Adventist Worship

Adventist worship from the beginning followed a simple format, marked in its earlier stages by enthusiastic outbursts and an emphasis on singing. Worship was not a distinctive emphasis of the Adventist tradition, and its worship patterns were adapted from other movements, with one major exception: most Adventists meet for worship on the seventh rather than the first day of the week. Adventists are those conservative Protestants outside the dispensationalist camp whose religion focuses on the second advent of Christ. They also have some genetic relationship to the advent awakening of the 1830s and early 1840s, led in America by William Miller. Today, the largest of these groups is the Seventh-day Adventist Church, on which this discussion is centered. Several smaller denominations, including the Advent Christian Church and the Church of God (Seventh-day), also acknowledge William Miller in their heritage. The Millerite movement cut across denominational lines, attracting Methodists,…