The Adventist Heritage Centre (AHC) in Cooranbong (NSW) has been honoured with the prestigious accreditation of Centre of Excellence—the highest level of accreditation within the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.
Dr David Trim, director of the Office of Archives, Statistics and Research at the General Conference, was pleased to confer this status on the AHC earlier this month. Currently, the Centre for Adventist Research at Andrews University is the only other entity to hold this esteemed accreditation within the global Adventist Church.
The milestone comes 10 months after the AHC achieved “Archives—Approved” status, the second-highest level of accreditation, following a review conducted by Dr Trim.
To qualify as a Centre of Excellence, archives centres are evaluated on 84 criteria. Reflecting on the inspections over the past year, Dr Trim praised the AHC team for their “fine and professional treatment of the documents and artefacts in their care, with every item in climate-controlled storage, in acid-free boxes and folders, with appropriate measures against fires and floods”.
Dr Trim also commended the team’s “excellent and meticulous policies”, which guide their operations, as well as their community engagement, adding, “They don’t only conserve and organise materials, they also reach out, in person and on social media, to make church members aware of important aspects of their history. This is very gratifying to see.”
South Pacific Division (SPD) president Pastor Glenn Townend praised SPD heritage director David Jones and his team for their remarkable work.
“Adventist Heritage can be congratulated in being a Centre of Excellence,” he said. “I visited their centre a few years ago—it was full of boxes all over the place in dark rooms. Now I visit and the floor is painted, there are racks with boxes, clear signage; it is bright, cool, clean and orderly. The transformation has been remarkable.
“Thank you to David Jones and the team for prioritising the keeping of our historical records. This will make it easy for researchers to discover more of our history.”
In addition to this achievement, the AHC has recently received a priceless collection of historic and rare Bibles from Europe, some dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. The collection is currently being processed and documented by the team.
Looking ahead, the team is also gearing up for Adventist Heritage Month in October, with an array of exciting events and activities planned to celebrate the Church’s rich history.
