General Conference Session Day 2

By Adventist News Network — St. Louis, Missouri … On Tuesday morning at just about 9:30 am at the 61^st General Conference Session, GC Secretary Erton Köhler, accompanied by Undersecretary Hensley Moorooven, GC associate secretaries Claude Richli, Gerson Santos, Karen Porter, Gary Krause and Elbert Kuhn, alongside Director of the office of Archives, Statistics and Research (ASTR) David Trim, and VividFaith manager Fylvia Kline, presented the Secretariat Report, which celebrated the mission work executed across the global Adventist Church over the past seven years.

Presenting their report under the theme “Secretariat: Where the Heart of Mission Beats!”, Köhler began by introducing the role of the Secretariat and its associated departments, referring to them as the “Mission Family”. These include Adventist Mission, The Institute of World Mission, Adventist Volunteer Service, International Personnel Resources and Services (IPRS), ASTR, VividFaith and Adventist Membership Systems (AMS).

By Brenda Dickerson — St. Louis, Missouri … Dr. Ella Simmons, the first woman to serve as a general vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, has announced her retirement effective this month. Simmons, a former provost at La Sierra University and former vice president of academic administration at Oakwood University, was elected in 2005 to serve at the GC with responsibilities largely in the area of education.

An educator throughout her career, Simmons has also served as chair for departments of education (Kentucky State University) and as associate dean (University of Louisville).

Simmons has filled the vice president role for 17 years, providing professional leadership education and evaluation, as well as spiritual guidance, to church administrators around the world.