Marical Serna: Diversifying the Seventh-Day Adventist Historical Record
Savonna Greer
FITLS-SGP 2022-2023
April 2023
The Seventh-Day Adventist church has been named one of the most diverse Christian
denominations in the world.
1
Although, the first two official Seventh-day Adventist
Encyclopedias published did not fully represent this diversity. The new Encyclopedia of
Seventh-day Adventists (ESDA) is on a mission to amend the discrepancy, featuring more
pioneers, leaders, ministers, and workers of various races and ethnicities.
2
One such leader was
Marcial Serna. This study argues that the history of Serna’s ministry is important to diversifying
the Seventh-Day Adventist historical record and informing future ministry in the Seventh-Day
Adventist church.
This research is part of the larger ESDA project, which is directed by the General
Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR), in Silver Spring, Maryland. It
is “a new reference work: one that embodies the diverse Adventist Church of the twenty-first
century, reflects the tremendous growth in the church in the last fifty years, the shifts in global
membership, and the development of Adventist historical scholarship in the last quarter
century.”
3
A key phrase in this string of objectives is “embodies the diverse Adventist Church.”
The ESDA has six official goals, which are to: Supply reliable and authoritative information on
Adventist history, crucial events and themes, organizations, entities, institutions, and people;
Strengthen Adventist identity in a fast-growing worldwide movement, heightening awareness of
distinctive doctrinal and prophetic beliefs; Provide a reference work for those new to the
Adventist faith and not of the Adventist faith, to learn about all aspects of Adventism; Bring out
1
“A closer look at Seventh-day Adventists in America,” Pew Research Center, accessed March 15, 2023,
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/11/03/a-closer-look-at-seventh-day-adventists-in-
america/#:~:text=Seventh%2Dday%20Adventists%20are%20among,another%20race%20or%20mixed%20race.
2
“About ESDA,” Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists, Accessed January 4, 2023,
https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/about-esda.
3
“About ESDA,” Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists, Accessed January 4, 2023,
https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/about-esda.
the role of denominational organization in fulfilling the church’s mission; Highlight the
missional challenges still remaining in order to “reach the world”; and Reflect the nature of the
world church today, both in subject matter and in those who write and edit the encyclopedia.
Serna was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1860, a year before the start of the Civil War.
4
He
was a mestizo man (Spanish and Indian mix), who spoke both English and Spanish.
5
In 1881,
Serna began working as a pastor for the Methodist Episcopel Church.
6
He was active, serving the
Spanish-speaking communities in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, and
Sonora, Mexico.
7
On April 23, 1881 Serna married Victoriana Granado of New Mexico.
8
Over
the next fifteen years, the couple had three children: Marcial Jr. (born 1882), Rosa Clara (born
1884), and Ernesto (born 1889).
9
Several years after Ernesto’s birth Serna’s first marriage ended,
but he continued working as a minister. On March 5, 1898, Serna married Mariana Burrola, in
Tucson, Arizona.
10
In the Summer of 1898, Serna was living in Tucson and pastoring the Spanish Methodist
Episcopel church there.
11
One day, two Anglo Seventh-day Adventist men, Walter Lawrence
4
"Arizona U.S. Death Records" s.v. "Marcial Serna" (1887-1968), Ancestry.com; 1910 United States Census, Graham
County, Arizona, digital image s.v. "Marcial Serna," Ancestry.com.
5
1930 United States Census, El Paso, Texas, digital image s.v. "Marcial Serna," Ancestry.com.; Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez
Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press,
2000), 32.
6
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2; Sustentation Fund Application, November 17, 1922, Page
5.
7
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2; Sustentation Fund Application, November
17, 1922, Page 4; Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold
Story: 100 Years of Hispanic Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 27.
8
Chihuahua, Mexico, Civil Registration of Marriages 1861-1967, 22.
9
1885 U.S., Territorial Census, New Mexico, digital image s.v. "Marcial Serna," Ancestry.com.; " Texas, U.S., Death
Certificates, 1903-1982," s.v. " Ernesto Serna" (1889-1949), Ancestry.com.
10
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21 (No year), page 6; " The Arizona U.S County Marriage Records 1865-1972,"
s.v. "Marcial Serna," Ancestry.com.
11
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2; Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Pages 6-8;
Eighty-ninth Meeting of the General Conference Committee Minutes, South Lancaster, Mass., Feb. 7, 1899, page 66.
Black and Charles D. M. Williams, visited Serna’s house.
12
Black had been selling Christian
literature by Ellen G. White and Williams was doing Bible studies with those interested. Black
introduced himself to Serna and was pleasantly surprised that he spoke English. Black then made
his book pitch, but Serna graciously declined, noting that he already had a sufficient number of
Christian books.
Black and Williams enjoyed their conversation with Serna and desired to reconnect. They
deliberated and decided to ask Serna for Spanish lessons, which would help them both better
engage with the community and build a friendship with the Methodist pastor. Serna happily
accepted the request, and Spanish lessons began the following morning. Williams suggested they
use the Bible as their textbook. Starting in Genesis, the men used both Spanish and English
Bibles to compare words and strengthen their vocabulary. Eventually, they reached Genesis
chapter two.
