The development of the SDA church stemmed from preachers in the early 1840's preaching from the prophecies of Daniel that the end of the world was imminent. During the 1840, 1850's and 1860's Bible study and debate were common through journals. A community arose who held to common thoughts regarding the second coming of Jesus, salvation by faith alone, the continuing value of the 10 commandments, the guiding symbol of the wilderness sanctuary, and the errors of Catholics and some Protestant churches in teaching the immortal soul among other things. The loose-net movement ordained ministers, published tracks and pamphlets, and even sent missionaries.

In 1863, this movement of Bible students came together and formed what was to be known as the Seventh-day Adventists, as it seemed the best description of their common bond. Among those who were important in this formation were: James White, Joseph Bates, Ellen White, J. N. Andrews, John Loughbourough. The church was structured around a Methodist style of governance with conferences, and territory leaders and a general assembly for voting in new leaders.

Technically, one could say that William Miller was who started the movement that led toward Adventism, but Sister Ellen G. White helped in the decision of the name "Seventh-day Adventist." For more information, see the link below.

There wasn't a founder of the Seventh-day Aventist Church. The church emerged from the Millerite movement. Most noted early leaders of the denomination were Joseph Bates, James and Ellen White, Hiram Edson, and J.N. Andrews.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York, a phase of the Second Great Awakening. Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14-16 and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth on October 22, 1844. When this did not happen, most of his followers disbanded and returned to their original churches.

Some Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed it was the 'earth that was to be cleansed' or Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists arrived at the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his second coming. Over the next decade this understanding developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment: an eschatological process commencing in 1844 in which Christians will be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. The Adventists continued to believe that Christ's second coming would be imminent, although they refrained from setting further dates for the event.

For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a small loosely knit group of people who came from many churches 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, conditional immortality and the expectation of Christ's premillennial return. Among its most prominent figures were Joseph Bates, 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 gift of prophecy.

The church was formally established in Battle Creek, Michigan, on May 21, 1863, with a membership of 3,500. The denominational headquarters were later moved from Battle Creek to Takoma Park, Maryland, where they remained until 1989. The General Conference headquarters then moved to its current location in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Seventh-day Adventists arose within an apocalyptic movement that stressed the nearness of the Second Advent. Their Christian heritage emphasized the down-to-earth implications of the ministry of the Saviour.

Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, and Ellen White are among the founders. William Miller was a predecessor (though he never joined the church), who helped start the Millerite Movement from which the Seventh-day Adventist Church was born.

As a Christian church, Seventh-day Adventists are a faith community rooted in the beliefs described by the Holy Scriptures. For a more thorough description of the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church go to the link below.

Most Seventh-day Adventist Believe:

In a personal God

In Jesus as our Saviour and God in the flesh

In the regeneration process called the "New Birth" through the acceptance of the Gospel.

That the Bible is the inspired Word of God

In the literal second coming of Jesus Christ

That human by nature is mortal

That death is an unconscious state

There will be a resurrection of the righteous dead at the second coming of Jesus Christ

That eternal life is gift from God received only through faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour

That the wicked will not burn eternally but will be burned up

In righteousness which comes by faith and not only by works

That the Ten Commandments is the standard of righteousness by which all will be judged

That the original Seventh-Day Sabbath (Saturday) has never been changed by divine authority and that all Christians are under obligation to keep it holy

In the support of the gospel through tithes and offerings

In baptism by immersion

In discarding unhealthy practices such as the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, unclean foods, etc

That the foregoing principles are practiced not from a sense of obligation to "earn" any place in Heaven, but rather they are practiced as a result of a consistent love for Christ, as well as the desire to walk with him daily. They are a natural consequence of accepting Him as a Personal Saviour.

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists publishes a book that outlines the generally held beliefs of the majority of the members, so-called "fundamental beliefs." This is not the same as a creed (which is static), because Adventists believe that God may continue to provide new light. The number of fundamental beliefs was changed from 27 to 28 in a General Conference session in 2005.

