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General Conference updates


1 July 2010

Elections: The updated list of church officers as they are elected at the 2010 General Conference Session

The updated list of church officers as they are elected at the 59th, 2010

World Church Session at Atlanta, US.

 

Seventh-day Adventist Church leadership voted to retain five mid-level officials in their current position as field secretaries at a June 29 business meeting.


Delegates meeting in Atlanta's Georgia Dome for the Adventist World Session also voted to retain eight department directors.


The general field secretaries will continue to be:

Paul S. Brantley, director, Office of Assessment and Program Effectiveness. A former university professor, Brantley has headed the office since 2007.


Gary D. Krause, an Australian, who has held the post since 2004. Krause also serves as the director of the Office of Adventist Mission.

Angel Manuel Rodriguez, who as a field secretary has been director of the Biblical Research Institute since 2002. He previously served in Inter-America.


Charles Sandefur, who has been president of ADRA since 2002 and also is a former union president.

Brad Thorp, who has served as field secretary since 2005. He is director of the Hope Channel, and a former evangelist in Europe, Africa and North America.


The five names, recommended by the Nominating Committee, prompted one complaint at the microphone at the floor of the Georgia Dome. A delegate from Europe expressed disappointment that the candidates, "again," are all men.


In response, committee Chairman Robert Kyte said the body that he heads, which has more than 200 members and meets in private, is attempting to fill positions with women "whenever possible."

Appointments so far...

 

General Conference

President -- Ted N. C. Wilson

Secretary -- G. T. Ng

Treasurer -- Robert E. Lemon


General Vice President -- Delbert W. Baker

General Vice President -- Lowell C. Cooper

General Vice President -- Geoffrey G. Mbwana

General Vice President -- Armando Miranda

General Vice President -- Pardon K. Mwansa

General Vice President -- Michael L. Ryan

General Vice President -- Benjamin D. Schoun

General Vice President -- Ella S. Simmons

General Vice President -- Artur A. Stele



Undersecretary -- Homer W. Trecartin

Associate Secretary -- Rosa T. Banks

Associate Secretary -- Robert S. Folkenberg Jr. (who has since declined the position)

Associate Secretary -- Agustin Galicia

Associate Secretary -- John Thomas

Associate Secretary -- Harald Wollan



Undertreasurer -- Juan R. Prestol

Associate Treasurer -- George O. Egwakhe

Associate Treasurer -- Daisy J. Orion

Associate Treasurer -- Roy E. Ryan

Associate Treasurer -- J. Raymond Wahlen II


General Field Secretary -- Paul S. Brantley

General Field Secretary -- Gary D. Krause

General Field Secretary -- Angel Manuel Rodriguez

General Field Secretary -- Charles Sandefur

General Field Secretary -- Brad Thorp



Divisions

East-Central Africa

President -- Blasious M. Ruguri

Secretary -- Nathaniel M. Walemba

Treasurer -- Jerome Habimana


Euro-Africa

President -- Bruno R. Vertallier

Secretary -- Gabriel E. Maurer

Treasurer -- Norbert Zens


Euro-Asia

President -- Guillermo E. Biaggi

Secretary -- Vladimir A. Krupskyi

Treasurer -- (yet to be filled)


Inter-American

President -- Israel Leito

Secretary -- Elie Henry

Treasurer -- Filiberto M. Verduzco Avila


North American

President -- Daniel R. Jackson

Secretary -- G. Alexander Bryant

Treasurer -- G. Thomas Evans


Northern Asia-Pacific

President -- Jairyong Lee

Secretary -- Akeri Suzuki

Treasurer -- Kenneth W. Osborn


South American

President -- Erton C. Kohler

Secretary -- Magdiel Perez

Treasurer -- Marlon de Souza Lopes


South Pacific

President -- Barry D. Oliver

Secretary -- Lawrence P. Tanabose

Treasurer -- Rodney G. Brady


Southern Africa-Indian Ocean

President -- Paul S. Ratsara

Secretary -- Solomon Maphosa

Treasurer -- Goodwell Nthani


Southern Asia

President -- John Rathinaraj

Secretary -- Gordon E. Christo

Treasurer -- G. S. Robert Clive


Southern Asia-Pacific

President -- Alberto C. Gulfan Jr.

