baptized Adventist youth the church. tithe paying. ages 15 and 16 in the United States and 16. Paul Richardson, “Survey of Former 19. Warren E. Minder, A Study of the Re - Canada. These individuals were surveyed and Inactive Adventist Church Members.” lationship Between Church-sponsored K-12 each year in order to determine what fac - Center for Creative Ministry, Milton Free - Education and Church Membership in the tors were related to staying or leaving the water, Oregon, 2013: https://www.advent Seventh-day Adventist Church . EdD disserta - church. When the study ended 10 years later, si tarchives.org/2013-retention-study.pdf. tion, Western Michigan University, 1985. In 783 (51.4 percent) of the original group, now 17. Robert W. Rice, A Survey of the Rela- the sample (N=807), 215 individuals (26.6 young adults, completed the survey. Dudley tionship Between Attending Seventh-day percent) were not Seventh-day Adventists. speculated that many of the young people Adventist Academies 9-12 and Subsequent This group was comprised of 138 individuals who dropped out of the study were no Commitment to the Seventh-day Adventist (64.2 percent) from Illinois, Indiana, Michi - longer church members. Church. PhD dissertation, University of Den- gan, and Wisconsin, who had never joined 15. Kenneth James Epperson, The Rela - ver, 1990. There were 264 participants in the church and 77 individuals (35.8 per- tionship of Seventh-day Adventist School At - the North American Division study, repre- cent) who left the church after joining. The tendance to Seventh-day Adventist Church senting a 70 percent return rate (65 percent study found a strong positive relationship Membership in the Southern Union Confer - for the public high school graduates and 75 (p<.001) between Adventist schooling and ence . EdD dissertation, Loma Linda Univer - percent for the Adventist academy gradu- church retention, wherein increased years of sity, 1990. Further analysis yielded a posi - ates). In the study, 93 percent of those who Adventist schooling were associated with an tive relationship (p<0.021) between graduated from an Adventist academy had increased probability of the person remain - Adventist school attendance and regular at - spent the 9th grade in an Adventist school, ing in the church. tendance at a Seventh-day Adventist whereas only 71 percent of those from Ad- 20. Paul Richardson, “Survey of Former church. Epperson also reported that chil - ventist families who graduated from a pub- and Inactive Adventist Church Members.” dren who had both parents as members of lic school had spent the 9th grade in a pub- ASTR Publication produced by the Center the Adventist Church averaged an atten - lic school. These statistics may indicate a for Creative Ministry, 2013. Of the 17 per - dance of 8.4 years in Adventist schools, tendency for certain Adventist families, cent of lapsed and ex-Adventists who had compared to 1.19 years when only one par - whose children may begin high school in an attended Adventist schools, 6 percent had ent was a member of the Adventist Church, Adventist academy, to shift enrollment to a attended an Adventist primary or elemen - representing a significant difference public high school at some point during tary school at some point in their life, 7 per - (p<0.000). For 53.6 percent of those who secondary education. cent had attended an Adventist secondary school, and 8 percent had attended an Ad - ventist college or university. Participants were from Africa, South America, Europe, and North America. 21. Data for the school attendance of ex- World His tory members are based on the ASTR report “Leaving the Church: Why Some Seventh- day Adventist Members Leave the Church, Bibl e 10 and Why Some Come Back” (2014), a study which was conducted in all divisions of the church. Data for members are from the Al geb ra ASTR report “Global Church Member Sur - vey” (2013), conducted in 9 out of the 13 world divisions. The category “Other Edu - Span ish cation” for ex-members includes atten - dance at both Adventist and non-Adventist educational institutions, albeit these per - Chem is tr y centages were low: 7 percent primary, 7 percent secondary, and 5 percent tertiary (based on data presented by D. J. B. Trim Find quality high at the LEAD Conference “Educating for school course Eternity” on October 6, 2016, in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.). content, edited by 22. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1903), 30. This re - professional demptive purpose perhaps led Ellen White to urge, “There should be schools established educators at wherever there is a church or company of believers” (“Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church,” [1897], 40). 23. Isaiah 54:13, NKJV. New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nel - son. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

46 The Journal of Adventist Education • April-June 2017 http://jae.adventist.org