New Men's Dorm At USC Named For Bajan USCian

Timothy S. Greaves Hall on the campus of the University of the Southern Caribbean, Maracas Valley, Trinidad (click images to enlarge)

"“While we cannot fully control our legacy and how we are remembered, we are more likely to achieve the desired results if we seek them, than if we move through life without direction or purpose.”

The late Dr. Timothy Greaves sought to leave behind a legacy that would be remembered for years to come from living a life filled with purpose and by making significant contributions to his alma mater, the University of the Southern Caribbean. Today, the memory of his indomitable spirit will forever be enshrined in the halls of his dear “old USC” as of October 20th, the New Men’s Residence Hall was officially opened and named in his honor.  The opening of the New Men’s Residence Hall was part of the Alumni Reunion Weekend 2013 celebrations.

  

Nearly ten years ago, a University Technical Committee was formed to oversee the construction of new male and female residence halls. Although the project has been ongoing for quite some time and many obstacles have been encountered along the way, the spirits of those directly involved have not been dampened as faith and trust in an all-powerful God reigns supreme.

The Residence hall construction project became a reality to students, staff, alumni and others who have been around the University for years, when the buildings on the hill began to emerge in 2012. One year later after the preliminary work began, the University is happy to announce the completion of the Timothy S. Greaves Hall - the new and contemporary men’s residence hall.  The men, who currently reside at Cedar Hall, will move into the new hall in January 2014. Work on the female hall and overall project completion is carded for 2015.

This dream has become a reality and is just the first of many dreams that will be realized at USC in the coming months and years.

Dr. Greaves is an inspirational role model for the USC community and beyond and has left behind him a legacy of service and teaching that we want to be remembered. Despite severe physical disabilities, he achieved career accomplishments that might seem nearly impossible to many people. His scholarship, professional competence and character were of the highest caliber. Dr. Greaves was a man of enormous courage and unfailing good humor despite his physical limitations.

Follow us as we continue our journey to making more dreams become a reality and continue is moving USC “Beyond Excellence!”"   ____ USC Alumni Association

Dr. Timothy S. Greaves came from the most prominent (both within and without Adventist circles in Barbados) Greaves family of St. Lucy, Barbados.  His father, Pastor Eric Greaves, served as the President of the East Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in the 1960s when its territory still stretched from the US Virgin Islands in the north to St. Lucia and Barbados in the south.  One of his uncles, Wrensford Greaves, was a well known lay evangelist throughout the north of the island and was one of the founders of the Mile-&-A-Quarter SDA Church, and Lay Leader of the Speightstown SDA Church for many years.  Tim's sister, Norma Greaves, served on the faculty and staff of USC for over 40 years, and continues to serve the church today as Librarian of the Barbados SDA Secondary School.  His brother, Dr. Donn Greaves, serves at the church-run Cave Memorial Clinic and Nursing Home in Brittons Hill.  His first cousin, Sir Philip Greaves, once served as Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados.

Earlier this year, Tim was also posthumously honoured by his medical school alumni at Loma Linda University.

Click here for event photostream.

This May Shock Some:

"LANDMARK SURVEY REVEALS IN-DEPTH BELIEFS, PERCEPTIONS OF ADVENTIST MEMBERS

David Trim, director of the Office of Archives, Statistics and Research presents the findings of the most in-depth research the denomination has conducted on its members. He delivered the findings to Annual Council delegates on Tuesday, October 15 [2013].

The most extensive research ever conducted on the attitudes, beliefs, experiences and spiritual practices of Seventh-day Adventists reinforced some long-held assumptions about worshippers’ positive affirmation of the denomination, yet revealed an emerging trend toward secularization that is worrisome for some church leaders.

