Enrich your life and ministry through this enlightening and deeply spiritual experience. Adventist history will come alive and you will become more firmly rooted in your Adventist faith.
Learn MoreJuly 20-27, 2025
The MDiv and MA(R) student tour fee is $549. Tuition covers all costs for Seminary PhD students, however there is a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold a seat. There are 2 Reduced Spouse Fee seats available at $949 as well. Once those have been filled, the Full Cost Spouse fee is $1,949. Spouses must submit a separate application and paperwork. Community member fee is $1,949
CHIS 504 Adventist History and Life and Writings of Ellen G. White (3 credit hours)
CHIS 570 History of the SDA Church (1.5 credit hours)
CHIS 571 The Life and Writings of Ellen G. White (1.5 credit hours)
Students must consult their academic advisor before registering for either or both of the above two classes.
GSEM 674 Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (3 credit hours)
GSEM 678 Church History Study Tour (2 or 3 credit hours)
CHIS 685 Studies in Church History (2 or 3 credit hours)
CHIS 574 History of SDA Development (2 credit hours, for MAYYAM students only)
CHIS 885 Topics in Adventist Studies (3 credit hours, for PhD/ThD students only)
Students will participate in the pre-tour meeting and eight-day study tour. Also required: keep a reflective journal, complete the take-home examination by the date listed in class syllabus, and read the required textbooks for the class.
There is planned lecture time on the bus, mostly at the beginning and end of the tour. There may be some flexibility on the suggested times for lectures as listed in your itinerary. You are welcome to take pictures, use a video camera, or make audio recordings during the tour, but cell phone, electronics and earbud/earphone use should be limited to breaks and non-lecture times.
Meeting the tour late or leaving early from the tour is not permitted since lectures are planned on the bus during the drive to Rochester, NY and on the trip back to Andrews University. All days must be attended in order to have full participation according to the Andrews University Class Absences policy (see Andrews University Bulletin).
To reserve a seat on the bus++, submit via email full payment (or half of spouse fees), a completed tour application, and all necessary paperwork (see below) to the Center for Adventist Research (CAR). MDiv and MA(R) students must pay the tour fee ($549). PhD students must pay a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold a seat. Each student is responsible for class registration. The fee may be refunded through April 14, 2025, but will be non-refundable after that date unless there is an approved standby student. No tour fees will be accepted after April 14, 2025, unless seats remain available. The tour is strictly limited to 48 participants by order of application. Students must also be financially cleared through the Office of Student Financial Services for the semester in which they are taking the tour class.
Anyone who wishes to have a deep spiritual experience and who is serious about the study of Adventist History. Because of the nature of this tour, children are not allowed as participants on this tour.
This packet includes the tour brochure, a fillable PDF application form, the Hold Harmless form and Medical Information form. Everything must be submitted electronically via email. No paper copies will be accepted. Please also include an electronic copy of BOTH SIDES of your current proof of medical insurance card (or letter) with the application paperwork. Simply registering for an Adventist History Tour class (see list a top of page) does not reserve a seat on the bus. Fully completed paperwork, proof of current medical insurance, and proof of full payment of all tour fees must be submitted by email to the Center for Adventist research in order to reserve a seat. Seats are limited, so apply today!
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Early morning departure. Travel east to Rochester, NY all day. Presentations and discussions en route.
Visit Mount Hope Cemetery where the family of J. N. Andrews is buried, as well as other notables. Drive through Rochester, looking at Adventist historical sites. Visit the Gerrit Smith Estate en route to Massachusetts. Lectures on the bus.
Drive north into Maine and see childhood and early adult sites associated with Ellen White in Gorham and Portland. Lunch at the historic Portland Head Lighthouse. Then, visit the Stockbridge and Louisa Howland home in Topsham.
Visit the Museum of African American History in Boston. Visit the Old State House and have lunch at historic Quincy Market in Boston. Then, visit Fairhaven, MA, where Joseph Bates lived. Sites include the bridge where he first shared the Sabbath message, the school he attended, the Christian Church he helped build, and his boyhood home.
Visit Old Sturbridge Village, a recreated 1830s rural New England town. Spending a significant part of the day at the chapel and home of William Miller in Low Hampton, NY. Ascension Rock, worship in the chapel, and the graveyard where Miller is buried are also on the schedule.
Sabbath worship will be at the Roosevelt, NY Adventist Church, where Ellen White had her second Civil War vision. In the afternoon, the tour will visit Hiram Edson’s grave in the Roosevelt Cemetery. Then the tour will continue to Hiram Edson’s barn and cornfield, where he prayed after the 1844 disappointment, and where the early sanctuary message was developed. The tour will then stay in Amherst, NY for the night.
Visit Niagara Falls. Travel to Berrien Springs, MI all day. Presentations and discussions en route.
Students at Hiram Edson's barn.
The group listens to stories of William Miller in the William Miller Chapel, as told by Dr. Kevin Burton.
Dr. Kevin Burton tells stories about the family of J. N. Andrews by their graves in the Mount Hope Cemetery.