Homosexuals do not join conservative churches in the same numbers that they grow up in them. Non-Adventists don t have to join the Adventist church if they have unanswered questions. At first you might seek out a convinced, articulate conservative in a bid to revive your former certainties. But when you no longer find conventional answers persuasive, and you don t want to move out, then you ll thank God for the ministry of liberals. And if it s your child who finds a home in the church through conversations with a liberal, then you ll give abundant thanks for the decorators.
Liberals are the adults in the church whom the children of conservatives can talk to.
It also happens that liberals children read Ellen White in high school or college and become radical Adventists. These children want a religion that s sturdy and vigorous, aggressively evangelistic, impatient with human frailty and bold in its obedience. They find liberalism boring and tasteless. Conservatives are the adults in the church whom children of liberals can admire and conspire with. Conservatives don t appreciate people who don t fit the system.