Beware the invasion of those crazy Adventists

That's essentially the point of this morning's Sentinel and Enterprise article by Kyle Alspach warning of-- er, announcing--the planned opening of an Adventist church in Townsend:

Though already prevalent in North Central Massachusetts, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is looking to expand with a new congregation in Townsend.

Kyle is off to a great start, implying that the church doesn't need to open a new congregation since it's "already prevalent." I wonder if Kyle would suggest that other congregations with churches in each town have over-saturated the area.

With numerous churches and the Atlantic Union College in Lancaster, North Central Massachusetts is a hub for the denomination.

But members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church generally hold beliefs which depart from mainstream Christian teaching.

North Central Mass. is the the center of Adventist life in the New England, no doubt about it. But the reporter then implies that this is--I dunno--a bad thing?, a scary thing?, something more than it seems?, by including the ignorant suggestion that Adventists "generally" hold beliefs outside Christianity's "mainstream" (whatever that is).

I haven't read the 27 Beliefs (actually, I think it's 28 now) since I was in an Adventist history class 15 years ago, but I'm sure that Adventists "generally" hold very mainstream beliefs. There are a couple that aren't: a fairly convoluted view of the judgment that Adventists developed to explain away "The Great Disappointment of 1844" when Christ didn't return as expected, the whole idea of the "Spirit of Prophecy," and Saturday observance (although Jews might consider Saturday observance as a mainstream "religious" observance, if not "Christian). But "generally" Adventists hold beliefs that most other Christians do.

Congregants meet for a weekly service on Saturdays, the "seventh day," rather than Sundays.

They also "keep the Sabbath" -- one of the 10 commandments in the Bible -- by refusing to work or experience entertainment on Saturdays.

Ah, so that's it. Adventists aren't "mainstream" Christians because they go to church on Saturday and many of them refuse "to work or experience entertainment on Saturdays." Hmmm, I wonder if Kyle is similarly worried about an influx of Catholics, since the Pope has instructed Catholics that Sunday worship should not take a backseat to the "secular concept of weekends dominated by such things as entertainment and sport."

The church would be the eighth in the region for the denomination.

Besides Fitchburg and Leominster, two Seventh-day Adventist churches can be found in Lancaster, while others are located in Gardner, Sterling and Clinton.

Don't look now, Kyle, but there are more of those crazy Adventists in North Central Mass. than you think. According to this website, there are actually 11 Adventist churches (Athol, Gardner, Sterling, Clinton 2, Fitchburg 2, Lancaster 2, Leominster 2) and two additional unincorporated groups (Clinton, Gardner). So by the time a church in Townsend became official, it might in fact be the 14th Adventist church in the area.

Pretty scary, Kyle. Pretty scary.

Tags: Sentinel and Enterprise Massachusetts Townsend Seventh-day Adventist Church