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Della and Christian P. Sorensen.

Photo courtesy of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives.

Sorensen, Christian Peter (1898–1987) and Della Minnie (Jensen) (1892–1985)

By Milton Hook

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Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: February 17, 2026

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Christian and Della Sorensen were prominent Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders for more than two decades in the north-eastern conferences in America, followed by two decades of missionary service in the Far Eastern Division.

Early Years and Education

Soren Sorensen and Kjestine or Christina (Juhl) were Danish immigrants who had settled in Iowa and gained American citizenship. Their only child, Christian Peter, was born in Exira, Iowa, on July 4, 1898.1 He was usually called Chris. He was baptized as a teenager during a campmeeting in Wausau, Wisconsin, June 1912.2

Chris attended Bethel Academy in Arpin, Wisconsin, during 1914 and 1915. He then studied at the Hutchinson Theological Seminary, Hutchinson, Minnesota, an Adventist institution established for those of Scandinavian heritage. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Theology) in the 1922 class.3

When Chris was 16 years old, a Danish young lady, Della Minnie Jensen, had started teaching at the Exira church school, 1914-1916. She was born in Viborg, South Dakota, on August 28, 1892. She had served as a church school teacher at Hutchinson in 1910 and 1911. She also taught church school at Harvey, North Dakota, 1916 and 1917, and served as pianist for evangelistic meetings in Minneapolis. Then she taught church school in Los Angeles before enrolling at the Hutchinson Theological Seminary. There she renewed her acquaintance with Chris. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in the 1923 class. Days later, she and Chris were married in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on June 27, 1923.4

Homeland Service

In 1922, Chris was appointed to the New Jersey Conference and, after his internship, he served as the Missionary Volunteer secretary. Della’s teaching experience was utilized when she accepted the role of Education superintendent for the Conference. In 1926, they transferred to the Potomac Conference and served in similar roles there, Chris as Missionary Volunteer secretary until 1936 and Della as Education superintendent for the same time. For brief periods, the Sabbath School Department was added to their responsibilities. On June 8, 1935, Chris was ordained to the gospel ministry by Oliver O. Montgomery, Charles S. Longacre, and Howard J. Detwiler.5

From 1938 until 1946, Chris served in the Columbia Union Conference as Missionary Volunteer secretary. Della returned to the classroom and taught in the SDA church school at Takoma Park for four years, and then she did clerical work in the office of the Columbia Union Conference.6

Overseas Service

Both Chris and Della had shown they were talented leaders, organized and dedicated to the development of the Adventist Church. In 1946, Chris was appointed to serve as secretary for the Far Eastern Division. He was also appointed to serve as their Young People’s Missionary Volunteer secretary.7 This vast territory included Japan and Korea to the north, and extending to Indonesia and the Philippine Islands to the south. Statistics for 1950 list 768 churches in the Far Eastern Division with a total baptized membership of 45,765.8

The role of secretary was not only desk work. For Chris, this responsibility included visiting all parts of the Division. He is on record itinerating in the Dutch East Indies (now West Irian), the most south-easterly corner of his territory in 1947. There he found the mission cause slowly recovering after World War II. He conducted a number of Pathfinder investitures and joined the search for a suitable site to establish a training school.9 His annual reports spoke of advancements in the education and medical works.10 His report for 1957 showed baptized membership had increased to 90,728.11

In 1958, Chris was elected president of the Far Eastern Division.12 The oversight of the vast territory meant he was constantly on the move, speaking at college graduations, church dedications, and the opening of new medical facilities. For example, he dedicated the Bhuket Mission Hospital in Thailand in 1965.13 Later in the same year, he was the guest speaker at the dedication of the Sandakan SDA Church at Sabah in 1965.14

At the 1965 Biennial Council of the Far Eastern Division, Chris was re-elected as the president. At that time, there were 1,886 churches in his territory and a baptized membership of 175,229.15 After 43 years of service, he believed he should retire. For that reason, a new president was elected 18 months later during the General Conference Session in Detroit during June 1966.16

Final Years

Chris and Della retired to Loma Linda, California.17 Della passed away in 1985.18 Chris passed away two years later, 1987. They rest alongside each other in Montecito Memorial Park at Colton, San Bernadino County, California.19

Sources

“1965 Division Biennial Council.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1966.

“Christian Peter Sorensen.” FamilySearch. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/GMT2-2LB.

“Christian P. Sorensen.” Find A Grave Memorial ID 150685061. Accessed December 2, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150685061/christian-p-sorensen.

“Delia (sic) M. Sorensen.” Find A Grave Memorial ID 150685084. Accessed December 2, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150685084/delia_m-sorensen.

“New President and Spiritual Leader of the Far Eastern Division.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1966.

Peters, Hazel Howard. “Sandakan Church Dedication.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1965.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Sorensen, C. P. “Another Year of Progress.” Far Eastern Division Outlook. February 1954.

Sorensen, C. P. “Itinerating in the Netherlands East Indies.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, September 1947.

Sorensen, Christian Peter. Secretariat Files, RG 21, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD (GCA).

Waddell, Ralph F. “Grand Opening - New Bhuket Mission Hospital.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1965.

Notes

  1. “Christian Peter Sorensen,” FamilySearch, accessed December 3, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/GMT2-2LB.↩

  2. Christian Peter Sorensen Questionnaire Blank, October 8, 1946. Secretariat Files, RG 21, Record 114945, GCA.↩

  3. Ibid.↩

  4. Ibid.↩

  5. Ibid.↩

  6. Ibid.↩

  7. Ibid.↩

  8. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1950), 112.↩

  9. C. P. Sorensen, “Itinerating in the Netherlands East Indies,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, September 1947, 1.↩

  10. C. P. Sorensen, “Another Year of Progress,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, February 1954, 2-3.↩

  11. Chris P. Sorensen, “One Hundred Thousand Members by June, 1958,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1957, 3-4.↩

  12. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1959), 96.↩

  13. Ralph F. Waddell, “Grand Opening - New Bhuket Mission Hospital,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, April 1965, 1-2.↩

  14. Hazel Howard Peters, “Sandakan Church Dedication,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, November 1965, 1.↩

  15. “1965 Division Biennial Council,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, January 1966, 2-4.↩

  16. “New President and Spiritual Leader of the Far Eastern Division,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, July 1966, 1.↩

  17. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1967), 677.↩

  18. “Delia (sic) M. Sorensen,” Find A Grave Memorial ID 150685084, August 13, 2015, accessed December 2, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150685084/delia_m-sorensen.↩

  19. “Christian P. Sorensen,” Find A Grave Memorial ID 150685061, August 13, 2015, accessed December 2, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150685061/christian-p-sorensen.↩

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Hook, Milton. "Sorensen, Christian Peter (1898–1987) and Della Minnie (Jensen) (1892–1985)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. February 17, 2026. Accessed November 09, 2026. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=38NO.

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Hook, Milton. "Sorensen, Christian Peter (1898–1987) and Della Minnie (Jensen) (1892–1985)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. February 17, 2026. Date of access November 09, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=38NO.

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Hook, Milton (2026, February 17). Sorensen, Christian Peter (1898–1987) and Della Minnie (Jensen) (1892–1985). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved November 09, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=38NO.

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