The Seventh-day Adventist Church champions the religious freedom rights of both faith-based organizations and individual believers. We share our message of hope and wholeness through a variety of avenues, including local congregations, education, healthcare, childcare, humanitarian aid, and social services. These ministry-driven entities provide indispensable assistance to their communities. The NAD Public Affairs and Religious Liberty ministry works to ensure that faith-based institutions like those administered by the Adventist Church are able to maintain their fundamental identity and values as they provide critical societal resources.
As Christians, we are humbled by our Creator’s gift of freedom of choice. This freedom is at the heart of our relationship with God, and we honor Him by defending freewill for ourselves and others. For this reason, from the inception of our church Seventh-day Adventists Christians have been dedicated to an individual’s free choice in matters of faith and religion. As stated by one of the Church founders, Ellen White, “The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened.” (Desire of Ages, p. 22)
The North American Division Public Affairs and Religious Liberty team supports the religious freedom of believers and the institutions they maintain through public education, media, legal services, legislative advocacy, and grassroots mobilization.
international religious freedom
NAD PARL supports and affirms the Seventh-day Adventist Church's world church's public affairs and religious freedom mission and mandate. We encourage you to visit the General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty website to learn more about their international religous freedom initiatives.
Competing Rights
As Christians, we believe that all people are created in the image of God and worthy of dignity, compassion, and respect. To that end, we recognize current federal law does not adequately protect the civil rights of LGBT Americans in areas such as housing, secular employment, and public accommodations. However, the protection of LGBT civil rights should never be at the expense of people who hold a biblical understanding of marriage, gender and sexuality. Ensuring the civil rights of one community cannot be to the detriment of another. The Adventist Church supports LGBT nondiscrimination protections that maintain established safeguards for religious institutions and believers. The Adventist Church is part of a coalition of faith traditions, religious freedom advocacy organizations, and LGBT rights groups that support the Fairness for All legislative approach, which would uphold our ability to honor God and our commitment care for our neighbors.