New pastor installation at Seventh-Day Adventist

Pastor and Mrs. David Wright and three-month old daughter, Lauren, will be installed at the Blairsville Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Saturday, May 12 at 11:00a.m. Pastor Wright is completing a Master of Divinity degree in Pastoral Ministry at Andrews University in Michigan.

Pastor Wright, a native of the South, completed his undergraduate degree in theology at Southern Adventist University near Chattanooga, Tenn. in 2003. He served two churches in the Dalton, Ga. area before returning to complete his postgraduate work. Interests include backpacking, scuba diving and sailing.

Pastor Wright's wife, Elizabeth, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2004 and has worked primarily in surgery since that time. She shares her husband's love for backpacking and scuba diving, and is an avid photographer as well. The couple was married in 2003.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a rapidly growing movement with current membership of about sixteen million worldwide. Besides sharing many of the key beliefs of Protestantism - belief in the inspiration of the Bible, the virgin birth of Christ, salvation through grace alone - the church has a keen interest in healthful living, operating more than six hundred hospitals and clinics around the globe. In North America, Seventh-Day Adventist members live about seven years longer than the average of the population because of the emphasis on healthful living and preventative medicine.

From its inception the Seventh-Day Adventist Church has been a strong proponent of education and currently operates more than seven thousand schools worldwide from kindergarten through university as well as hospitals, such as the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.

Last year the church donated in excess of $175 million in relief assistance in developing countries, war-ravaged areas and in the aftermath of natural disasters. Currently, the denomination has organized work in 202 of the 228 counties recognized by the United Nations.

Pastor and Mrs. Wright will also provide pastoral care for the Seventh-Day Adventist congregation in Cleveland, Ga.

Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Better Living Center of Blairsville is located at 1325 Watkins Road, on the left between Home Depot and Mountain Building Supply. Visit our website at blairsville.netadventist.org