Adventist Christian Fellowship

Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF) is a collegiate ministry of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. ACF is the name of both the ACF Network, which is run by the Division, and of many individual fellowship groups, which are organized on a local level.

Adventist Christian Fellowship Network

The North American Division Adventist Christian Fellowship Network was founded in 2005 "to build Christian fellowship chapters on public campuses that honor God and nurture the spiritual lives of students in North America".[1][2] The network supports local chapters by providing "resources, mentoring, training, and networking" for the leaders of local groups.[3] Training events coordinated by the ACF Network have included Ignition, a weekend-summit for young adult leaders and those who work with them,[4] and the ACF Institute, a two-week "boot camp" intended to prepare students to start ACF chapters on their own campuses.[1]

Leadership

The ACF Network is led by a Coordinator and an Advisory Committee, which must include the director of the NAD Young Adult Ministries Department, the associate director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, and at least four students.[2] The current ACF Coordinator is Ron Pickell, pastor of the Berkeley Seventh-day Adventist Church just off the UC Berkeley campus.[4]

Adventist Christian Fellowship Groups

Adventist Christian Fellowship groups can be found on public university and other tertiary campuses across the United States, Canada, and beyond.[1] Many of these groups predate the 2005 organization of the ACF Network and may use a name other than Adventist Christian Fellowship. Some ACF groups are organized and funded by the local conference, others by a nearby church, and some independently by students. A few, such as Refuge at Cal Poly and Advent House at the University of Tennessee have a full-time pastor or chaplain on staff, while most are run by the students themselves.[3][5]

Purpose

Ron Pickell, the director of the ACF network, has outlined the basic purpose of ACF as providing a place for Christian community and a platform for Christian witness.[6] However, most local ACF groups are only loosely affiliated with the larger organization,[1] and many have outlined their own mission statements. These have included goals such as helping students explore and share their faith, helping students adjust to life on campus, and providing opportunities for Christian fellowship, community service, Bible study, and recreation.[7][8][9][10]

List of Local ACF Groups

Where possible, ACF groups are listed alphabetically by the campus where the meet. However, some ACF groups meet on multiple campuses. These regional organizations are listed separately below.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

United States

Campus ACF Groups

University of South Florida

Regional ACF Groups

In New England:

In the Pacific Northwest:

In Puerto Rico:

Canada

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Constitution for the North American Division Adventist Christian Fellowship Network, retrieved 7 August 2010
  2. 1 2 Phillips, Jimmy (20 September 2007), "The Invisible Majority", Adventist Review, retrieved 7 August 2010
  3. 1 2 Ignition, retrieved 8 August 2010
  4. ↑ ACF@UTK - Advent House, retrieved 8 August 2010
  5. ↑ DuBose, Rich, "A Guide to Public Campus Ministries", Church Support Services, retrieved 8 August 2010
  6. ↑ ACF @ Columbia University, retrieved 8 August 2010
  7. ↑ Adventist Christian Fellowship @ Oregon State University, retrieved 8 August 2010
  8. ↑ ACF@KU, retrieved 8 August 2010
  9. ↑ Adventist Christian Fellowship, retrieved 8 August 2010
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 These groups are affiliated with the CAMPUS Network, a ministry of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and with Generation of Youth for Christ, a para-church organization.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 These groups are affiliated with the Morning Star Network, a ministry of Shining Bright Ministries, a para-church organization.

External links

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