Morris L. Venden (April 5, 1932 – February 10, 2013) was a prominent

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

preacher, teacher, and author, who was also a member of the ''

Voice of Prophecy The ''Voice of Prophecy'', founded in 1929 by H.M.S. Richards, Sr., is a Seventh-day Adventist religious radio ministry headquartered in Loveland, Colorado. Initially airing in 1929 on a single radio station in Los Angeles the ''Voice of Proph ...

'' team as an associate speaker.

Biography

Venden was born to Melvin Venden and Ivy Ruth Venden. He graduated from

Fresno Adventist Academy Fresno Adventist Academy (FAA) is a K-12 school in Fresno, California owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Established in 1897, FAA is the only Seventh-day Adventist high school in the surrounding area. It is a part of the S ...

in 1949, and received a degree from Pacific Union College, as well as several honorary degrees. He died on February 10, 2013, in College Place, Washington succumbing to FTD (Frontotemporal Dementia), a rare form of dementia. He pastored several large Seventh-day Adventist churches such as the

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Li ...

Church and

Pacific Union College Church The Pacific Union College Church (PUC Church) is the campus church of Pacific Union College in Angwin, Napa Valley, California. It is a part of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. History The congregation first met in 1909 in a former dan ...

on the campus of

Pacific Union College Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private university, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa County, California, Napa County. It is a coeducational r ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Church in

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. Later he pastored the Azure Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church near

Loma Linda Loma Linda (Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 census, up from 23,261 at the 2010 census. The central area of the c ...

, California, from which he retired in August, 1998.Review and Herald Products
Venden then joined the ''

'' team as an associate speaker. As well as appearing on ''Voice of Prophecy'' radio broadcasts, he was also a popular speaker at both national and international Seventh-day Adventist church events. One source described him as a "master" of the art of preaching amongst Seventh-day Adventists. Venden was married to Marilyn, and together they ministered mostly to students and young professionals. Venden was a strong advocate of both justification and sanctification by faith alone. He also was a strong supporter of the Pillars of Seventh-day Adventism including the

investigative judgment The investigative judgment, or pre-Advent Judgment (or, more accurately the pre-Second Advent Judgment), is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that the divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It ...

. He is remembered for his parables and dry humor. As a young minister he was deeply influenced by H. M. S. Richards, Sr., the founder of the ''

'' radio program.

Publications

Venden wrote for a Seventh-day Adventist church membership audience and published more than 30 books. Many discuss theological issues and their application in a person's life. These books were not peer-reviewed and were published by non-academic, Seventh-day Adventist church publishing houses.''Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists'' by

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, p349 * 1978, ''Salvation By Faith & Your Will''. Southern Publishing. * 1979, ''From Exodus To Advent''. Southern Publishing. * 1980, ''Faith that works'', (Daily Devotional), Review and Herald * 1982, ''Good News and Bad News about the Judgment'',

Pacific Press The Pacific Press Publishing Association, or Pacific Press for short, is one of two major Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. It was founded in 1874 by James White in Oakland, California, and is now located in Nampa, Id ...

. * 1982, ''How to Make Christianity Real'' * 1982, ''The Pillars'', Pacific Press * 1982, ''The Return of Elijah'', Pacific Press * 1983, ''Obedience of Faith'', Review and Herald. * 1983, ''To Know God: A 5-Day Plan''. Review and Herald. * 1984, ''Common Ground'', Review and Herald. * 1984, ''Uncommon Ground'', Review and Herald. * 1984, ''Higher Ground'', Review and Herald. * 1984, ''What Jesus Said About ....'', Pacific Press * 1986, ''How Jesus Treated People'', Pacific Press. * 1986, ''Parables of the Kingdom'', Pacific Press * 1986, ''Your Friend, the Holy Spirit'', Pacific Press * 1987, ''How to Know God's Will in Your Life''. Pacific Press. * 1987, ''95 Theses on Righteousness by Faith''. Pacific Press. * 1988, ''Here I Come, Ready Or Not''. Pacific Press. * 1991, ''Hard to Be Lost'', Pacific Press * 1992, ''Love God and Do as You Please''. Pacific Press. * 1993, ''God Says, But I Think''. Pacific Press. * 1994, ''Modern Parables''. Pacific Press. * 1995, ''The Last Trolley Out''. Pacific Press. * 1996, ''Never Without an Intercessor'', Pacific Press, Update of ''Good News and Bad News about the Judgment'' * 1996, ''It's Who You Know''. Pacific Press. * 1999, ''Faith That Works''. Review and Herald. * 2005, ''Why Didn't They Tell Me?: Sharing Jesus Isn't Something We Do, It's Who We Are''. Pacific Press. * ''More About Jesus Seminar, vol. 1., vol. 2., and vol. 3., DVD with his son Lee Venden.

References

*See also Martin Weber. ''Who's Got the Truth: Making Sense out of Five Different Adventist Gospels''. Columbia, Maryland: Calvary Connections, 1994. Venden is one of the five thinkers evaluated in the book. {{DEFAULTSORT:Venden, Morris L. Pacific Union College alumni American Seventh-day Adventists Seventh-day Adventist administrators Seventh-day Adventist theologians Seventh-day Adventist religious workers American Seventh-day Adventist ministers History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 2013 deaths 1932 births People from Loma Linda, California