8 minute read
Newsdesk
Pacific Union Executive Committee Meets
On Thursday, March 17, the Executive Committee of the Pacific Union Conference convened in Westlake Village, California, for the first quarterly meeting of 2022.
The Executive Committee members come from all across the union’s geography to help develop and direct the work of the church in the Pacific Southwest. The members include lay members and employees, and the membership of the committee demonstrates the great diversity of the Adventist Church in our region. As president of the Pacific Union Conference, Elder Bradford Newton leads this committee, which is deeply focused on both the day-to-day work and the development of long-term strategies that will impact our future.
Highlights
Presidential duties
President Newton reported on his day-to-day administrative duties to support and serve the union. From publishing editorials in the Pacific Union Recorder to chairing, vice chairing, advising, and being a member of several boards from Pacific Union College to Adventist Health, he focuses on the future of our churches, schools, ministries, and healthcare.
New faces
The union welcomed new employees during the meeting: Joseph Cadiz, associate director for Souls West/Literature Ministries, and Lynal Ingham, associate director for Elementary Education.
In numbers
Executive Secretary Sandy Roberts gave a statistical overview for year-end 2021. Some interesting facts presented include: • Number of churches - 806 • Number of pastors - 707 • Membership
January 1 - 220,791
December 31 - 218, 863
• Baptisms and professions of faith - 3,249 • Transfers into the Pacific Union - 3,488 • Transfers out of the Pacific Union - 3,788 • Nevada-Utah Conference had a net growth of 1.16%.
Giving back to the community
Treasurer Stephen Mayer reported on the budget for the Pacific Union. One of the most exciting aspects of the presentation was the update on the Riverside property ground lease. This project is taking our underutilized land and partnering with a developer to provide 80 units of low-income housing in the city of Riverside. It has been about three years in development, with the closing of entitlements and funding just last month. Once built, 39 units will be available to help prevent homelessness and another 40 units will be available to qualified low-income individuals.
Making education accessible
Vice President for Education Berit von Pohle presented on how the union is making education accessible and affordable to those who need it most. The Education Endowment funds various scholarships. Now that the applications are online, it has saved time and funds can be allocated quickly and efficiently. There are five scholarships available, and 538 children were part of the $640,010 in scholarships given. The union is now working on transition scholarships. Here are the two current scholarships, along with the amounts given and number of students granted the scholarships: • Freshman: $95,381/134 students • Kindergarten: $218,449/761 students
Finally, two special scholarships were presented: The Native American Scholarship and the Teacher Scholarship.
The daylong meeting also included presentations from Vice President Leon Brown Sr., Pacific Union College, La Sierra University, and Hispanic Ministries.
Our union and its leaders are looking to the future and working together to see how to best serve the conferences, churches, and members as they live out our mission of love, serve, lead. Please continue to pray for our churches, schools, ministries, and institutions—and for the members of the Executive Committee as they engage in the important work of the Pacific Union.
Jorge Ramírez to Serve at NAD after 25 Years of Ministry in Pacific Union Conference
After serving in the Pacific Union Conference for over 25 years, Jorge Ramírez, most recently executive secretary/ministerial director for the Arizona Conference, bids the West farewell once again as he heads East to accept the position of undersecretary for the North American Division (NAD). “My heart is filled with gratitude to past Southeastern California Conference administrators, Arizona Conference officers, and Pacific Union Conference administrators for their support of my 25 years of ministry, both as a pastor and administrator,” Ramírez said. “I have been blessed with godly mentors during these years, and as I transition to the North American Division, I want to thank these leaders for shaping and influencing my ministry in so many positive ways.”
Ramírez holds a BA degree in pastoral ministry from Loma Linda University and a Master’s in Divinity from Andrews University. He began his pastoral ministry in 1985 in the Southeastern California Conference, where he served as youth pastor, associate pastor, and senior pastor of large congregations for 22 years. In October 2007, he moved to the Potomac Conference to serve as the vice president of administration. In May of 2014, he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree from Andrews University in Leadership and Church Growth. In January 2019, he received an invitation from the Arizona Conference to serve as the executive secretary and ministerial director.
