The Seventh Day Adventists (S.D.A.) in Samatau have become accustomed to sharing one church building among two branches of the faithful who observe the Sabbath on different days. 

The origins of this arrangement - with one church worshipping on Saturdays and a sister congregation on Sundays - is owed to a quirky interpretation that followed Samoa’s change in position on the international dateline a decade ago.

The leaders of both groups of worshippers told the Samoa Observer the practice began in 2011, when the country moved its time zone forward, skipping Friday 30 December and moving directly into 31 December.

The decision was taken so that Samoa could better align itself with major trading partners Australia and New Zealand.

About two years after Samoa switched time zones, on 17 October 2013, the office of President of the General Conference of the S.D.A. Church issued a statement acknowledging an “unusual ambiguity” in Samoa.

“Today a majority of Seventh Day Adventists Christians in Samoa are meeting on the day now commonly called Sunday in Samoa—which is the same day of the week that their Adventist church family in American Samoa, only 64 kilometres away, worship on and call Saturday,” the statement reads.

“A minority of our community is meeting on the day now commonly called Saturday in Samoa, but is called Friday in American Samoa. Both groups believe they are meeting on the seventh day of the week. The Adventist Church acknowledges the unusual ambiguity that exists in Samoa, and accepts communities meeting on both days for the time being.”

The Sunday congregation is currently in between pastors and expects to welcome their new faifeau (pastor) on the second week of February. 

Pule Filipo Lavea, 67, a village matai, has served as the caretaker of the congregation in the interim.

“The church used to be one but when the government of Samoa changed the time zone there was a split,” said Pule.

“Most members of the church are all from one family...some of the family go to church on Saturday. Some go to church on the seventh day as it was when the congregation first started.”

The separation all owes to a difference in interpretation on which day the Sabbath or the biblical seventh day, actually falls. 

The church building predated the dateline change, Pule said and after it was ushered in, some determined the Sabbath to be on Saturday and others Sunday. 

“We don’t call it Sunday (Aso Sa), we call it the Sabbath Day (Sapati),” Pule said. 

“It’s a sensitive situation because most members are all from one family.”

The Sunday gathering is the S.D.A. Church Samatau, which has its national headquarters, the Samoa and Tokelau Adventist Mission in Lalovaea.

The Saturday congregation, the Ekalesia Tausi Sapati Aso Fitu o le Toe Afio Mai i Samatau, is led by a retired S.D.A. pastor, Reverend Sioeli Puni, 87, and his wife Arasi Puni, 79. 

They served 20 years in California, 15 in Hawai’i, three and a half years in Tuvalu and 12 years in Samoa.

In 2018, the couple retired and moved permanently to Samatau.

“It has been more than 100 years since the S.D.A. church was established in Samatau. There was a time when we all observed the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day,” Retired Rev. Puni said.

“After the dateline was moved, we could not agree that the Sabbath falls on Sunday because we believe Sunday is the first day of the week. It’s because the dateline was moved so we do belong to one church but we could not find agreement on the Sabbath Day.”

He noted that most church members from both congregations come from one family.

“We did all build the church (Falesa) together,” said the retired Reverend.

The decision to allow both congregations to utilise the church on the two different days in observance of the Sabbath was made by the family’s late matai sa’o (paramount chief), Puni Raea, the retired reverend's older brother, he said.

It was a decision made to maintain peace in the family and allow them to worship as they saw fit.

“So we respect each other and the days on which we observe the Sabbath,” retired Rev. Puni said.

 The office of President of the General Conference of the S.D.A. Church said in 2013: 

“Unfortunately, not everyone has been as respectful as they should be of the differences over this question,” a statement read. 

“The South Pacific Division encourages all those involved in the discussion to remember that even the Apostle Paul said that we see spiritual matters through a dark glass or mirror, not a complete picture (1 Corinthians 13:12), and therefore a good spirit of humility is necessary for all followers of Christ."