General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists: Difference between revisions

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Formation	1863
Type	Religious/Non-Profit
Location	12501 Old Columbia Pike,; Silver Spring, Maryland, USA;
Region served	Worldwide
President	Ted N.C. Wilson
Staff	400
Website	www.adventist.org

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 10:14, 29 May 2013

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists^[1] is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989. The church headquarters building, commonly known as the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, houses and supports the administration of the church.

The General Conference is overseen by an executive committee, headed by a President. The General Conference Session is a meeting held every five years, during which the executive committee and officers are elected.^[2] In 2010 the General Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

The General Conference is at the administrative head of the church, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church is organized with a representative form of church government. This means authority in the Church comes from the membership of local churches, who send representatives to vote on matters at the next level up. Each level sends representatives to the next level. At the top, the General Conference elects the executive committee and officers to govern the Church until the next General Conference session. Four levels of Church structure lead from the individual believer to the worldwide Church organization:

The levels are:

The local church with its members
The local conference made up of a number of local churches in area.
The union conference, made up of local conferences of an area.
The division, consisting of several conferences and missions within a world geographical area.
The General Conference administers the worldwide direction of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

To direct its worldwide activity, the General Conference has established regional offices, known as divisions of the General Conference which have general administrative oversight for designated groups of unions in major areas. It is divided into 13 divisions, which are then subdivided into unions, conferences, and missions.

Major entities

Divisions and Attached Unions/Fields

East-Central Africa [1] – Nairobi, Kenya
Inter-European [2] – Berne, Switzerland (formerly Euro-Africa, change made December 2012)
Euro-Asia [3] – Moscow, Russia
Inter-American [4] – Miami, Florida, United States (IAD)
North American [5] – Silver Spring, Maryland, United States (NAD)
Northern Asia-Pacific [6] – Goyang, South Korea (NSD)
Southern Africa-Indian Ocean [7] – Pretoria, South Africa
South American [8] – Brasilia, Brazil
South Pacific [9] – Wahroonga, Australia (SPD)
Southern Asia – Tamil Nadu, India
Southern Asia-Pacific [10] – Cavite, Philippines (SSD)
Trans-European [11] – St. Albans, United Kingdom (TED)
West-Central Africa [12] – Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Middle East North Africa Union (attached region, not a Division)
Israel Field (attached region, not a Division)

Educational institutions

The Seventh-day Adventist educational system is extensive worldwide, however only a few institutions are structured directly under General Conference oversight^[3]

Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies
Adventist University of Africa
Adventist University of Health Sciences
Andrews University
Griggs International Academy – k-12 distance education
Griggs University
La Sierra University
Loma Linda University
Oakwood University

Outreach

General Conference Session

The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the church, and is now held quinquennially (every five years). The first session was held on May 20, 1863, with 20 delegates in attendance.

External links

Adventist Yearbook The official organizational directory
World Divisions map and links
General Conference Committee Minutes from Adventist Archives

References

39°3′40″N 76°57′58″W / 39.06111°N 76.96611°W / 39.06111; -76.96611

[1] ttp://www.adventist.org/world_headquarters/index.html.en

[2] ttp://www.gcsession.org/

[3] ttp://www.adventistyearbook.org/default.aspx?page=ViewAdmFieldSubEntities&AdmFieldID=GC&EntityType=E&ShowContained=-1&OffSrc=1

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 The General Conference is overseen by an executive committee, headed by a [[President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists|President]]. The [[General Conference Session]] is a meeting held every five years, during which the executive committee and officers are elected.<ref>http://www.gcsession.org/</ref> In 2010 the General Conference was held in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], United States.
-The General Conference is at the administrative head of the church, with multiple levels of organization beneath it. Each level is organized with a representative form of government constituted by the level beneath it, with the individual members of the Church forming the base level. Each level is not, however, representative of any level other than the one immediately beneath it. For example, individual members form a local church and elect most of its leaders, but they are not individually represented when it comes to local conference management.
+The General Conference is at the administrative head of the church, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church is organized with a representative form of church government. This means authority in the Church comes from the membership of local churches, who send representatives to vote on matters at the next level up.  Each level sends representatives to the next level.  At the top, the General Conference elects the executive committee and officers to govern the Church until the next General Conference session. Four levels of Church structure lead from the individual believer to the worldwide Church organization:
-At the top, the General Conference elects the executive committee and officers to govern the Church until the next General Conference session. Six levels of Church structure lead from the individual believer to the worldwide Church organization:
 The levels are:
-#The individual members.
+#The local church with its members
-#The local church with its members.
 #The local conference made up of a number of local churches in area.
 #The union conference, made up of local conferences of an area.