“Tapestry of Faith Profile: Ethnan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church”
by Michael J. Mazza in Wilkinsburg Update
Whenever I pass by Ethnan Temple, I think of one thing first: the homemade strawberry pie I ate during a visit to the church. But there is a whole lot more to this Wilkinsburg religious community than just good eating. I sat down for a chat with the church’s pastor, The Rev. Russell L. Fields and learned of the church’s rich history and deep commitment to our community.
Ethnan Temple is part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant Christian denomination that has its roots in an American religious revival led by evangelist William Miller. In 1860, a fellowship of congregations that rose from this revival chose the name Seventh-day Adventists. They formally organized as a denomination in 1863. From these roots in the United States the SDA Church grew into a worldwide, multicultural faith community. Pastor Fields noted that the church’s membership is rapidly nearing 12 million individuals. With only about one million of those members residing in the United States, the denomination is truly an international church.
“We put a strong emphasis on evangelism . . . as a church, that is one of our top priorities — to win people to Christ,” Pastor Fields noted.
Although Adventists consider themselves part of the larger Christian faith community, there are a few factors which set them apart. Two of these factors are found in the church’s name: as “seventh-day Christians,” they observe and gather for worship on Saturday, their Sabbath. And as “Adventists,” they place a strong emphasis on the belief that Jesus Christ will personally return to the world. These and other Adventist teachings were written about at length by Ellen G. White, one of the leaders who laid the church’s institutional foundations in the 19th century.
Ethnan Temple is part of the SDA Church’s Allegheny West Conference. The congregation was founded in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood in 1905. Eventually the church community moved into a building in the Hill District, but this spiritual home was completely destroyed by a tragic firebombing in 1968. After a few years without a home, the people of Ethnan Temple moved into a preexisting church building at 1205 Wood Street in Wilkinsburg in 1972, and have been a part of our borough ever since.
Ethnan Temple’s ministry in the community is varied and vigorous. The church’s ministry for the deaf provides sign language interpretation at the Saturday Sabbath service. The church also conducts sign language classes. Pastor Fields noted that ministry to all disabled people is an important initiative throughout the SDA Church’s Allegheny West Conference; when we spoke, his church was preparing for an upcoming Disability Awareness Day.
Other key components of the church’s work involve outreach and service to different segments of the community. Ethnan Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School and Child Development Center, for example, provides Christian education to children at levels ranging from day care to the 8th grade. The Manna Kitchen distributes food to the needy each Wednesday. Another important program is ADAM, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Ministry; although this particular service was inactive during the time I interviewed Pastor Fields, he noted that the church was planning to reintroduce it in order to meet a community need.
Like most Adventists, the people of Ethnan Temple place a great emphasis on healthful living and nutrition. In fact, during my first visit to the community I was invited to their special Father’s Day meal, this was served in the church’s basement. The women of the church served a delicious vegetarian meal of biscuits, macaroni and cheese, green beans, fruit salad, and other dishes. It was all topped off with the excellent strawberry pie that I mentioned at the start of the article—I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I indulged in a second helping!
Some of the distinctive practices and history of the SDA Church have been the root of past friction between Adventists and other Christians. Pastor Fields is confident that the spirit of ecumenical cooperation has improved these relationships, particularly at the local level.
Indeed, Pastor Fields has a clear vision of Ethnan Temple’s place in Wilkinsburg’s multi-faith community. “We need to do everything we can to strengthen relationships between groups, and between one another . . . We need to have more dialogue. And Ethnan Temple is committed to that,” Fields said. . . .
Wilkinsburg Public Library Digital Archives:
Michael J. Mazza, “Tapestry of Faith Profile: Ethnan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church,” Wilkinsburg Update, October 2000.