On October 22, Seventh-day Adventists commemorated the inauguration of the first chapel in Tramelan/Jura 130 years ago, including the pioneers and the origin of their church in Switzerland. The event took place in the local Mennonite Church, and because of lack of space, translation into German was carried out in the former Adventist chapel. About 200 people took part from the French and German-speaking Switzerland.
In the morning, René Frauchiger gave a historical overview of the Seventh-Day Adventist pioneer movement in Switzerland. Michael Belina Czechowski, a former Polish priest, came into contact with Seventh-day Adventists in the US and in 1865 in various cities, he proclaimed the second coming and the Sabbath (Saturday) as a biblical day of rest. This was the reason why his movement ("European Evangelical Mission of the Second Coming of Jesus”) and their members were soon called "Sabbatarier".
One night in February, 1886, he baptized two people in Lake 'Neuenburgersee', others followed in the next months. In 1867 Tramelan founded the first congregation, and Albert Vuilleumier was ordained to be their church elder. In December 1883 it became an official Seventh-day Adventist congregation. On December 25, 1886 the inauguration of the first Adventist chapel in Switzerland and Europe took place in Tramelan, also in the presence of Ellen G. White, one of the American church founders. The building, however, was not owned by Adventists but belonged to the Roth family.
Jim Nix, head of the White Estate and estate administration of church founder Ellen G. White, subsequently gave an overview of the activities in Tramelan, where she among others in 1886, gave lectures in the Baptist church.
Ademar Vuilleumier, a Swiss student always searching for knowledge, studied at the Adventist Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA, with no grasp of the English language. His knowledge had a decisive effect on the formation of the worldwide Adventist education system, according to Jim Nix. Therefore the pioneers learned from the example of Ademar Vuilleumier and it became clear to them that they had to promote education so that young people could spread the gospel around the world.
In the afternoon, Pastor John Graz, former head of the Department for Public Affairs and Religious Freedom of the Adventist World Church, gave an insight into the development of the protestant church. From small beginnings, this world church became a 19.5 million-member church, active in over 205 countries and territories in the world.
According to Graz, the use of human rights for religious freedom is central to Adventist beliefs. To round off the event there was hot air ballooning and finally a beautiful classical concert.