When the Adventist church was founded, the founding members were non-trinitarian, and non-tritheistic. While some people would consider the official position of the church to be tri-theistic (given that in the church's view there are three separate beings that make up the Godhead) rather than trinitarian (which some would describe as one God with multiple personalities), the church officially describes their view as trinitarian, and states in their second fundamental belief that "There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons." This is considered a mystery that we may never fully understand, but it is not considered a belief in three gods.

Seventh Day Adventists believe that Sabbath (The day of rest) is Saturday, based on the bibles teachings that say God rested on the Seventh Day. SDA's also believe that God's coming is a soon coming event (adventist=awaiting).

The Bible says that, "by their fruits, you shall know them" (Matthew 7:2). And the Bible also says that, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith" (Galatians 5:22). Did Ellen White manifest any fruits that were in contrary to the fruits of the Spirit? The answer is NO. All her life she lived and taught things that were in harmony with the principles of the Bible.

The people who insist that she is not a true prophet, most likely have not read her writings. Because if they did, they would realize that they are 100% Biblical.

The Bible says that, "to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). Therefore you should judge her based on her writings and not based on what other people who hate her say about her.

If you do this, you will discover that she never taught any Masonic teachings, in fact she blatantly said that, any person who joins such organizations will be lost.

An obelisk on her grave is not the standard of basing whether somebody is a true or false prophet. Please follow the standard mentioned in the Bible.

And finally, to answer your question of why there is an obelisk on her grave. Obelisk's were a standard for gravestones during the time that she lived. In fact, they represented one of the cheaper options of burying the dead.
There isnt a pyramid on her grave. The tomb stone on her grave is what is known as an obelisk.

The obelisk was apparently placed on the site at the death of James White several years prior to her death. I was not able to find any official record as to the reason an obelisk was chosen.

However, after having lived with him as his son for some twenty years, though he had a strong mystical tendency - probably to compensate for lack of parental affection during his youth - he never was a practising Adventist.

Why the question? And from whom?

Does anyone know where Wilton Marks is now?

According to http://www.masonicinfo.com/religion2.htm, one of the fundamental beliefs that one must have to become a free mason is a belief in the immortality of the soul. However, SDA belief is that the soul is not now immortal, nor will any wicked soul ever be immortal, but that on the resurrection day the righteous in Christ being risen, and being mortal still, will then put on immortality.

Thus, it would seem that the SDA belief in a mortal soul is incongruous with the petition that one must sign to become a free mason asserting the belief in a soul's immortality.

Freemasons only requires you believe in God.

Spencerville SDA church in Spencerville, Maryland

There are some churches in boonsboro at mount aetna.

there are other churches not far away from spencerville church- theres a church in Columbia calle datholton adventist church, by the way i am seventh day adventist...

it was nice answering your question...

Seabrook SDA Church in Lanham, Maryland, USA

Bladensburg SDA Church in Blandensburg, Maryland, USA

Miracle Temple SDA Church in Baltimore County, Maryland USA

Sligo SDA Church in Takoma Park, Maryland

Breath of Life Church in Fort Washington, Maryland

...hope this helps!

Generally the church frowns on the use of jewelry, based on the idea that we are currently living in the anti-typical Day of Atonement (what the Israelite Day of Atonement represented and when they were called to get rid of their jewelry), as well as texts such as 1 Peter 3:3-5a:

3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.

According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference, to which this question has been put before, the use of jewelry has no official beliefs.

Most Adventists do not wear jewelry, but it is left up to each person to decide for themselves. Use of jewelry is becoming more common among Adventists, especially in the United States. Wedding rings are also considered something of a special case, since they have greater meaning than other jewelry and in some cases not having a wedding ring could send the wrong message. We are taught in the Bible that when Moses led the people out of Egypt, God got angry with them for worshiping other idols as well as their precious metals like gold and pearls. God told the people to take off all their jewelry but He never did tell them to put it back on, so Adventists take that as a sign as not to wear it because it distracts us from the things that are really important. The Bible also tells us that we should not draw attention to ourselves through our "fashion," hair, makeup, clothes, jewelry, etc.