Secretary -- Saw Samuel

Treasurer -- Keith R. Heinrich


Trans-European

President -- Bertil A. Wiklander

Secretary -- Audrey Andersson

Treasurer -- Johann E. Johannsson


West-Central Africa

President -- Gilbert Wari

Secretary -- Onaolapo Ajibade

Treasurer -- Emmanuel S. D. Manu





General Conference Departments

General Conference Departments

 

Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries

Director -- Gary R. Councell

Associate Director -- Mario E. Ceballos

 

Auditing Service

Director -- Paul H. Douglas

Associate Director -- Gary B. Blood

Associate Director -- Christopher S. Garrity

Associate Director -- Daniel E. Herzel

Associate Director -- Mark S. Hyder

Associate Director -- Jeremy T. Smith

Associate Director for North America -- Robyn W. Kajiura

Associate Director for Trans Africa -- Furaha Mpozembizi

Associate Director for Trans America -- Roy Cortez

Associate Director for Trans Asia-Pacific -- Paul J. Edwards

Associate Director for Trans Euro-Asia -- Sandra C. Grice

 

Children's Ministries

Director -- Linda Koh

Associate Director -- Saustin K. Mfune

 

Communication

Director -- Williams Costa Jr.

Associate Director -- Andre Brink

Associate Director -- Garrett Caldwell


Education

Director -- Lisa M. Beardsley

Associate Director -- Hudson E. Kibuuka

Associate Director -- Mike Lekic

Associate Director -- Luis A. Schulz

Associate Director -- John Wesley Taylor, V


Family Ministries

Director -- Willie Oliver

Associate director -- Elaine Oliver


Health Ministries

Director -- Allan R. Handysides

Associate Director -- Fred Hardinge

Associate Director -- Kathleen H. K. Kuntaraf

Associate Director -- Peter N. Landless


Ministerial Association

Secretary -- Jerry Page

Associate Secretary -- Janet Page


Planned Giving and Trust Services

Director -- Thomas A. Kapusta

Associate Director -- Charles B. Simpson

Associate Director -- Wilfredo L. Sumagaysay


Public Affairs & Religious Liberty

Director -- John Graz
Associate
Director -- Barry W. Bussey
Associate
Director -- James D. Standish


Publishing

Director -- Howard F. Faigao

Associate Director -- Wilmar Hirle


Sabbath School and Personal Ministries

Director -- Jonathan Kuntaraf

Associate Director -- Gary B. Swanson


Stewardship

Director -- Erika F. Puni

Associate Director -- Mario Nino


Women's Ministries

Director -- Heather-Dawn Small

Associate Director -- Raquel C. Arrais


Youth

Director -- Gilbert R. Cangy

Associate Director -- Jonatan Tejel

Associate Director -- Paul D. Tompkins

 

General Conference Auditing Service Board

Ailton Dorl

Hyden G. I. Gittens

Elvira Grosu

Svetlana Kara

Jack L. Krogstad

Philip Maitanmi

Phillip Ndlovu

Yungsang Oh

Frensly Panneflek

Lotie Ragas-Blando

John Stanley

Evelyn Will

Vincent Zirimwabagabo



Ex Officio
Lowell C Cooper

Paul H Douglas

Robert E Lemon

G. T. Ng

Ted N. C. Wilson

 

 

26 June 2010

Membership, financial audits key to Adventist Church growth, leaders say

By Elizabeth Lechleitner / ANN

 

Seventh-day Adventist delegates voted to accept quinquennial reports from the world church's Secretariat and Treasury departments today at the denomination's 59th General Conference Session.

The world church family, which now numbers between 25 and 30 million when unbaptized members and children are counted, would have seemed an "impossible dream" to early church founders, said world church Secretary Matthew Bediako during his report this morning.

Since the last Session in 2005, the Adventist Church has grown by more than 5 million members, with daily accessions nearing 3,000, Bediako reported.


In 2006, the church received more than 1 million new members, more than during any other year in church history, he said. Also during the quinquennium, two church regions for the first time each welcomed more than a million new Adventists into their churches.


Membership audits spark new growth

While Bediako urged delegates to praise God for recent membership growth, he also cautioned them not to get too comfortable or relax their efforts to spread the church's message of hope.


"Maybe it's not as good as we sometimes portray," Bediako said, citing the rate at which the Adventist Church is establishing a presence in unentered countries -- just two new countries in the past 20 years.


With 20 countries remaining, "at that rate, it will take 290 more years to enter every country," he said. Many of the as-yet unentered countries lie in a region known as the 10-40 Window, which spans Northern Africa and East Asia, where proselytizing is often illegal.

Growth does not come without "growing pains," Bediako said, transitioning to an overview of recent membership audits. While slack calculations are responsible for some discrepancies, immigration and war also upset membership tallies, leaving records destroyed and people displaced, he said.


Whatever the cause of exaggerated numbers, conducting membership audits is "difficult work," Bediako said, candidly adding, "sometimes it's very embarrassing and discouraging." But, if "prayerfully undertaken," achieving accuracy is rewarding and often leads to ultimate growth, he said. "Seeing the actual number of members in [regions] where audits have been done challenged us as a church and helped us reinforce our energy on reaching the unreached, reclaiming lost members and nurturing and discipling new members."


