News
Providing Encouragement and Assessment
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.
Erton C. Köhler Elected as General Conference President
Erton C. Köhler was elected to the office of the president of the General Conference (GC) on July 4, 2025, during the 62nd GC Session in St. Louis, Missouri. Köhler’s election marks the beginning of his first term as the spiritual and administrative leader of a worldwide movement that spans more than 200 countries and includes more than 23 million members.
Rooted in the Word: Scripture Comes Alive at the 2025 NAD Pathfinder Bible Experience
From April 25 to 26, more than 3,000 Pathfinders, supporters, and volunteers packed the arena in historic Battle Creek, Michigan, for a weekend of worship, Bible knowledge testing, and celebration. And on Sabbath, April 26, 185 teams — the second highest number ever — gathered in person from across North America and beyond. Four teams joined virtually.
Lessons for the Living
I have a confession to make. I have a habit, some might call it a morbid one, but wherever I go, whatever city I’m visiting, I will find myself in the oldest cemetery in town, walking among the dead. I can go to a cemetery, and stay for two hours, three hours, and I walk up and down reading the tombstones. I like to ponder: Who was this person? What was their life?
Help Provided in St. Louis After Tornado Strike
On May 16, 2025, a powerful EF-3 tornado tore through St. Louis, Missouri, and continued into Madison County, Illinois, reaching wind speeds of up to 152 mph and spanning 22.8 miles. NAD Adventist Community Services (ACS) is partnering with the Mid-America Union Conference, local churches, civic leaders, and other Adventist entities to provide ongoing disaster relief.
Jere Wallack, Co-Founder of Sonscreen Film Festival, Passes to His Rest
After a battle with cancer and short time in hospice care, Jere Wallack, former director of the North American Division’s (NAD) Church Resource Center (CRC, later known as “Vervent”), and co-founder of Sonscreen Film Festival, passed away on Aug. 17, 2018. Wallack was retired from denominational service and living in Arizona with his wife, Nancy, when he fell ill earlier this year.
Health System’s Name Change Reinforces Wholistic Adventist Health Message
United States-based Adventist Health System (AHS) recently announced the organization will change its name to AdventHealth as of January 2019, a transition AHS leaders say connects the health care system closer to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “The decision to identify our dynamic health system as AdventHealth emerged from a multi-year process of prayer, market research, and mission-focused thinking,” says Adventist Health System CEO Terry Shaw.
Mission Trip for Teens Builds More Than Structures
Maranatha Volunteers International’s annual mission trip for high-school teenagers, Ultimate Workout, recently finished its 28th generation in Bolivia. A total of 167 teens and adults served at four locations in the Entre Ríos area from July 18-30, 2018. Every day, volunteer teams spread out to four different sites, each almost an hour away.
Lamination and Bible Curriculum: Multi-Grade Teachers at NAD Convention Print Resources for Free
For three days in August, a room in the south building of McCormick Place was filled with reams of paper, five laminators, colored pencils, pairs of scissors — and 240 Adventist educators attending the NAD Teachers’ Convention. Multi-grade teachers of small schools had the opportunity to color, laminate, and trim all the resources for five units of the new Encounter Bible curriculum.