Editing Seventh-day Adventist Church (section)

===Organization and recognition===
For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a small, loosely knit group of people who came from many churches and whose primary means of connection and interaction was through James White's periodical ''The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald''. They embraced the doctrines of the Sabbath, the [[heavenly sanctuary]] interpretation of Daniel 8:14, [[Christian conditionalism|conditional immortality]], and the expectation of Christ's [[premillennialism|premillennial]] return. Among its most prominent figures were Joseph Bates, [[James Springer White|James White]], and [[Ellen G. White]]. Ellen White came to occupy a particularly central role; her many visions and spiritual leadership convinced her fellow Adventists that she possessed the [[spiritual gift|gift]] of [[prophecy]].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

On May 21, 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially founded in [[Battle Creek, Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/seventh-day-adventists-in-alabama/|title=Seventh-day Adventists in Alabama|last=Baker|first=Benjamin|date=2019-03-06|website=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]]|access-date=2023-08-21}}</ref> The denominational headquarters were later moved from Battle Creek to [[Takoma Park, Maryland]], where they remained until 1989.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/03/02/adventists-sell-takoma-park-headquarters-near-metro-stop/2fd6fe1d-4d29-4ff5-a458-14fd792e7797/|title=Adventists Sell Takoma Park Headquarters Near Metro Stop|last=Hyer|first=Marjorie|date=1985-03-02|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=2023-08-21}}</ref> The General Conference headquarters then moved to its current location in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |last2=Smylie |first2=James Hutchinson |title=Adventism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adventism#ref151 |newspaper=Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=January 31, 2020}}</ref><ref name=protestant>{{Cite web|url=https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-seventh-day-adventist-church/|title=The Seventh Day Adventist Church|website=[[Musée protestant]]|access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

In the 1870s, the denomination turned to evangelism through missionary work and revivals, tripling its membership to 16,000 by 1880 and establishing a presence beyond [[North America]] during the late 19th century. The denomination's rapid growth continued, with 75,000 members in 1901. By that time, the denomination operated two colleges, a medical school, a dozen academies, 27 hospitals, and 13 publishing houses. By 1945, the church estimated that it had 210,000 members in the US and Canada, along with 360,000 members who lived in other parts of the world; the church's budget was $29 million and the number of students who were enrolled in the church's schools was 140,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/ASR/ASR1945__B.pdf#view=fit|title=Statistical Report of Seventh-day Adventist Conferences, Missions, and Institutions. The Eighty-third Annual Report Year Ending December 31, 1945, pp. 2, 4|website=adventistarchives.org|access-date=March 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229190357/http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/ASR/ASR1945__B.pdf#view=fit|archive-date=December 29, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>