List of Presidents of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Encyclopedia
The President of the General Conference is the head of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
, the governing body of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
. The president's office is within the offices of the General Conference, located in Silver Spring
, Maryland
. As of June 2010, the current president is Ted N. C. Wilson
.
Traditionally, the post has been held by an American
. Of the 17 presidents, 13 were born in the United States
, 1 born in Puerto Rico
to North American missionaries, 1 born in Australia
and 2 born in Norway
, of which the one emigrated to the U.S. at age 5.
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989...
, the governing body of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
. The president's office is within the offices of the General Conference, located in Silver Spring
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. As of June 2010, the current president is Ted N. C. Wilson
Ted N. C. Wilson
Ted N. C. Wilson, is the current President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as of his naming to that position in June, 2010...
.
Traditionally, the post has been held by an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Of the 17 presidents, 13 were born in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 1 born in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
to North American missionaries, 1 born in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and 2 born in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, of which the one emigrated to the U.S. at age 5.
Past presidents
- March 20, 1863 – May 17, 1865: John ByingtonJohn ByingtonJohn Byington was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and the first president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. His father, Justus, was a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, an itinerant Methodist Episcopal preacher, and later one of the founders of the Methodist Protestant...
- May 17, 1865 – May 14, 1867: James WhiteJames Springer WhiteJames Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
- 1867–1869: John Nevins AndrewsJohn Nevins AndrewsJohn Nevins Andrews , was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, missionary, writer, editor, and scholar...
- 1869–1871: James WhiteJames Springer WhiteJames Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
- 1871–1874: George Ide ButlerGeorge Ide ButlerGeorge Ide Butler was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, administrator, and author. Originally from Vermont, United States, Butler's parents were closely involved in the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but George expressed leanings to infidelity. In 1853 his family moved to Iowa...
- 1874–1880: James WhiteJames Springer WhiteJames Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
- 1880–1888: George Ide ButlerGeorge Ide ButlerGeorge Ide Butler was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, administrator, and author. Originally from Vermont, United States, Butler's parents were closely involved in the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but George expressed leanings to infidelity. In 1853 his family moved to Iowa...
- 1888–1897: Ole Andres OlsenOle Andres OlsenOle Andres Olsen was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator. He was General Conference president from 1888 to 1897....
- 1897–1901: George A. IrwinGeorge A. IrwinGeorge A. Irwin was a Seventh-day Adventist administrator. He was President of the General Conference from 1897 to 1901....
- 1901–1922: Arthur Grosvenor Daniells
- 1922–1930: William Ambrose SpicerWilliam Ambrose SpicerWilliam Ambrose Spicer was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.He was born December 19, 1865 in Freeborn, Minnesota in the United States in a Seventh-day Baptist home. Spicer worked for the church in the US, England and India, where...
- 1930–1936: Charles H. WatsonCharles H. WatsonCharles H. Watson was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator. He was President of the General Conference from 1930 to 1936....
- 1936–1950: James Lamar McElhanyJames Lamar McElhanyJames Lamar McElhany was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator. He was President of the General Conference from 1936 to 1950....
- 1950–1954: William Henry BransonWilliam Henry BransonWilliam Henry Branson was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator.He began denominational service as a colporteur in 1906, and as an evangelist in 1908. In 1911 he was conference president in South Carolina and then in Tennessee. By 1915 he was president of the former Southeastern Union...
- 1954–1966: Reuben Richard Figuhr
- 1966–1979: Robert H. PiersonRobert H. PiersonRobert Howard Pierson was a president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In 1935 he went to work in Bombay, India. In 1939, while in India, he was ordained as a minister of the Adventist church...
- 1979–1990: Neal C. WilsonNeal C. WilsonNeal C. Wilson, served as General Conference president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1979 through to 1990. Wilson was head of the North American Division when elected on January 3, 1979, to take the place of the ailing former General Conference president Robert Pierson, who had resigned...
- 1990–1999: Robert S. FolkenbergRobert S. FolkenbergRobert Stanley Folkenberg, , served as General Conference president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1990 through to his resignation in 1999...
- 1999–2010: Jan PaulsenJan PaulsenDr. Jan Paulsen was elected President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on March 1, 1999, at the age of 64...
- 2010–present: Ted N. C. WilsonTed N. C. WilsonTed N. C. Wilson, is the current President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as of his naming to that position in June, 2010...