the Welcome to:
MARANATHA ANDREWS!

We are sure that many of you are wondering, ‘why Maranatha Andrews?, ‘how did this name come about?’
No problem – the answer is here.

The Andrews Memorial Seventh Day Adventist District of Churches is a God fearing and proactive church. The COVID 19 pandemic ushered in a period of change in the needs of our church life. One significant need was for members to stay connected. This gave birth to the generating of a digital weekly newsletter to replace our former news Bulletin.
At one of the weekly newsletter meetings, it was decided that, to enhance the contact and to share the information on the church, we should embark on the production of a digital monthly magazine.

So, what would this magazine be called?

Over the course of several meetings, a number of different names were proposed and discarded. The next idea was to provide guidelines.
The guidelines were to include a popular church saying, or theme, to indicate that, as a church, we were conscious of the near approach of the end of time.

The theme selected is encapsulated in Matthew 24:14:
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come.”

Two responses to the name caught the attention of the Magazine Committee:

AMSDA ENDTIMES and MARANATHA ANDREWS

A poll conducted among a wide cross – section of congregants showed that 98% were in favour of

MARANATHA ANDREWS
The name was chosen – a star was born!

Elder Noel Jumpp was accredited with being the person who had most consistently used the affirmation. So, rather than googling, we decided to get and be guided by, Elder Jumpp’s interpretation. He explains that:

“Central to the Seventh Day Adventist Movement is our firm belief that JESUS our Beloved Saviour, Redeemer and King will burst the Eastern Sky to take His people home. This belief was also held by the Early Church. First Corinthians 16 : 22 reads – “If any man love not the Lord JESUS Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha.”

Anathema is a transliteration of the Greek anathema, meaning accursed or devoted to destruction. By their choice of rejecting the only means of salvation, they choose eternal damnation. Maran – atha is a transliteration of the Greek – Maran atha which in turn is a transliteration of the Aramaic Maran athah, and so,

“MARANATHA ANDREWS”

This is the only place it is used in Scripture. The Aramaic expression may be translated, “Our Lord comes” or “Our Lord, come.” Since our Lord is JESUS we may say JESUS comes or JESUS, come.

The second coming of JESUS is the reason we love and serve Him, so – Titus 2:13 completes the setting – “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour JESUS Christ.”

May this desire to meet JESUS be the greatest motivating factor in our Christian walk.”

Maranatha Andrews!

Claudeth James Henry, M.Ed; is a management consultant and the Managing Partner of Nonpareil Consultants Network (NCN). She is a member of the Communications Department of the Andrews Memorial Seventh-day Adventist District of Churches.