Dr. Ted Wilson and Dr. G. Alexander Bryant Re-Elected as General Conference President and North American Division President, Respectively. Elder Maurice Valentine Elected As a General Conference Vice President
As the 61st session of the General Conference wound down in St. Louis, Missouri, there were some things that changed and some things that remained the same.
General Conference President Dr. Ted N.C. Wilson was elected to a third term. Dr. G. Alexander Bryant was re-elected President of the North American Division. Dr. Bryant is the second African American to be elected as President of the North American Division.
Elder Paul Douglas was re-elected as General Conference Treasurer. Elder Douglas is the first black person to become Treasurer of the General Conference. He was previously elected by the General Conference Executive Committee when former Treasurer, Elder Juan Prestol, retired.
Elder Maurice Valentine was elected as a General Conference Vice President. He has a Regional Conference background, having served as the President of Central States Conference before moving on to the Lake Union and the North American Division.
The 61st General Conference session concluded the historic and stellar service of General Conference Vice President Dr. Ella Simmons-the first black female (and the first female of any ethnicity) to serve as a General Conference Vice President. Dr. Simmons is retiring.
Lastly, Dr. Blascious Ruguri was re-elected President of the East Central African Division. He served as co-host of the historic African/African-American Leaders Summit held on the campus of Adventist University of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2019. A second summit was scheduled for the Ivory Coast in West Africa in 2020 but was interrupted by the Covid 19 pandemic. However, the leaders have remained in touch via Zoom. The Assistant to the President of the East Central African Division, Elder G. Emmanuel Pelote, visited the Central States Conference camp meeting as the guest of the Office for Regional Conference Ministries.
Below is a list of General Conference administrators elected at the 61st General Conference Session:
General Conference President – Dr. Ted N. C. Wilson
General Conference Executive Secretary – Erton Kohler
General Conference Treasurer – Paul Douglas
General Conference Vice-Presidents
Maurice Valentine
Audrey Anderson
Artur Stele
Thomas Lemon
Geoffrey Mbwana
Abner De Los Santos
Guillermo Biaggi
General Conference Undersecretary – Moise J. F. Moorooven
General Conference Associate Secretaries
Gerson Santos
Claude Richli
Gary Krause
Elbert Kuhn
Karen Porter
Saw Samuel
General Conference Undertreasurer – J. Raymond Wahlen II
General Conference Associate Treasurers
Timothy Hiroki Aka
George Egwakhe
German Lust
Daisy Orion
Josue Pierre
Richard Stephenson