Sharing the Bible - that's what Merritt resident Herman Kneller has done for the past 25 years in Merritt.

That will all come to an end soon as the 85-year-old finishes up his last column, God's Secrets Revealed, featured weekly in the Merritt News. This week's column will be his 100th.

“I'll be by myself but I'll know that I have somebody close by,” says Kneller of living in Seattle with his son, a chemist.

Kneller, who moved to B.C. in 1939, plans to move cross border into his own suite in the same house as his son and daughter-in-law.

“I'm not really looking forward to leaving, but there comes a time when you've got to make decisions.”

While many his age consider moving into senior residences, Kneller is healthy enough to be independent and perhaps part of it is due to his religious beliefs.

Members of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church are believed to be among the healthiest group of people in North America.

Kneller says the dietary requirements in the Church; avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, caffeine, and meat are not strictly forbidden but are about lifestyle change.

It turns out that the average Adventist in California lives four to ten years longer than the average Californian, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

“Jesus spent more time healing people than preaching,” explains Kneller.

The Church even has its own health association – SDADA, the Seventh-day Adventist Dietetic Association.

That's not the only aspect of focus on health in the Church.

Loma Linda University in California, an SDA health sciences institution that integrates health, science, and Christian faith, educates over 4,000 students. Currently, there are 76 big hospitals around the world, built by the SDA church.

Before Kneller packs up and sells his house, he plans to hold a study on prophecy, another focus of the Church.

“Our main deal is asking people to accept Jesus and prepare for his second coming,” says Kneller.

“We are a missionary church.”

The Church carries out extensive outreach through ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, which is currently helping out in Haiti as well as many other countries throughout the world.

Kneller says they are helping build schools and setting up small hospitals.

“If you can help them physically then maybe you can help them spiritually.”

Before Kneller became a pastor he worked in a saw mill and continued in the construction industry.

As it would turn out, Kneller would use his labour skills later, when he moved to Merritt and rebuilt the then condemned church which is now the SDA Church in Merritt on Granite Avenue.

Currently, there are 60 SDA churches in British Columbia.

“I felt God was calling me,” says Kneller of moving from the saw mill to the church to be a pastor.

“As my first appointment as pastor, they (SDA governing body) asked me to go to Smithers.”

Kneller is known for conducting his 45-minute sermons without any written notes to aid him.

Kneller also built the SDA church in Smithers as well as 24 houses.

“Smithers was a nice town,” recalls Kneller.

Kneller says he will stay involved in the Church when he moves to Seattle, which is home to five SDA churches.

“I am a Bible student and what I've had to tell people is what the Bible says.”

So long Herman, you will be missed.