The chapter starts off saying “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the
host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on
the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it
holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
13
In the course of
reading and translating this section, the topic of the Sabbath arose. Black and Williams believed
that Saturday was the Sabbath, while Serna kept Sunday as the Sabbath. As the men went back
12
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 15.
13
Genesis 2: 1-3 ESV
and forth, each committed to their perspective, Serna challenged the men to a public debate on
the topic.
14
The designated debate day arrived. Black began the debate with an argument founded on
twelve Bible verses. Serna listened closely, to prepare for his counterargument. But part way
through Black’s speech, Serna was convinced by his opponent's argument. As Black finished,
Serna rose to speak.
Rather than voicing a scathing rebuttal, Serna said, “I now see that my supposed
opponents have brought out the truth from God's book. I was to show them where they were
wrong, but I see the truth of the Bible. It is clear from God's word that the seventh day is the
Sabbath, and I promise you and God that next Saturday I will rest on that day. With God's help, I
will keep His Sabbath.”
15
On December 9, 1898, Serna was baptized in the Gila River by Elder R. M. Kilgore.
16
Several months later, in the year 1899, the General Conference issued him a ministerial license.
17
Thus, Marcial Serna became the first Hispanic Seventh-day Adventist pastor in the North
American Division. The following year his wife Mariana was given a missionary credential,
which surely aided the work.
18
At this time, Serna was also placed on the Arizona Mission
14
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 32.
15
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 33.
16
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2; Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Pages 6-8;
Eighty-ninth Meeting of the General Conference Committee Minutes, South Lancaster, Mass., Feb. 7, 1899, page 66;
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic Adventism
(Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 35.
17
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2.
18
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Pages 7.
Executive Committee, bringing a Hispanic voice into the mission’s leadership.
19
Serna‘s
linguistic skills, quick entry into licensed Adventist ministry, and multi-cultural competency
made a unique impact.
Serna’s ministry for the Adventist church began several months prior to his baptism and
ordination as a Seventh-day Adventist minister. Around the same time period when Serna met
Black and Williams, he received a letter from two of his parishioners, Adiel and Abel Sanchez.
20
The brothers wrote to Serna about having recently read Exodus 20:8-11 during their Bible study
time. They were shocked to read that the Bible prescribed Saturday, the seventh day of the week,
as the Lord’s day of rest. They asked Serna, "Why do we keep Sunday," if "the Bible tells us to
keep the seventh-day Sabbath?."
21
Serna responded to their letter assuring the brothers that
Sunday was the correct day of worship, because it was changed in the New Testament. He also
mentioned his upcoming debate with Black and Williams.
After the debate and Serna’s change of opinion on the Sabbath, he wrote a letter to the
Sanchez brothers letting them know he would visit them later that week and bring the two men
he had debated. Upon his arrival, Serna called a meeting in the local Methodist church he had
been serving. There he asked the Adventist men to present on the seventh-day Sabbath, as he and
Adiel translated. Subsequently, a number of the locals were convinced of the seventh-day
Sabbath.
22
19
“Mission Fields.” Pacific Union Recorder. August 15, 1901, 15; Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic
Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 33.
20
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 27.
21
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 28.
22
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 34.
After further study, fifteen people, including Serna and the Sanchez brothers chose to be
baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist church. On December 9, 1898, Elder R. M. Kilgore
arrived to officiate the baptisms. Several weeks later, on December 23, this group organized the
Sanchez Seventh-day Adventist Church, the first Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in
North America.
23
As an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, Serna did not abandon his former
Methodist-Episcopal members in Tucson. After the debate and further study with Serna, many of
them decided to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church. With 23 members, Serna developed the
second Spanish Adventist church in North America in Tucson, Arizona. On December 31,1898,
the church was made official by Elder R. M. Kilgore. By the year 1900, there were 111 members
in the Arizona Mission Field, and 41 of them were Hispanic.
24
In 1903 the Texico Conference sent Pastor Serna and Elder J. A. Leland to lead an
evangelistic meeting in Martínez Town, New Mexico, just outside of Albuquerque. This effort
led 20 people to choose baptism into the Seventh-day Adventist church. And this group then
chartered the first Spanish-speaking Adventist church in New Mexico.
25
In 1904, Serna reached out to another of his former Methodist members in San Marcial,
New Mexico. Serna was then invited to teach his former congregation about the Sabbath truth.
23
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 35. Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2;
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Pages 6-8; Eighty-ninth Meeting of the General Conference
Committee Minutes, South Lancaster, Mass., Feb. 7, 1899, page 66.
24
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 37.
25
Marcial Serna and H.L. Hoover, “Albuquerque, N.M,” Echoes from the Field, June 10, 1903, 2-3; Manual Vasquez,
“Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic Adventism (Nampa,
ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 42, 44.
This effort led to the organization of the second Spanish Adventist Church in New Mexico,
which had 28 charter members.
26
In addition to church planting and evangelistic meetings, Serna also pastored,
colporteured, gave Bible studies, and visited with community members. His work made visible
impacts and consistently led to baptisms.
