Adventist-laymen‘s Services and Industries (ASI) is an organisation comprised of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who are business owners, professionals, or ministry leaders—united in the common mission of sharing Christ in the marketplace.
At its core, ASI believes that each of us is called to ministry—wherever we live, work, or study. Sharing our faith is not confined to the four walls of the church or its official programmes. ASI exists to inspire and equip laypeople to get personally involved in the worldwide proclamation of the Gospel, not waiting for the organised church to prescribe every step, but supporting the church through our own inspired initiatives.
We acknowledge that our time, talents, wealth, and our bodies belong to God, and we are merely stewards of these gifts. With this understanding, we are committed to using our professions to support the spread of the gospel message (Luke 9:1-3, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, page 469).
We pledge to support the diverse outreach programs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which include health, education, missionary work, community ministry, family, and other special projects. ASI has approximately 2,000 members worldwide, comprising of men and women from all walks of life. These members reflect the diversity found within our church.
ASI‘s philosophy is to advocate for a Christ-centred way of life that is expressed through a daily commitment to God. ASI members endeavour to embody God‘s love and share it with the millions of people they encounter in their business or professional engagements each year. ASI‘s motto is: SHARING CHRIST IN THE MARKETPLACE!
The story of ASI begins with two young educators — E.A. Sutherland and Percy Magan — who left their positions at Emmanuel Missionary College to launch a self-supporting training school in the American South. In June 1904, a steamboat expedition led by Ellen White discovered the future site of Madison College near Nashville, Tennessee. Despite rocky land and meagre funds, Sutherland and Magan purchased the property in faith, and in October 1904 Madison College opened its doors to its first eleven students.
Madison pioneered a model that combined education, healthcare, and agriculture into a single self-supporting operation. Graduates fanned out across the South to establish their own outposts — by 1915 there were 39 self-supporting groups across Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. At the heart of Madison were the principles that would come to define ASI: faith, innovation, self-sacrifice, and an empowered laity sharing Christ in everyday life.
In March 1947, representatives from approximately 25 self-supporting institutions met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to formally organise the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Self-Supporting Institutions. Ellen White‘s conviction that “the work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work” became its founding principle. In 1979, the organisation broadened its vision and was renamed Adventist-laymen‘s Services and Industries, with the motto: Sharing Christ in the Marketplace.
ASI UK was formed in Leicester in 1983 as the first overseas ASI chapter. After a period of dormancy, it was officially relaunched on 2 March 2024 at Newbold College with church leaders present for the inauguration. Today, ASI UK continues to network, equip, and empower Adventist lay professionals to share Christ in the marketplace.