Haitian Adventism and the Evolving Landscape of Technology, AI, and Virtual Reality
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent shutdowns of public gathering spaces, the North American Haitian Seventh-day Adventist Church (NAHSDAC; particularly the northeastern segment) had recognized the significance of digital platforms, particularly YouTube, in the evolving landscape of church and technology. However, it was not a focal point of their engagement, serving more as a peripheral nod to emerging trends. While most services were recorded and live-streamed, the majority of congregants still attended in person, with limited attention given to the online presence. Notably, older members of the church, less familiar with digital platforms, may not have been actively
Haitian Adventism & Christmas
DISCUSSING HAITIAN ADVENTISM AND CHRISTMAS opens up a forum for a wider conversation on how this religious community views and approaches what it typically categorizes as secular festivities of pagan origin. Highlighting Christmas has more to do with the time of these reflections as opposed to the holiday being of some greater degree of secularization than others. I can easily talk about Easter and Thanksgiving but the general ideas shared below would be applicable to all. As I have articulated elsewhere, seeing that I’m of the North American Haitian Seventh-day Adventist church (NAHSDAC) community, my reflections are limited to what is
Growing up Haitian Seventh-day Adventist
IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA SPACES that I frequent, it is not popular to be part of an organized religious institution. This is true, seemingly, even with those who are still recognized as being part of an organized religious institution. Everywhere you turn is a charge of hypocrisy, patriarchy, misogyny, megalomania, homophobia, and theological error. Young pastors chime in frequently on the posts expressing their support for the various views being articulated. All in all, there appears to be among the more vocal North American SDA young people on social media the dominant theme that everything about the church sucks and
Ordination: Living at the Axis of Constant Tension
I was born on June 12, 1980 in Hôpital Universitaire Justinien, in Cap-Haïtien, Ayiti, to Seventh-day Adventists. In a sort of genealogical conversation with my father, Erodothe Jacques, as far as he can tell, he became the third in a familial line of Adventists that became elders. I don’t know how far back it goes. My grandfather, Labbe Octavil Jacques, and my great-grandfather, Benjamin Octavil Jacques, all served as elders in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ayiti. It seems like a natural trajectory that I, or at least one of my siblings (if not all of us) would one day