The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC) has held special consultative status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the United Nations (UN) since 1985. The GC is a member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Department of Public Information (DPI), and the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).¹ Other Adventist-related entities that have consultative status with the United Nations include the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)² and the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA).³

The Church’s acceptance into special consultative status with the United Nations was announced by the General Conference president at the 1985 General Conference session in New Orleans, Louisiana. A full transcript of the speech was published in the June 27, 1985, edition of the Adventist Review and Herald, and included the following remarks.

“On May 10 the United Nations recognized the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists as a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. As the United Nations Security Council looks after matters of war and peace, so ECOSOC deals with worldwide social, economic, humanitarian, and cultural questions, including human rights and religious liberty.

“The General Conference now has the right to be represented at all ECOSOC meetings in New York and those of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. This new NGO status includes the right to speak and submit written statements regarding issues of importance to the church.

“We believe that the new status will provide the Seventh-day Adventist Church with another opportunity to establish a presence and exert a positive Christian outreach among civic, religious, and government leaders of all the nations of the world.⁴

Available General Conference Session minutes and General Conference Executive Committee meeting minutes provide no indication of prior discussion or votes in regards to the General Conference’s application to be recognized as a NGO with the United Nations.

The United Nations ECOSOC Resolution 1296, which was in force when the Church gained its consultative status in 1985, and the more recent ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, stipulate that “the aims and purposes of the organization shall be in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” and that “the organization shall undertake to support the work of the United Nations.”^{5, 6}

ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31

ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONSULTATION WITH NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS⁶

PART I

PRINCIPLES TO BE APPLIED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSULTATIVE RELATIONS

1.- The organization shall be concerned with matters falling within the competence of the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies.

2.- The aims and purposes of the organization shall be in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

3.- The organization shall undertake to support the work of the United Nations and to promote knowledge of its principles and activities, in accordance with its own aims and purposes and the nature and scope of its competence and activities.

All NGOs are required to submit quadrennial reports every four years to ensure that their mission and activities remain in harmony with those of the UN. Quadrennial reports submitted by the GC are listed on the ECOSOC website and can be downloaded for the years 1990-1993, 1994-1997, 2005-2008, and 2009-2012.⁷  Each of these reports includes a statement explaining the church’s mission. A comparison of the successive mission statements found in the quadrennial reports reveals a marked change from the initial mission statement still found on the GC’s consultative status page on the ECOSOC website. As shown below, the successive changes in the mission statements reflect a gradual and  continuous trend towards increasing conformity with the principles and purposes of the United Nations, and a decreasing focus on the everlasting gospel and Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14.

• 1985 UN NGO Application 
  “The mission statement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to call all people to become disciples of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the everlasting gospel embraced by the three angels’ messages (Rev. 14:6-12), and to prepare the world for Christs’s soon return.”⁸
• 1990-1993 Quadrennial Report
  “The mission of the church is to proclaim to all people the everlasting gospel as described in the Holy Bible.”
• 1994-1997 Quadrennial Report
  “The Seventh-Day Adventist Church seeks to lead people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and to enhance the quality of life not only for its members but for people in all nations of the world.”
• 2005-2008 Quadrennial Report
  “The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GCSA) is the world governing body of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Christian organization that promotes a better life, both spiritual and physical, for individuals and communities. …The values and principles of the Adventist Church find expression in a wide variety of activities that parallel United Nations goals, including health, education, humanitarian aid, youth training, women’s issues, child development, religious freedom and human rights promotion.”
• 2009-2012 Quadrennial Report
  “The General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists actively affirms, develops and educates on the principles of religious liberty and freedom of conscience enshrined in the United Nations documents dealing with religious freedom. These include but are not limited to article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.” 

ADRA was admitted into general consultative status with the United Nations in 1997. According to its annual reports, ADRA received $105,534,079.00 in funding and $82,811,671.00 in commodities from the United Nations in 2016-2018. In exchange for this money received, however, ADRA is not permitted to proselytize or share the gospel. The FAQs page on ADRA’s website states,

“ADRA does not proselytize. God’s love in ADRA’s programs is expressed when it reaches out to those in need regardless of race, gender, and political, or religious affiliation. We work in harmony with a broad array of cultures, traditions, and people of non-Christian faith, respecting the human dignity of all. The positive impact of ADRA’s contribution globally validates our heritage and belief in benevolent giving, as well as introduces the Adventist name to communities.”¹⁰

While it is commendable that the agency has been instrumental in helping the very real humanitarian needs of many people, the United Nation’s influence has prohibited ADRA from completely following Jesus Christ’s example of meeting people’s physical needs and then inviting them to “go and sin no more.”⁹ Jesus Christ met people’s needs regardless of their religion, race, or political affiliation, and yet still found made a point of sharing the gospel with these people. Affiliation with the United Nations makes this impossible.

1. https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/showProfileDetail.do?method=showProfileDetails&profileCode=864
2. https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/showProfileDetail.do?method=showProfileDetails&profileCode=1370
3. https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/showProfileDetail.do?method=showProfileDetails&profileCode=2299
4. Adventist Review and Herald (June 27, 1985), p. 663.
5. ECOSOC Resolution 1296 (1968), Part 1, Principle 2; https://docs.un.org/en/E/RES/1296(XLIV); accessed October 15, 2025
6. ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part 1, Principle 2; https://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/Resolution_1996_31/Part_1.htm; accessed October 15, 2025
7. See footnote 1.
8. See footnote 1.
9. John 5:14 and John 8:11.
10. https://adra.org/about-adra/faq