Among the most significant findings, based on tens of thousands of surveys from around the world:

•    Sabbath School teachers were ranked higher than pastors and elders when church members were asked to state who was friendlier, warmer, more caring and had a positive effect on their spiritual lives.
•    About three-fourths of Adventists strongly embrace the prophetic ministry of church co-founder Ellen G. White.
•    Only about one in three families conduct daily worship.
•    Almost half of college students and recent college graduates said they would accept practicing homosexuals as church members in good and regular standing.
•    About 9 in 10 people who left the Adventist church were never contacted by their pastor after they stopped attending.

The findings, released this week to delegates at the 2013 General Conference Annual Council at church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, were commissioned by the Office of Archives, Statistics and Research two and a half years ago.

The research was based on five separate projects. It consisted of 41,000 interviews or questionnaires around the world; involved 4,260 pastors; nearly 26,000 church members; 1,200 college students and recent graduates; and 900 former Adventists. Research teams from Adventist universities on several contents were involved in the unprecedented effort.

“In terms of both the breadth and depth,” said David Trim, director of the church’s research office, “this is the best snapshot we’ve ever had of the worldwide church.”

Before presenting the findings to hundreds of church administrators, Trim warned the audience to not be quick to judge. “Data is what it is,” Trim said. “What it means, is something else.”

The findings debunked longheld assumptions about the denomination’s gender makeup: The church is 57 percent female, and 43 percent male – quite a ways off from the belief that 65 percent of worshipers were female and 35 percent were male.

The findings also showed a church that is young – 54 percent of the members worldwide are between the ages of 16 and 40 – which has two disadvantages, according to Trim. For one, young members may be called too quickly into denominational administrative leadership positions without the proper experience. In addition, older leaders may need training to learn how to understand and work effectively with the younger generation.

Only 10 percent of church members globally are older than 60, and the largest proportion of aging congregants are in North America, Europe and Japan. In contrast, Trim said, “Our church in Latin America and Africa in particular is an extremely youthful church.”

The findings contained several bright spots, Trim said, including a statistic that shows that 53 percent of respondents stated that the Sabbath School adult Bible study guide helped “very much” to develop their religious life.

The study guide, perhaps not surprisingly, is least popular with worshipers is in North America, parts of Europe, and in and around Australia. “As someone who is both from Australia and Europe, and married to an American,” Trim said jokingly, “I will accept the blame for all those things. We are very cynical people in America, Australia and Europe.”

Another “success story,” Trim said, was that 92 percent of Adventists have an overwhelming conviction that the Seventh-day Sabbath is the true Sabbath, and only 3 percent disagree (that particular survey’s margin of error was 3 percent, which could perhaps mean zero disagreement).

The findings also pointed to several areas deemed problematic, such as people leaving the church unnoticed, and the seeping influence of secular values, Trim said.

Interestingly, the vast majority of inactive and former members are not rejecting the message and mission of the church.

“They are moving with the strong dynamics of contemporary society away from established forms of religious activity,” Trim said. “The fabric of most Adventist local churches is not sufficient to stem this tide.” He then told the delegates, “Brothers and sisters, I think this is a real challenge to us.”

While only 9 percent of Adventists were contacted by their pastor after they stopped attending church, a larger number of former members said they had been visited by elders or other church members. However, the findings show that 4 out of 10 Adventists slipped out of the church without ever being contacted by anyone.

The fact that members lapse unnoticed is a “tragedy,” Trim said.

From 2000 to 2012, more than 13.6 million people joined the church, mostly through baptism. But during the same time, 5.9 million Adventists were lost (and that doesn’t include those who died). That’s a loss rate of nearly 43.4 per 100 new converts. “That is too high,” Trim said.

Approximately 90 percent of respondents strongly agreed that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is God’s true last-day church with a message to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Christ. When asked if they expect the world to end within the next 20 years, just 22 percent of respondents strongly agreed, and 45 percent strongly disagreed, Trim said. “It’s not that people don’t believe that Jesus is coming, but there does seem to be some kind of skepticism about him coming soon.”

The research concluded that secularization is no longer limited to America, Europe and Australia. “It’s a globalized society,” Trim said. “People are watching the same television programs, reading the same apps and websites on their phones and computers, and secularization is a problem.”

