About

My name is Ean Nugent. I am a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist. I am grateful to God for the many ways my Adventist immersion has benefited my spiritual development. However, it has also been the source of many struggles in that development. These struggles have resulted from various misconceptions I developed about God, His values, and His desires. These were not explicitly taught to me. In fact, I have found that these misconceptions are not in harmony with the official statements and actions of the church. Nevertheless, I organically adopted these misconceptions through my prolonged exposure to Adventism. Unfortunately, I believe this experience is shared by many.

I am still trying to identify and address these misconceptions personally, but I believe my present understandings may be helpful to others. On this site, I attempt to highlight areas of failure within Adventism that are resulting from the popular adoption of these misconceptions. I believe these failures are primarily visible culturally as opposed to institutionally. In other words, it’s easier to see these failures by sitting in a typical Sabbath School class than by reading a typical Sabbath School lesson. Consequently, I do not believe institutional effort alone can address these failures. In addition to the burden borne by institutional leaders, cultural leaders such as Sabbath school teachers, small group leaders, children/youth leaders, and anyone else with influence in the local church, must intentionally work to address these failures if we are to overcome them.

Finally, I know that any attempt at constructive criticism risks being misunderstood. My sincere hope is that this site will result in positive change in the Adventist church. Despite the many problems I have observed and experienced within Adventism, I believe God has called me to be a contributing member of this organization. I do not believe this is everyone’s calling. In fact, I believe there are many who are spiritually safer outside of this denomination in its present condition. But for those who do believe they are called to be a part of this organization, this site is for you. I hope something here is helpful to you. Even if you disagree with my opinions, I hope at least the consideration of these issues will be valuable to you. I do not claim to be entirely free of the misconceptions I am highlighting on this site (or other unknown misconceptions). I do not claim to be an example Adventist for others to follow. I, like you, am trying to do my best to understand God’s will for me and this organization. Thanks for reading.