We are pleased to announce the inaugural "Adventist Person of the Year" award presented by Spectrum Magazine to a Seventh-day Adventist who contributed to the denomination or to society at large in an outsanding way. Below are ten nominees for the award selected by Spectrum editorial staff. Help decide the winner by voting in the reader poll via the link below. The winner will be announced on the Spectrum Website by year end, so be sure to check back for results!
Nominees for the 2016 Spectrum Magazine Adventist of the Year:
NIELS-ERIK ANDREASEN || longest-serving president of Andrews University (retired June 2016)
C. D. BROOKS || GC field secretary, speaker-director of Breath of Life Ministries (passed away June 2016)
SHESELL BUSBY || first woman pastor to serve in Panamanian Union Conference (appointed in 2016)
BEN CARSON || first Adventist nominated for cabinet-level position in U. S. Government
LOWELL COOPER || former GC vice president and retiring board chair of Loma Linda University
DESMOND DOSS || WWII noncombatant portrayed in the 2016 blockbuster "Hacksaw Ridge"
RICARDO GRAHAM || president of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (re-elected in 2016)
DANIEL JACKSON || president of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (significant2016moments)
ANDREA LUXTON || first woman to be appointed president of Andrews University (inaugurated October 2016)
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I vote for Niels Erick Andreased. He certainly deserves all the credit for keeping Andrews in the good graces of the Hierarchy and providing room for the faculty to do their work feeling they are understood and protected by their superiors. To do that for 20 years is in itself a major accomplishment. Besides, more than any other president of Andrews he got Andrews engaged with the surrounding community and established a well deserved respect for the institution, something it had not enjoyed in the past. Moreover, he was able to do one of the main responsibilities of a university president: fundraising. He got donors to give millions to Andrews and was able to provide the university with new facilities which are the envy of other institutions. For all these reasons, at the culmination of his career, he most certainly deserves the honor of being the 2016 Adventist Person of the Year.
i definitely vote for ben carson…assuming he’s confirmed, our church will be in the world’s spotlight in an ongoing way for four yrs…you can’t buy that kind of exposure…hopefully ben’s sensible brand of adventism that engages the world around us will counter some of the less balanced factions among us…
When I think of Famous Adventists, I wonder if they are NOT MORE LIKE a Mother Theresa BEFORE she became Mother Theresa.
Quietly doing a GREAT Work with a band of volunteers who themselves are doing a GREAT Work quietly.
But it wasnt easy for her to do her work. She had to constantly say NO! to those who attempted by various means to prevent her from her “Calling” – helping people in need.
It is true that she was recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize. She was granted a dispensation for her own Order of Nuns. Her group has gone on to continue in her spirit. BUT in order to do so she HAD to become REBELLIOUS against Church and Community Authority. And she led her band of helpers into that SAME Rebellious attitude in order to accomplish what they did.
Yes, I wonder how many quiet SDAs are doing the SAME work as Mother Theresa, doing it un-noticed, doing it un-sung, NOT making the Union papers, the Review.
I could never vote for Ben Carson as Adventist Person of the Year! Anyone else on the list is more deserving than he is. A man who defends another man who makes lewd comments about women, including remarks bragging about sexual assault, saying basically that the remarks were not a big deal, shouldn’t even be nominated for Adventist Person of the Year! Surely the voters for Spectrum’s Adventist Person of the Year will not sink so low as to vote in this disgrace of a man!
I would have included Reinder Bruinsma, author of Facing Doubt. But I’ll vote for Dan Jackson, who has shown great courage and loyalty to his constituency.
Desmond Doss most outstanding of them all. Not to minimize to contribution of Dan Jackson the greatest NAD President ever or Neil’s EA since many of us were his students. But Doss influenced students and pathfinders for the past 50 years and changed them for life. And now his story has influenced the world and will continue to do so for years.
It would be nice if for a change we could talk about who we choose without attacking other candidates or the people who liked them, We don’t need to have the uproar of a campaign.
It seems to me if could listen to the private conversations about women of JFK we would be disgusted. He was notorious for his weekly affairs in the White House. Jacky found him with twin sisters in the WH swimming pool. It seems to me that we have a very long history of power abuse of women by the kings of England, Germany, France and US government leaders. Maybe it is wise to not rush to judgement on the incoming president–just yet.
Mhmmm… interesting idea to copy TIME Magazine — though your criteria seem to differ in that not “impact” is the measure (like Trump - which would make TW the most obvious choice), but “contribution”, presumably meaning a positive contribution.
There is a certain irony that in the first lot of this project there is a deceased person. The topic of a dieing church ain’t funny though. C. D. Brooks certainly was a pillar - thus I am not critizing, just musing.
There also is a certain irony that Ben Carson is being suggested. Certainly in the past year his main contribution was not to the denomination, but to sociciety. He opted not to accept the Department of Health, feeling he was not sufficiently qualified. That is a contribution of insight and humility. Ooops — he ran for president and accepted HUD.
Niels-Erik Andreasen, a wonderful man. In 2016 he left office though. I am not sure whether the honour badge for services delivered in the past - deserved as it is - will have the symbolic impact for the future.
In short … I have some mixed feelings about this Adventist Beauty Pageant - as even the choice of candidates is tricky indeed.
Oh, and I did cast my vote for a non-American option … but then … I am biased.
It is a toss up between Dan Jackson and Sandra Roberts for me. Both have shown great courage in the midst of the swirl of church politics and the fighting. Jan Paulson should have been on the list! I will stick with the ladies and vote Sandra Roberts, first female conference president. She is a wonderful model for the girls in our denomination showing grace and dignity and how to answer God’s call despite the opposition.
2 Likes
hopeful
(Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13)
#22
“Andrew Henriques, the leader of an Adventist splinter group… Saved to Serve operates out of a former martial arts studio at 475 West Silver Star Road, Ocoee, Florida, and was incorporated as a nonprofit in the State of Florida in April 2007.” http://atoday.org/adventists-respond-to-popes-visit-to-the-united-states/
[edit: this is a new link, replacing broken one]
Henriques’ church, Prophesy Again / Saved to Serve, in Ocoee, FL isn’t listed by either the Florida Conference or eAdventist. The Henriqueses avoid disclosing whether or not Saved to Serve is part of the denomination, which must help in attracting Adventists who’d not support it if they knew that it’s a splinter group.
Two of the persons on the list are deceased (Brooks and Doss); why not limit the list to persons who are currently alive. In addition, although the reason for the list is for persons who have made outstanding contributions to the denomination, it appears that many are on the list by virtue of holding certain offices, as opposed to making a substantive contribution to the church. The inclusion of Dr. Carson because he has been appointed to an executive position in the government may come back to haunt Spectrum when his behavior, as indicated by his past expressions, becomes manifest.