"Somebody asked me, 'Why are we doing [audits]? I told them, 'Christ counted His sheep almost daily, and when he found one missing, he went out looking for it,'" Bediako said, referring to a New Testament parable.


The Adventist Church now numbers 16.3 million, said Bert Haloviak, director of the world church's Office of Archives and Statistics.

Haloviak is expected to announce his retirement during Session.

Jurien Den Hollander, a delegate from the church's Trans-European region, applauded the number as a "more realistic" picture of the church, but took the audit concept even further, suggesting that the church also collect statistics on active membership.


Tithes and offerings rise despite economy

The importance of accuracy also featured prominently during the afternoon's financial report, delivered by Adventist world church Treasurer Robert E. Lemon.

God's leading, judicious handling of funds by church officials and the "faithfulness" of church members have seen the church through "one of the most tumultuous financial periods" in recent history, Lemon said.


Despite a global economic recession spanning most of the past quinquennium, annual worldwide tithe for the past five years grew more than 40 percent, increasing from US$1.3 billion in 2004 to $1.8 billion in 2009. Similarly, world mission offerings during the period grew almost 32 percent, from $50 million to $64 million per year.


Tithe from regions outside North America outpaced returns from North America for the first time in 2008, echoing recent membership growth in regions such as Africa, where about one-third of Adventists now live.


The past five years also marked a "substantial increase" in mission offerings from regions outside of North America, where offerings have remained "fairly static," Lemon said. While he applauded a recent "major shift" in giving to specific projects, Lemon said such targeted offerings can ultimately strand regions or projects without the necessary resources to sustain outreach after donors turn their attentions to a new project.


Referring to tithe, Lemon urged delegates not to "put restrictions" on God's money. Holding up an original check for $30 million, marked simply "tithe" in the memo section, Lemon reminded delegates of the so-called "extraordinary tithe" returned to the church in 2007 by a family selling its multinational business. More than 85 percent of the extraordinary tithe is currently allocated, Lemon said, much of it to projects in the 10-40 Window.


Lemon assured delegates that while worldwide tithe for 2009 in U.S. dollars technically dropped more than 4 percent from 2008 totals, returns in local currencies actually increased in most regions. Totals dwindled when converted to a strengthening U.S. dollar.

Nearly 40 percent of tithe and offerings in the General Conference's budget are returned in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, making the church particularly susceptible to currency fluctuations, Lemon said.





 

27 June 2010

Temperance still central to church's health message

Arin Gencer

 

Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders and delegates from throughout the world signed a temperance pledge Sunday afternoon during the 59th General Conference Session.

The pledge, presented in an afternoon business meeting at the Georgia Dome, commits the signer to "avoid alcohol and tobacco, as well as other harmful substances and practices."


The small pledge card can fit in people's wallets and purses so that they "can carry [it] around to remind [them]," said Peter Landless, associate director of Health Ministries for the world church.


Landless and James Nix, director of the Ellen G. White Estate, presented the pledge to delegates shortly after U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin made an appearance and emphasized the importance of healthy living.


Nix held up a framed pledge signed by John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who made the Seventh-day Adventist sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, made famous after he took over the institution in 1875. An artifact from the beginning of the church's temperance movement, the paper hangs in Nix's study, he said.


"Ellen White was a very, very vocal advocate for signing the temperance pledge, and we know she signed it herself," said Nix, referring to the Adventist Church's co-founder.


White defined temperance as dispensing "entirely with everything hurtful" and using "judiciously that which is healthful," he added.

The pledge states, "Recognizing the responsibility both to myself and to others, by the grace of God, I pledge to avoid alcohol and tobacco, as well as other harmful substances and practices."


In 2003, then-President Jan Paulsen and other church leaders signed the same pledge at Spring Meeting, one of two annual business sessions the Executive Committee holds each year, to highlight efforts to increase awareness of Adventist principles of healthful living.


The church has continually opposed the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs since its 19th-century beginnings. Abstaining from harmful substances is one of the denomination's fundamental beliefs, which state that "since alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and the irresponsible use of drugs and narcotics are harmful to our bodies, we are to abstain from them."


The belief statement goes on to say "we are to engage in whatever brings our thoughts and bodies into the discipline of Christ, who desires our wholesomeness, joy, and goodness."


As part of this position, the church and its affiliated institutions do not accept donations from the alcohol or tobacco industries. In 1992, church executives at Annual Council called for the revival of temperance principles and once again called for people and church organizations to reject donations and favors from those industries.