And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24–25 NKJV).
Anecdotal evidence has shown for many years that denominational institutions have been employing fewer members of the Adventist Church. For the Church to understand how many employees of Adventist institutions were members of and involved with a local church (whether Adventist or not), two related questions were included in the 2025 Institutional Workers’ Survey.
Employees were asked whether they were official members of a local church or house of worship. In total, 88.4% of workers answered that they were: 89.7% of educational employees and 87.1% of non-educational workers were in this category.
Educational Employees Who Are Members of a Local Church or House of Worship
The highest percentage of educational workers who were members of a local church or house of worship came from the Inter-European Division at 97%, the North American Division at 96.9%, and the Inter-American Division at 96.3%. The rest of the remaining Divisions had answers at more than 80%, apart from the Southern Asia Division, which trailed at 68%.
Non-Educational Employees Who Are Members of a Local Church or House of Worship
Non-educational employees differed more widely: 100% of employees were members of a local church in the Inter-European Division, the North American Division, the South Pacific Division, and the Trans-European Division. In contrast, only 50% of non-educational workers were local church members in the South American Division, followed by 58.5% in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division.
To see how involved in their local church these employees were, they were asked whether they had held an office in their local church in the previous 12 months. A total of 65.1% of employees answered that they had: of these, 65.6% were educational workers and 64.6% were non-educational workers.
Educational Employees Who Held Office in Their Local Church
The Divisions with the highest percentage of educational workers who had held church office in the 12 previous months were the West-Central Africa Division at 93.3%, the Inter-American Division at 82.2%, and the Northern Asia-Pacific Division at 77.3%. The Divisions with the lowest percentages were the South Pacific Division at 38.7%, followed by the Southern Asia Division at 45.1%.
Non-Educational Employees Who Held Office in Their Local Church
The non-educational employees’ answers to the question on holding a church office in the 12 previous months differed widely. While 86.7% of workers in the West-Central Africa Division and 80% of workers in both the Southern Asia-Pacific Division and the Trans-European Division had been church officers in the past 12 months, only 35.3% of North American Division and 36.4% of Southern Asia Division employees had been church officers in the same period.
Regarding members holding church offices, Ellen White wrote: “‘Where can such a man be found?’ Well, he ought to be found in every church in the land. He ought to be found in the very church to which you belong. He ought, in fact, to be found in yourself” (Ellen G. White, “The Qualifications of Church Officers.” The Signs of the Times 14, no. 34 (August 31, 1888), pp. 535-536).
There are many reasons why institutions might employ non-Adventists. One reason is that there are simply too few qualified Adventist workers in the area. Another reason, however, might be because the institutions have become too caught up in making profit and have forgotten the purpose for which they were founded—to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, it may be financially challenging to attract Adventist workers due to salary competition. Hopefully, with all these new data, Church leaders can formulate strategies to increase the numbers of professionally qualified Adventist workers to work in our institutions and gently remind those institutions of their true mission in the world.
You can access the full report here.
Created in collaboration with the Institute of Church Ministry.
Published by ASTR on 3/25/2026.