Dwight K. Nelson is a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

evangelist and

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. He was the senior

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of

Andrews University Andrews University (Andrews) is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flag ...

from 1983 until June 1, 2023.Faith for Today, Executive Bios: Dwight Nelson
/ref> Before coming to Andrews University he served as a pastor in Oregon for ten years. He was the preacher for the Adventist satellite evangelistic series ''The NeXt Millennium Seminar'' in 1998. In 2004 he, along with former BBC News presenter Gillian Joseph presented a discussion-style series called ''Evidence: Through My Experience'' held at Newbold College,

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. Later that same year he hosted another discussion series at Newbold College called ''Mind The Gap''. He hosted the television program ''The Evidence'' Nelson serves as adjunct teacher of

homiletics In religious studies, homiletics ( ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be ...

at the

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (SDATS) is the seminary located at Andrews University in Michigan, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's flagship university. Since 1970 the SDATS has been accredited by the Association of Theologica ...

at Andrews. He is the currently the speaker for a weekly television program
New Perceptions

Background and family

Born in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, of missionary parents, Nelson can converse in Japanese. He attended the now-defunct Far Eastern Academy in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and graduated from Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University), Collegedale,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1973. He attended

where he received a master of divinity (M.Div.) degree in 1976 and a doctor of ministry (D.Min.) degree in 1986 from the

.View List of Graduates by Name or by Term.
Enter "Nelson". His books include ''Outrageous Grace'', ''Countdown to the Showdown'' and ''Built to Last''. In 1994, th
Pioneer Memorial Church
hosted ABC Television's National Christmas Eve service. Nelson is married to Karen Oswald Nelson. They have two children.

Net 98

Nelson was the speaker for the Adventist church's Net '98 evangelistic series. It was broadcast live October 9 to November 14, 1998, from Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of

. It was broadcast in 38 languages and reached people in more than 100 countries at 7,600 sites, 2000 of which were in North America.Jack Stenger. ''The NeXt Level.'' Columbia Union Visitor, December 1, 1998 pp. 16-20
/ref> He began preparing for the series nearly two years in advance. On opening night officials estimated that attendance around the world totalled 161,000 people. While Nelson preached upstairs in the main sanctuary of the church, downstairs in 38 cubicles, translators repeated his message in the various languages broadcast live around the world. Adventists usually present last day events and the prophecies of Daniel and

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

in their evangelistic campaigns. Nelson says he intentionally chose to shift the focus from the apocalyptic to the relational because so many people lead lives of broken relationships. He chose the theme "Finding a forever friendship with God."Andy Nash. Net '98: Getting Relational. Review and Herald, April 2, 1998 pp. 8-13
/ref>

Books

Nelson writes predominantly for a Seventh-day Adventist church member audience and publishes with non-academic, Seventh-day Adventist church owned publishing houses. * ''Pursuing the Passion of Jesus: How "Loving the Least" Helps You Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life,'' Pacific Press, 2005 * ''The Eleventh Commandment: A Fresh Look at Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself,'' Pacific Press, 2001 * ''Outrageous Grace: Finding a Forever Friendship With God,'' Pacific Press, 1998 * ''Built to Last: Creation and Evolution : A Thoughtful Look at the Evidence That a Master Designer Created Our Planet,'' Pacific Press, 1998 * ''The Claim: Nine Radical Claims of Jesus That Can Revolutionize Your Life,'' Pacific Press, 1996 * "The Jesus Generation: Shaping Up for the Showdown," Hart Research Center, 1993 * "Countdown to the Showdown," Hart Research Center, 1992

External links

Pioneer Memorial Church

The Evidence

Articles by Nelson
listed in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Dwight K. Seventh-day Adventist religious workers Seventh-day Adventist administrators Seventh-day Adventist writers American Seventh-day Adventist ministers History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Living people American television evangelists Andrews University Southern Adventist University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)

Background and family

Net 98

Books

See also

External links

References