Adventists elect leaders for central region

Friday, July 23, 2010

DELEGATES of the Central Jamaica Conference (CJC) on Monday elected officers and departmental directors to give administrative leadership to the work in that region for the next four years.

Pastor Everett Brown, who has served as president for the past eight years, was re-elected as president. His fellow officers in administration, Pastor Levi Johnson and Billy Watson were also re-elected to serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

The elections took place during the Conference's Third Quadrennial Session at Camp Verley.

In his response, Pastor Brown thanked the delegates for allowing him and the new team to serve them and God for the next quadrennium.

"As a church, the process reinforces my confidence in God and in the ability of men and women to think critically and understand the needs of the church," he said.

"They allowed God to use them to place men and women in position that will carry the work forward. We have come to a very crucial point in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica and I believe that this team that has been chosen will play a pivotal role in moving the work forward," Brown added.

There were notable changes in the directorate of most of departments, with the exception of communication, publishing and women's ministries. The following directors were chosen to assist the administrators:

* Youth and Children's Ministries -- Pastor Howard Grant

* Communication -- Pastor Kemar Douglas

* Education, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty -- Pastor Ivor Harry

* Family Ministries -- Pastor Roy Dennis

* Health and Women's Ministries -- Mary Cole

* Ministerial secretary -- Pastor Jeff Jefferson

* Sabbath School and Personal Ministries -- Pastor Navail Barrett

* Stewardship -- Pastor Ronnie Henry

* Publishing Ministries -- Linford Farquharson

A Service of Consecration for the newly elected officers and directors will be held tomorrow at the Portmore Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Catherine.

Pastor Derek Bignall, President of the Adventist Church in West Indies Union chaired the 25-man nomination committee that elected the new team of workers in CJC.

CJC comprises the parishes of St Catherine, Clarendon and Manchester with 79,000 members in 178 congregations.

The election of officers and directors for the church's eastern and western regions is now taking place.