Seventh-day Adventists in 1946

(Please see PDF for Tables)

Statistical summaries from each division field of the General Conference indi­cate that Seventh-day Adventist work through­out the world at the close of 1946 was being administered in 70 union conferences and union missions, 137 local conferences, 204 regularly organized mission fields, and 535 institutions. There were 9,321 churches, and 598,683 bap­tized members.

Organisations and	In North Outside		World
Membership, 1946	America	N.A.	Field
Union Conferences and Missions ---------	10	60	70
Local Conferences	54	83	137
Mission Fields	7	197	204
Institutions	190	345	535
Churches	2,740	6,581	9,321
Church Membership	220,122	578,561	598,683
Church Membership
Increase,    1946	7,608	14,697	22,305

The following tabulation gives the member­ship returns from the several division fields at the close of 1946:

Division	1946 Membership
Australasian	23,428
Central Europe	31,278
China	21,769
Far Eastern _	38,743
Inter-American	59,378
North America	220,122
Northern European	18,599
South American	43,076
Southern African	50,310
Southern Asia	8,512
Southern European	46,148
Russian	16,513
	20,807
Unattached Territories ------
TOTAL	598,683

WoaKEas.-At the end of 1946 fields at home and abroad reported 14,972 Seventh-day Ad­ventist laborers engaged in evangelistic and colporteur activities; and 17,428 more workers employed in publishing houses, medical centers, schools, and other institutions. Of these 32,400 workers, 19,198 were in the divisions outside of North America, and 13,202 in the United States and Canada.

Seventh-day Adventist Workers	In North Outside America           N .A.		World Field
Evangelistic Workers	--     4,161	I 0, 8 11	14,972
Institutional Workers	9,041	8,387	17,428
TOTAL
	13,202	/9,198	32,400

TITHES AND OFFERINGS.-In 1946 Seventh-day Adventist contributions to church and mis­sion endeavor in tithes and offerings totaled $37,430,918.47, including $1,414,390.69 for re­habilitation and famine relief. This sum was $4,903,584.62, or over is per cent above the 1945 returns. Tithe in 1946 of $21,793,606.74 was $2,368,654.10, or 12.2 per cent, more than that of the previous year. Mission offerings of $8,823,741.74 were $985,873.74, or 12.6 per cent, higher than in 1945. Home mission and local church contributions in 1946 amounting to $5,­399,179.30 exceeded the previous year by $i,­121,064.70, or 26.2 per cent. During 1946 the North American field contributed $1,414,390.69 for famine relief and rehabilitation. This was $427,992.08, or 43.4 per cent above the relief donations in 1945. The distribution of funds in 1946 is given in the tabulation:

Funds Received in 1946                                                                In Tithe Mission Offerings	North America $16,356,618.45 6,652,525.75	Outside N.A. In World Field   $5,436,988.29    821,793,606.74           2,171,21 5.99    8,823,741-74
Home and Local Offerings
	4,913,035.75	486,143-55	5,399,170.30
Relief Offerings	1,414,390.69		1,414,390.69
TOTALS, 1946 ------------------	$29,336,570.64	88,094,347.83	$37,430,918-47
TOTALS, 1945	26,155,868.62	6,371,465.23	32,527,333.85
INCREASE, 1946 -----------------------------------	$3,180,702.02	$1,722,882.60	$4,903,584.62
PER CENT OF INCREASE -----------------------	12.2%	27.0%	I5.I

Each church member throughout the world field in 1946 paid an average tithe of $36.40; mission offerings, $14.74; home donations, $9.02; relief offerings, $2.36; making a total per capita funds of $62.52, which amount was $6.og more than in 1945. For each class of funds the membership per capita sums in 1946 are shown in the following table:

Per Capita Funds Received in 1946	In North                Outside In World America               N.A.            Field
Tithe -------------------------	$74.31	$14.36	$36.40
Mission Offerings --------	30.22	5.74	14.74
Home and Local Offerings   ___________	22.32	1.28
Relief Offerings ______	6.44		2 6
TOTALS, 1946 -----	$133,28	$21.38	$659,...30523
TOTALS, 1945 -----	123.08	17.51	42
INCREASE, 1946 --	$ 10.20	$ 3.87	$ 6.09

