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[DC Al Fine]

What's a typical SDA service like?

[DC Al Fine]

What's a typical SDA service like?

It probably depends on which SDA church you're going to.  Most of the rural churches (like mine) are small and don't have much money, so they're not too fancy.  Different churches hold services at different times; my church has Sabbath school at 10AM; this is usually preceded by a song service that begins at 9:20 or 9:30 and a story usually related to Adventist mission work.  Sabbath school lasts for about an hour, and then at 11AM, we have our main service, which usually lasts about an hour and a half; the preaching alone usually taking up at least half of that time.  We then have a vegetarian meal (except for the first week of the month, which was recently axed to encourage people to invite other over for a meal.) 

As for the bigger churches, they usually have more money and members, so they often have choirs, multiple pastors, etc.  This is especially common for churches at Adventist colleges/universities (like Andrews and Loma Linda.)  Many of these churches are comfortable with contemporary Christian music, while the more conservative churches (as well as the small rural ones) are very much against CCM. 

What it ultimately boils down to is this: Adventism, like most Christian movements/denominations, is not coherent on many issues, and the style of service is a good example of this.

I see. How about your congregation? What's a typical service order like?