In just a century and a half the Seventh-day Adventist Church has 
                  grown from a handful of individuals, who carefully studied the Bible in 
                  their search for truth, to a world-wide community of over eleven million 
                  members and millions of others who regard the Adventist Church their 
                  spiritual home. Doctrinally, Seventh-day Adventists are heirs of the 
                  interfaith Millerite movement of the 1840s. Although the name 
                  "Seventh-day Adventist" was chosen in 1860, the denomination was not 
                  officially organized until May 21, 1863, when the movement included 
                  some 125 churches and 3,500 members.
                       
                          Between 1831 and 1844, William Miller--a Baptist preacher and
                  former army captain in the War of 1812--launched the "great second advent
                  awakening" which eventually spread throughout most of the Christian world. 
                  Based on his study of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, Miller calculated that 
                  Jesus would return to earth on October 22, 1844. When Jesus did not appear, 
                  Miller's followers experienced what came to be called "the Great 
                  Disappointment."
                        
                          Most of the thousands who had joined the movement, left it, in deep
                  disillusionment. A few, however, went back to their Bibles to find why they 
                  had been disappointed. Soon they concluded that the October 22 date had 
                  indeed been correct, but that Miller had predicted the wrong event for that 
                  day. They became convinced that the Bible prophecy predicted not that Jesus
                  would return to earth in 1844, but that He would begin at that time a 
                  special ministry in heaven for His followers. They still looked for Jesus 
                  to come soon, however, as do Seventh-day Adventists yet.
                  
                          From this small group who refused to give up after the "Great 
                  Disappointment" arose several leaders who built the foundation of what
                  would become the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Standing out among these 
                  leaders were a young couple--James and Ellen G. White -- and a retired 
                  sea captain named Joseph Bates.

                          This small nucleus of "adventists" began to grow -- mainly in the New 
                  England states of America, where Miller's movement had begun. Ellen G. 
                  White, a mere teenager at the time of the "Great Disappointment," grew 
                  into a gifted author, speaker and administrator, who would become and 
                  remain the trusted spiritual counselor of the Adventist family for more 
                  than seventy years until her death in 1915. Early Adventists came to believe 
                  -- as have Adventists ever since -- that she enjoyed God's special guidance 
                  as she wrote her counsels to the growing body of believers.

                          In 1860, at Battle Creek Michigan, the loosely knit congregations of 
                  Adventists chose the name Seventh-day Adventist and in 1863 formally 
                  organized a church body with a membership of 3,500. At first, work was 
                  largely confined to North America until 1874 when the Church's first 
                  missionary, J. N. Andrews, was sent to Switzerland. Africa was penetrated 
                  briefly in 1879 when Dr. H. P. Ribton, an early convert in Italy, moved to 
                  Egypt and opened a school, but the project ended when riots broke out in 
                  the vicinity. 

                          The first non-Protestant Christian country entered was Russia, where an 
                  Adventist minister went in 1886. On October 20, 1890, the schooner Pitcairn 
                  was launched at San Francisco and was soon engaged in carrying missionaries 
                  to the Pacific Islands. Seventh-day Adventist workers first entered non-
                  Christian countries in 1894 -- Gold Coast (Ghana), West Africa, and 
                  Matabeleland, South Africa. The same year saw missionaries entering South 
                  America, and in 1896 there were representatives in Japan. The Church now has 
                  established work in 209 countries.
                 
                          The publication and distribution of literature were major factors in 
                  the growth of the Advent movement. The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 
                  (now the Adventist Review), general church paper, was launched in Paris, Maine, 
                  in 1850; the Youth's Instructor in Rochester, New York, in 1852; and the Signs 
                  of the Times in Oakland, California, in 1874. The first denominational publishing 
                  house at Battle Creek, Michigan, began operating in 1855 and was duly 
                  incorporated in 1861 under the name of Seventh-day Adventist Publishing
                  Association.
                  
                          The Health Reform Institute, later known as the Battle Creek 
                  Sanitarium, opened its doors in 1866, and missionary society work was 
                  organized on a statewide basis in 1870. The first of the Church's worldwide 
                  network of schools was established in 1872, and 1877 saw the formation of 
                  statewide Sabbath school associations. In 1903, the denominational 
                  headquarters was moved from Battle Creek, Michigan, to Washington, D.C., 
                  and in 1989 to Silver Spring, Maryland, where it continues to form the 
                  nerve center of ever-expanding work.