On 25 June, the biennial General Assembly took place in Zurich-Affoltern, at the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in German-speaking Switzerland.
The 136 delegates attending, 47 of whom were women, from all Adventist church congregations in German-speaking Switzerland, as well as official delegates,approved the financial and audit reports, as well as the activity reports of the following areas: Relationship (education, marriage and family, women, stewardship, youth and children's ministries); Evangelism and Proclamation (health, book evangelism, evangelism, Hope [Bible] courses, preaching ministry); Church Development (church academy, church life, process and church coaching); Communication (external relations and religious liberty, Adventist Press Service APD Switzerland). In addition, the statutes of the free church, which is constituted as an association, were amended and the status of groups and congregations was regulated. The church in German-speaking Switzerland is undergoing a strategy development process that is expected to last until 2025.
At the end of 2022, the average age of all 2,583 Adventists in German-speaking Switzerland was 55.5 years; with unbaptised children and youth, the average age was 46.8 years. Children and young people raised in Adventist families are not counted as members until they have made a personal decision to be baptised as adults.
Adventists in Switzerland are organised as an association
Swiss Adventists are organised under the law of associations and are divided into two church regions: the German-Swiss Association of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (DSV), based in Zurich, and the Fédération des Eglises Adventistes du 7e jour de la Suisse romande et du Tessin (FSRT), based in Renens/VD. Both administrative regions, together, form the Swiss church leadership, that is the Swiss Union, with headquarters in Zurich.
Adventist institutions and ministries in the language regions
The Adventists in Switzerland run the public schools A to Z in Zurich and Reinach/AG, two youth centres in St. Stephan/BE and Les Diablerets/VD, three old people's homes and nursing homes in Krattigen/BE, Oron-la-Ville and Epalinges near Lausanne, the Switzerland Adventist Publishing House in Krattigen/BE and a mail order centre for French books in Renens/VD. They also maintain the Hope Bible Study Institute (HBI) and the Religious Education Institute (RPI) in Zurich as well as the Institut d'Etude de la Bible par Correspondance (IEBC) in Renens.
The La Lignière Clinic is located in Gland/VD and specialises in rehabilitation for cardiovascular, neurological, orthopaedic, and rheumatic diseases, as well as aftercare for cancer.
Adventist institutions throughout Switzerland
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Switzerland, with its headquarters in Zurich, is one of the nationwide agencies. The office is located in Aarau. ADRA Switzerland is a ZEWO-certified partner relief organisation of Swiss Solidarity. The relief organisation is active in the social sector in Switzerland with around 30 local groups and maintains various ADRA shops (Berne, Biel/Bienne, Bürglen, Heiden, Zurich), which distribute everyday goods to the needy. Abroad, ADRA Switzerland works with local partner organisations, primarily on disaster and development aid projects.
The Adventist Press Service, APD Switzerland, in Basel, directs its services primarily to secular and church media.
The Swiss Life and Health League (LLG), Zurich, offers holistic health promotion through its seminars in around 40 local groups: physical, mental, spiritual, and social.
To go to the website of the Adventists in German-speaking Switzerland and in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, please go here.
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