Ramírez and his wife, Bexy Castellón, who works as a respiratory therapist, are the proud parents of three young men: Reuben, Ryan, and Reiss. When not working, Ramírez enjoys jogging, traveling, and playing guitar. His greatest passion is to serve the God who has the power to restore broken relationships. “I consider the restoration of broken relationships the greatest miracle in life,” Ramírez said. Born and raised in a very conservative Catholic home, Ramírez first heard the Adventist
message as a teenager at an evangelistic series sponsored by the La Sierra Spanish church in Riverside, California, and was baptized in 1979. His first two pastors as a new believer were inspirational to him, and they were quite influential in his decision to not just learn more about the Bible and join the Adventist church but also to choose ministry as his life’s work.
Early in his pastoral ministry Ramírez experienced a “baptism by fire” that, challenging as it was, served to strengthen and solidify his commitment to serving God. Some members at one of the churches where he was pastoring were dealing with demonic possession. In dealing with this situation as a pastor, Ramírez realized how very real the battle between good and evil really is. “I made a lifetime commitment with God to serve Him and His mission,” Ramírez said.
He has lived up to the commitment for over 25 years, and he looks forward to continuing to do so at the NAD. Having already lived back East
for 13 years in previous positions, Ramírez will miss his many friends and connections made in Southeastern California and Arizona but looks forward to reconnecting with his friends and mentors in Maryland, too. The Pacific Union Conference will always hold a special place in his heart and pastoral journey, because this is where it all began.
“Jorge is a great guy. I have enjoyed working with him,” said Ed Keyes, president of the Arizona Conference where Ramirez served for three years. “He’s a super organizer and a strategic planner. He’s more detail oriented, and I’m more about the big picture, so we complemented each other well in that respect. He’s a solid Seventh-day Adventist as far as his teaching, he’s ethical, and he’s humble enough to lead from second chair.”
Through his work in ministry, Ramírez’s own personal walk with God has also been strengthened, allowing him to learn and grow personally and professionally. He looks forward to taking all his experience and passion for service to his new position.
“I have grown both as a Christian and as a leader with every opportunity God has given me,” he said. “As a pastor, I learned to love people and to see their potential for mission. As an administrator, I have learned to understand what mission and vision is and to apply these leadership skills in my ministry as a conference officer. I have also learned to live by the values of integrity, excellence, service, and spiritual growth. I look forward to continuing to serve the mission of the church along with my fellow administrators in the North American Division.”
HVisions & Revisions BY RONALD D. GRAYBILL Have you ever thought about the way Ellen White’s books were written? Have you ever considered the enormous quantity of writing she produced?
Ellen White enlisted more than 20 literary assistants to convert her handwritten manuscripts into proper, polished prose. Then, both before and after her death, her published writings were corrected, combined, excised, expanded, revised, modernized, adapted, simplified, translated, reprinted, and reformatted. This book is the story of how her visions underwent these revisions. It explains the editorial processes that began when she first dipped her pen in ink and put it to paper. It even describes that pen and paper.
A century after her death, Ellen White’s writings continue to generate interest and fascination, and people continue to wonder how she was able to produce so many books and articles in her lifetime. In his latest book, Ron Graybill shows how studying her original handwritten documents illuminates her work. He also delves into the work of White’s literary assistants and how they helped to shape her publications. The online availability of most of Ellen White’s manuscripts and published writings makes such a study possible, one that is both intriguing and revealing. This is not a book disputing White’s inspiration, but one that attempts to understand the intricate process that went into the publication of her books and articles. This is a study that is long overdue and one that will generate further research and a better understanding of White’s publications. —Denis Fortin, Professor of Historical Theology, Andrews University
