The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant church with approximately 19 million members worldwide, including more than one million members in North America. The Seventh-day Adventist Church seeks to enhance quality of life for people everywhere and to let people know that Jesus is coming again soon.
Adventists believe a Trinity of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—make up one God. They made salvation possible when Jesus, the Son, came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem and lived a sinless life in accordance with the Father's will. When Jesus was crucified for the sins of the people of the world and arose from the dead on the third day, victory was won for everyone.
When He returned to heaven following the resurrection, Jesus left the Holy Spirit to serve as our Comforter and Counselor. He promised to return to earth a second time to complete His plan of salvation and take His people to heaven. Adventists are among the believers who look forward to that day.
Adventists believe that God is concerned with the quality of human life, and that everything—the way we live, eat, speak, think, treat each other, and care for the world around us—is part of His plan. Our families, our children, our jobs, our talents, our money, and our time are all important to Him.
Local Church History
The Fairbanks Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially organized on November 2, 1946, with only nine members. They were Pastor Jack and Lorraine Provonsha, Ed and Dorothea Hudson, Valerie Smith, Mrs. Fred Vaughn, C. F. O'Dell, Hedwig Hansen, and Ted Huddle. More members joined by membership transfer a few months later. This small church met in a cabin made of railroad ties.
In 1956, the Fairbanks church began an elementary school, which met in the church building and had nine students. By this point the Fairbanks church was meeting in a small white church, but the building burned and was replaced by a larger building in a different part of town in 1960.
The new church was flooded during the infamous 1967 flood, so the Fairbanks church members sold their building and met in first a mortuary and then a Methodist church while they waited for a new building to be finished. In 1971, the Fairbanks church moved into the present church building on Farmer's Loop Rd. They had a dedication service for the new church in 1973.
In 1977, a fire in the Sabbath School rooms caused some damage, so the church met in the Methodist church again until the damage could be repaired. The Fairbanks church received insurance money to cover the repair costs, but volunteer workers were able to do the work, so the church used the insurance money to build the present school building on the Farmer's Loop Rd property. The name of the school was later changed to Golden Heart Christian School.
The Fairbanks church continued to grow, planting a church in North Pole in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The North Pole Seventh-day Adventist church continues to meet at 3589 Joan Ave, North Pole. In 1994, the Fairbanks members attempted to plant a new church in Fairbanks called the Golden Valley Church, but unfortunately the new church only survived for four years because of financial problems. The Fairbanks church built a gym on the Farmer's Loop Rd property in 1995.
The Fairbanks Seventh-day Adventist Church has grown considerably over the last 60 years and now has an average weekly attendance of about 145. To deal with these increasing numbers, the church began holding two services for a time, then eventually moving to one church service in the gym so everyone could worship together.