27
This hands-on approach led Serna to bring people
into the church who themselves made important impacts. Such was the case with Anastacio
Salazar and his wife.
28
In 1910, Serna sold the book El Conflicto de Los Siglos (The Great
Controversy) to Anastacio’s father, which led the entire family to choose baptism into the
Seventh-day Adventist church four years later. After baptism, Anastacio became a colporteur and
later an active pastor in Texas and Mexico.
In 1902, while in Solomonville, Arizona, Serna encountered an Ellen G. White quote in a
newspaper clipping used to package his recent purchase. Serna was surprised by his finding and
contacted the author, Candelario Castillo, a Baptist minister and editor of the Spanish newspaper
in El Paso, Texas. The men corresponded for a short time before losing contact.
29
But In 1910,
Castillo was pastoring in Southern California and had a second encounter with Adventists. This
encounter led to Bible studies, baptism, and a change in career from being a Baptist minister to a
Seventh-day Adventist minister. The following year, Castillo and Serna met for the first time and
planned a joint evangelistic series at the first Spanish church in Los Angeles.
30
26
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 45.
27
“Field Notes,” The Review and Herald, February 1, 1906.
28
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 54.
29
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 46.
30
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 50.
Serna also reached out to his former Methodist minister colleagues. As a result, Rafael
Acosta and two other ministers joined the Seventh-day Adventist church as ministers.
31
By 1916, Serna’s wife had fallen ill, and he became her caretaker.
32
He continued to
serve, albeit in a more limited capacity. The couple lived in Southern California at the time, and
records show Serna made himself available to give Bible studies and do visitations. By 1923,
they moved to Safford, Arizona, where they attended the Los Pasos and Sánchez Spanish
churches.
33
Despite poor health, Serna continued to give Bible studies.
34
Later that year, Serna
was asked to spend time in El Paso, Texas to advance the Spanish work there.
35
In El Paso, Serna continued to do visitations, preach, and give Bible studies.
36
He only
intended to stay for a few months but remained there until 1930.
37
At this time, E. Wilson,
President of the Texico Conference, wrote that Serna was “a loyal faithful man, never taking part
in controversies, and liberal in his gifts...his work has been fruitful from the standpoint of souls
won to the truth.”
38
Serna himself wrote, “I never ceased to work to preach the gospel among
[my] people... all the time in any time.”
39
A year or so later, Serna returned to Arizona. But even
in 1935, at the age of 75, Serna was not done serving.
40
True to his word, Serna accepted a call to
31
Manual Vasquez, “Sanchez Arizona: Cradle of Hispanic Adventism,” in The Untold Story: 100 Years of Hispanic
Adventism (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2000), 42.
32
Sustentation Fund Application, February 15, 1916, Page 2.
33
Sustentation Fund Application, November 17, 1922, Page 4.
34
Sustentation Fund Application, November 17, 1922, Page 4.
35
Sustentation Fund Application, November 20, 1923, Page 22.
36
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Page 7.
37
Sustentation Fund Application, April 8, 1924, Page 27; Sustentation Fund Application, June 2, 1924, Page 30;
Sustentation Fund Application, January 1, 1929, Page 35. Sustentation Fund Application, February 11, 1929, Page
44.
38
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Page 8.
39
Sustentation Fund Application, August 21, 1930, Page 6.
40
Sustentation Fund Application, April 4, 1935, Page 57.
return to the work in El Paso, Texas. This work was only cut short by his wife’s death in June,
and his own death on August 7, 1935, in Sanchez Arizona.
41
Before Serna became a Seventh-day Adventist, a handful of Spanish-speaking Adventists
were scattered and isolated throughout the Southwest. After his baptism and ordination as an
Adventist pastor, Serna led intentional efforts to connect Hispanics of the Southwest with Christ
and the Adventist message. This led to the organization of the first four Spanish-speaking
Seventh-day Adventist churches in North America, and much more.
This study argues that the history of Serna’s ministry is important to diversifying the
Seventh-Day Adventist historical record and informing future ministry in the Seventh-Day
Adventist church. Serna’s experience as a pastor, bilingual skills, cultural alignment, dedication
to God’s word, and connection to the Holy Spirit inspired monumental growth in the Adventist
work with Hispanics in North America.
41
Hackman E.F. to Cobban H.H, March 24, 1936, Collection of Southeastern California Conference of Seventh Day
Adventist (64); Sustentation Fund Application, March 24, 1936, page 64.
Bibliography
Primary Source Databases
1885 U.S., Territorial Census, New Mexico
1910 United States Census
Arizona U.S. Death Records 1887-1968
Chihuahua, Mexico, Civil Registration of Marriages 1861-1967
Collection of Southeastern California Conference of Seventh Day Adventist
Echoes from the Field
Marcial Serna Sustention File
Pacific Union Recorder
The Review and Herald
Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982
Secondary Sources
Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists. “About ESDA.” Accessed January 4, 2023.
https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/about-esda.
Pew Research Center. “A closer look at Seventh-day Adventists in America.” accessed March
15, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/11/03/a-closer-look-at-seventh-
day-adventists-in