DENOMINATIONAL RESOURCES.—At the be­ginning of 1946 the asset value of all Seventh-day Adventist denominational properties in the world territory was $118,565,591.70. Of this sum, $80,548,782.73 represented property in­vestments in the United States and Canada, and $38,016,808.97 material resources outside of North America. Property values were distrib­uted among the several organization groups as shown below :

Conferences, Conference Associations,

Bible Houses, etc--------------------------------- $ 58,505,253.97
Institutions—Educational, Medical, Publishing, Food ----------------------------------------  42,257,022.09

Churches and Church Schools ---------------------  17,803,315.64

TOTAL PROPERTY INVESTMENTS   $118,565,591.70

Departmental Activities

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.—In the world field in 1946 there were reported 3,341 elementary and mission schools with 4,772 teachers, and an enrollment of 128,877 pupils. These figures reg­ister increases over the previous year of 152 schools and 5,296 pupils. The number of ele­mentary school pupils for each i,000 church members in the United States and Canada alone in 1946 was us. . The highest proportionate reg­istration in Seventh-day Adventist elementary school history was in 1920, with 183 pupils for each i,000 members. The reported cost of con­ducting church schools in the United States and Canada in 1946 was $65,75 for each registered pupil. This cost was $5.88, or 10 per cent above the reported expenditure for each pupil in 1945.

Above the elementary grades, students in the Seventh-day Adventist colleges and secondary schools throughout the world numbered 28,240, attending 290 schools with 3,356 teachers and other helpers. In the United States and Canada the college and academic enrollment rose from 17,844 in 1945 to 21,735 in 1946, an increase-of almost 22 per cent. Advanced school prop­erty investments were $18,226,292.87.

PUBLISHING  INTERESTS.—Fifty-one publish­ing centers employing 1,542 workers were en­gaged in the preparation and printing of Sev­enth-day Adventist books and periodicals in 1946. In addition to the institutional employees, 2,666 persons were engaged in literature dis­tribution, of which 888 were in the North American field and 1,788 in other division terri­tories. Current reports show that 281 periodi­cals were being published, and that Seventh-day Adventist books and other literature were available in 188 languages. Retail sales of books and periodicals reported in 1946 throughout the world field amounted to $10,332,186.28. This sum was $1,040,591.49, or 11.2 per cent above the total for 1945, and constitutes the largest annual sales of Seventh-day Adventist litera­ture ever recorded. Conservatively estimated, the pages of the books and periodicals published in 1946 placed end to end would encircle the earth at the equator almost eleven times. Pub­lishing house assets at the beginning of 1946 totalled $7,250,978.30.

HEALTH INSTITUTIONS.—In 1946 there were 167 sanitariums, hospitals, dispensaries, and treatment rooms reported in operation, caring for 112,904 patients staying in the institutions and giving 1,431,415 treatments or medical services to others coming to the institutions for attention. Connected with these health centers were 267 physicians, 1,708 nurses, and 4,480 other employees, not counting 1,242 nurses in training. In addition to the care of regular pa­tients, $514,239.91 of charity work was reported by these health organizations. Property invest­ments in health institutions were $15,843,­184.74.

SABBATH SCHOOLS.—At the close of 1946, operating around the world were 14,443 Sab­bath schools with 707,428 members. The Sab­bath school membership increase over 1945 was 19,147, of which 6,491 were in North America and 12,656 in overseas territory. The Sabbath school membership of 194,882 in the United States and Canada was 25,240 below the church membership, or 89 Sabbath school members for each ioo church adherents. The 512,546 mem­bers of Sabbath schools outside of North Amer­ica were 133,985 more than the church enroll­ment, making 135 Sabbath school members for every ioo church members in overseas divi­sions.