Samoa SDA Sunday worship not endorsed
Samoa’s Prime Minister with the Samoa-Tokelau Mission President, Pr. Uili Solofa who is confirmed to take part in the 2 August meeting.
APIA: 22 July 2012: The debate of which day is the ‘seventh day’ Sabbath in Samoa has taken a another twist with confirmation from the Seventh-day Adventist world headquarters in America, there is no documented action by the General Conference endorsing or supporting the action of the Samoa SDA administration to change its Sabbath day of worship to Sunday.
The current Samoa Sabbath dilemma in fact has come about because the SDA leadership in Samoa and the Pacific region failed to accept that the Samoa government implemented a lawful and legitimate shift in the International Date Line, effectively moving Samoa to the same side as New Zealand and Australia for trading purposes.
While most Christian churches in Samoa also call Sunday the Sabbath commemorating the day of Jesus’ resurrection on the first day of the week, Seventh-day Adventists keeps the Sabbath on the ‘seventh day’ of the week which is Saturday like everywhere in the world.
In order to facilitate the IDL adherence change, Samoa missed one day resulting in a ‘one off’ 6 day week. This experience is normal when crossing the IDL from the American to the Asian side. Friday 30th December 2011 in Samoa did not vanish into thin air as promoted by the local church administration whereby making Sunday 1st January 2012 the ‘seventh day’ of the weekly cycle in Samoa.
What happened in December 2011 was not a calendar change, nor was there any name change. What is confusing is the notion being promoted by the local administration and the South Pacific Division (SPD) regional office in Australia, “The practical result in terms of Sabbath keeping is that Sunday not Saturday has become the seventh day of the week.”
In fact, understanding which day is the ‘seventh day’ of the week is quite simple, contrary to a statement in a public notice from the Samoa Tokelau Mission that was published in the local Samoa Observer newspaper 1st July saying, “The subject to the change to the IDL and resulting implications for the weekly cycle and for Sabbath keeping is a complex one.”
Simply, Sunday is still the ‘first day’ of the week and Saturday is still the ‘seventh day’, both before and after the IDL change in Samoa like everywhere else in the world.
In its presentation last year to promote Sunday Sabbath worship to Adventists in Samoa, the statement formulated by the SPD “The present practice of Sabbath keeping in the Pacific Islands around the dateline be maintained” was said to have been endorsed by the General Conference.
The statement refers to the current situation where SDAs in Tonga, Kiribati and recently Wallis and Futuna worship on Sunday; the later countries due to the precedent set in Tonga.
With the confirmation that the General Conference did not endorse or support the change to Sunday worship in Samoa, nor endorsed or supported the view being promoted by the SPD of Sunday keeping for those Island States in the Pacific around the IDL, the motives behind the South Pacific Division’s actions to deliberately mislead is now being questioned.
The General Conference has since referred the Samoa Sabbath issue back to the Pacific regional office to be further discussed. A meeting is scheduled 2 August in Australia to be attended by senior Samoan ministers from Samoa, New Zealand and Australia and SPD executives with the hope of finding a way forward.
Today, church members from 21 Seventh-day Adventist churches around Samoa have returned to keeping the ‘seventh day’ Sabbath on Saturday, joining Adventists in American Samoa and the rest of the world.
Source: eventpolynesia.com
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What’s happening with the First-day Adventists in Samoa is complelely wrong!
Can’t they see that the country is only reverting back to the original dateline which was formed in 1884, so SDAs in Samoa should revert back also.
The dateline was changed in 1892, so if anything was wrong it was that change, so therefore the SDAs in Samoa have been worshipping on the wrong day for 120 years.
Why do people like us who live in Australia see the problem plainly, the Samoan SDAs cannot – maybe they are tooooo close to the dateline!
If you do live in Australia, do what they do there and let those who live in Samoa do what they do in Samoa. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. There is no conflict and we have no problems here in Samoa. It is you idiots who live overseas, including Samoan pastors who think they are inspired to dictate how the church operates in Samoa. Just let Samoa do it’s own thing; when you come to Samoa, just “do as the Romans do” instead of sticking your nose into Samoa’s business. We don’t tell you how you do things in Australia or the US or anywhere else outside of Samoa. E lelei le fia poto, ae leaga le faafiapoto, all you out there.
With great love to my brothers and sisters in Samoa.
In 1891 Samoa was keeping the dates of the Eastern Hemisphere, the 7th day of the week was called Sunday. In 1892 the king of Samoa, Malietoa Laupepa adopted the International Dateline and moved Samoa to the Western Hemisphere. This can only be done by adding one day to the weekly cycle. So Samoa had two (2) Mondays 4th July (there was a Monday 4th July and the next day to it was Monday 4th July again). This move shift the 7th day of the week from Sunday to Saturday. Look at this – (7th day) Sunday 3rd July, (1st day) Monday 4th July, (2nd day) Monday 4th July, (3rd day) Tuesday 5th July, (4th day) Wednesday 6th July, (5th day) Thursday 7th July, (6th day) Friday 8th July, (7th day) Saturday 9th July).
In 1895 the Adventists arrived in Samoa and started to keep the Sabbath on the 7th day (Saturday) for more than a hundred years.
In 2011 the Samoan Parliament decided to move back to the dates of the Eastern Hemisphere. Like the first move they gain one day, this move they have to lose one day. Friday 30th December was the day that lost in this change. After the Thursday 29th December, the next day to it was Saturday 31st December. After the Thursday (5th day) the next day to it was Saturday (6th day) the next day Sunday (7th day), the next day Monday (1st day) an Tuesday (2nd), Wednesday (3rd), Thursday (4th), Friday (5th), Saturday (6th), Sunday (7th). Remember my brothers and sisters that Samoa has kept (non-stop) the 7th day Sabbath for about 120 years now. At the beginning it was called Sunday, and the change of 1892 changed the name to Saturday, now in 2012 the day is called Sunday again. The name changes because Countries changes the dateline around. This change and no change in the future will affect the 7th day Sabbath in Samoa. Remember that we are (7th day) Seventh-day Adventists NOT Saturday Adventist. Let’s continue to pray for one another as we continue to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Love from your 7th day brother
Hi there,
Where ever we are, just keep the the 7 date, not the name of Dates as all from paganism belief… Even Jewish calendar, was nine months and 30 days each.
Compare to the Bible now … our world leaders even Pioneers weren’t blind enough from the beginning as they follow up by . vision and dreams, not imaginations, until today.
So go back to the change 1891/1892… from there so we were all wrong as Adventists until 2011. Please don’t let the world laugh at us.
I am only keep the 7 date of the week, where ever the Samoan Govt move to change again and again, we just keep sunset to sunset, as God’s Time.
YES, we all pray …. and think twice … maybe Tuilaepa Sailele, died Tomorrow, and the other PM will change the dates back or forward, so where to you stand?. regards. A F.