The Trans-European Division (TED) is celebrating 96 years of dedicated mission work across one of the world’s most secular regions. TED spans 22 countries in Europe, with a combined population of approximately 208 million people. Of these, 136 million identify as non-religious or secular.

Later this year, Newbold College of Higher Education will host the TED “Mission 150” Conference, which will explore how TED members can expand their mission to a largely indifferent or secular audience.

Mission 150 commemorates 150 years of global Adventist mission. In anticipation of this event, tedNEWS is sharing excerpts from the first chapter of A Passion for Mission, a book by David Trim, Director of the Adventist Archives, which chronicles the history of TED’s mission work.

History of the Trans-European Division

On January 1, 1929 four new divisions were established within Europe: the Soviet Russian, Central European, Southern European, and Northern European Divisions. Of these divisions only the Northern European Division (NED) survived and now operates under the name of the TED. 

The TED remains a cornerstone of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with its influence extending far beyond Europe. In 1909, the General Conference, which oversees the global Adventist Church, created three divisions. The European Division was one of these, representing 32% of global membership at the time.

The European Division existed for nearly twenty years before the creation of the NED — now known today as the TED.  

The NED came into existence as Communism and Facism challenged traditional Christianity for ideological dominance in Europe. Today this is marked through the prominence of individualism, materialism and postmodernism within European society. 

Consequently, even though the TED has grown in absolute terms since its establishment, its relative position in the denomination worldwide has diminished.

The numbers indicate that the TED has increased by 260 per cent. However, members of the TED represent less than 0.5 per cent of world church’s reported membership. 

The Age of Imperialism

In the early 20th century, European empires held dominion over much of Africa and Asia, and the division of mission fields reflected the imperial structure of the time. The NED included Britain and its African colonies, with missionary work extending into these regions. 

The attachment of mission fields, especially in Africa, to European divisions continued well into the 21st. Meanwhile, the passing decades brought independence to what had once been colonies — and recurrent surges of emigration from them into the countries to whose empires they had once belonged. 

One of the most transformative events in European history was World War II, which brought unprecedented destruction, followed by the Cold War that deepened divisions and shaped the continent’s ideological future.

Territory and Names Changes

The landscape of Seventh-day Adventist divisions in Europe continued to shift. In 1971, two divisions merged, and the Soviet-Russian Division ceased to exist in the early 1930s. After the dissolution of the USSR in 1990, the Euro-Asia Division was created to cover the former Soviet territory. Despite these changes, the European Division, and later the TED, has continued to play a vital role in the mission of the global church.

As of 2025, the TED headquarters located in England provides leadership, strategic direction, and resources to approximately 92,000 Seventh-day Adventists, who worship in 1,400 congregations and are organized into 11 unions. 

A Passion for Mission 

Despite an extraordinary degree of diversity, church members in the TED have much in common. They are bound together by their shared devotion to distinctive Adventist doctrines, in the face of indifference, apathy, antagonism, or outright hostility; and European Adventists share, too, a passion for proclaiming the ‘everlasting gospel’ to those who have not heard it (Rev. 14:6). 

Their passion for mission — their fervent desire to share Adventism’s distinctive, prophetic message of wholeness and hope, both in Europe and beyond — has profoundly shaped the division and Adventists living in it, from church leaders to church members, throughout the last ninety-six years. The history of the TED is a history of passion for mission.

The original article was published on the Trans-European Division website.