Following the presentation, Vice President Benjamin Schoun acknowledged that challenges indeed lie ahead.

“We have much to learn and we probably need to incorporate these results into our strategic planning,” he stated, “because it is a very sobering picture in some cases, even though we have our strengths as well.”"

Source: http://news.adventist.org/all-news/news/go/2013-10-17/landmark-survey-reveals-in-depth-beliefs-perceptions-of-adventist-members/

3000 A Day

"God will soon do great things for us if we lie humble and believing at His feet….  More than one thousand will soon be converted in one day, most of whom will trace their first convictions to the reading of our publications."  — E.G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p181. (*Words spoken to our workers in Europe in 1885 when the outlook for the publishing work was dark.  —A. L. White)

I believe that "publishing work" now includes what we share on the Internet.  What have you published today?

        "O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling, 

to tell to all the world that God is light, 

that he who made all nations is not willing 

one soul should perish, lost in shades of night. 

  Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;

tidings of Jesus, redemption and release."

GC Tour

Seventh-day Adventist World Church Headquarters // Adventist.org from The Adventist Church (Official) on Vimeo.

East Carib Takes 2013 Bible Boom Crown

Shannon Leacock flanked by Pastor Silton Brown, President of the
North Caribbean  Conference of SDA (offering prayer), and Pastor
 Anthony Hall, Youth Director of the Caribbean Union Conference.

Congratulations to Shannon Leacock of the Eastlyn Seventh-day Adventist Church, St. George, Barbados, representing the East Caribbean Conference of SDA (Barbados & Dominica), on her win last night in Philipsburg, St. Maarten of the Caribbean Union 2013 Bible Boom. East Carib came out ahead of the South Caribbean Conference (Trinidad) and the University of the Southern Caribbean in second and third positions respectively. Shannon now goes on to prepare to represent the Caribbean Union Conference at the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists 2013 Bible Boom Finals to be held in Havana, Cuba in December.



The Bajan USCian also congratulates fellow Bajan USCian, Tonya Parris, who placed third representing our beloved alma mater - University of the Southern Caribbean.

Did You Know?

"Did You Know?" is a series of short videos that take a look at the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Each video is presented by a member of the Church and is a representation of what that belief means to them on a personal level. Click here to learn more.

Thinking about USC but have questions?

Click image to enlarge

Get the answers you need to shape your future during the afternoon session of our USC Day celebration at the Cave Hill SDA Church - Saturday, September 28, 2013 starting at 4:00pm.  Hear presentations from Dr. Sylvan Lashley, Dean of the Division of Continuing Education at the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC), Dr. Noel Brathwaite, Director of Research and Graduate Studies USC, and Dr. Norma Niles, Coordinator of the USC Barbados Satellite Campus.

Cave Hill SDA Church
Cave Hill, St. Lucy
Barbados

Click here for driving directions.
Bus: Route #1B Pie Corner or Route #1AB Pie Corner/Boscobelle
Can't attend?  Follow/participate in live-stream at bottom of this page or http://www.ustream.tv/channel/usc-barbados    

Here I Am To Worship

Adventist Education Trailer from Journey Films on Vimeo.

Profiles the second largest private education system in the world and the commitment to educate the “whole person” – body, mind and spirit. Featuring the Bronx-Manhattan School, Holbrook Indian School, Fletcher Academy, Spencerville Academy, Columbine Christian, Oakwood Academy and others – the viewer will experience the challenge of preparing today’s youth for a life of service. Spring 2013.

I Will Go!

See also: My Adventist Universities

Did you know that Pentecostals and Roman Catholics dominate the Non-SDA new student population at USC?

Freshmen Enrollment 2012-2013

Naturally, as a faith-based educational institution, the University of the Southern Caribbean is interested to know the religious background of its student population. This information is very useful for a wide variety of purposes, but particularly because it helps to set the tone, temperament and/or culture of the 3,500-body institution. These and other useful facts and figures are contained in the most recent edition of the USC Factbook.