New GC President?

[Gregory Matthews]

In July 2025, a General Conference Session will be held in which a person will be elected to serve the next five years a President of the General Conference.  Spectrum Magazine has begun a series of articles in which Reinder Bruinsma will discuss the qualification, or lack of them, of various people who might be elected.  In this series, he begins by discussing the potential re-election of the current President, Ted Wilson.

https://spectrummagazine.org/views/analysis/gc-presidential-candidates-ted-wilson/

 

[Gregory Matthews]

I have posted the following comment to the article on Ted Wilson:

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There are many reasons as to why Ted Wilson should not continue as President. In my opinion I believe that SDA pastors should not continue forever in administratie positions. Rather, they should alternate, perhaps on a 10-year basis, between an administrative positin and serving as a congregational pastor. My thinking on this in informed by my military background. Officers who rise to the highest level of the US military have rotated by sesrving as commanders of solders (U. S. Army) andd administratie positons. Officers who remain in administrataive positions do not get promoted to the highest positons.

[Gregory Matthews]

The following is a second comment that I have posted in respons to the Slpectrum article>

Quote

  

I will suggest that all SDA leaders should have a strong background in congregational leadership. President Ted Wilson began his SDA pastoral duties in 1974, in the Greater New York Conference. In 1976 He became their Assistant Director of Metropolitan Ministries, and later rose to the position of the Director of Metropolitan Ministries. He left the Greater New York Conference in 1981 when he advanced to a higher position of leadership. I will suggest that it would be well to consider his leadership during his time with the Greater L New York Conference.

I lived in New York City from late July 1979 to late December of 1979. During that time, I visited a group of SDA Churches on a regular basis. Generally, I found the congregations associated with the Northeastern Conference (a so-called Regional Conference0 to be well functioning, and doing effective ministry to their congregations. With the exception of a congregation located on Long Island, I did not find that to be true of the congregations associated with the Greater New York Conference. My overall impression of the congregation at the Center, the rather expensive experiment, was that it was totally ineffective in doing ministry in Manhattan. where it was located.

In short, my view of Ted Wilson’s record of ministry in New York City is not that of what I would want in the record of a person elected to a high leadership position. Time has not changed my mind in his case.

[Gregory Matthews]

Today I posted the following of the Spectrum website:

the issue is whether or not changes are needed in Adventism, and if so, what is needed to change.

• Among many SDAs, the position of President of the General Conference is thought to be the most important position in the denomination. The reality is that the position of Local Pastor is the most important job in the SDA Church.
• It is thought that people should not campaign for GC President. Yet, it is clear that in the year preceding General Conference, some trips are clearly made to enhance one’s election to that office.
• A very small committee recommends one person at a time for the position of President. If Ted Wilson chooses not to serve again, he will have major influence on who is selected to replace him. Selection of people to be voted on should come from the floor, to include self-nomilnations. We say God is involved and then limit God’s involvement to possible manipultion of the process by that committee.
• The human process will take place. A man (females not alowed) will be elected who will have little impact on what happens on the level of the local congregaton. So, the Church will continue on, in its humaness. The local congregation will continue to be well below first place in the denominations structure.

 

[Asia Joe]

On 4/16/2025 at 9:12 PM, Gregory Matthews said:

There are many reasons as to why Ted Wilson should not continue as President. In my opinion I believe that SDA pastors should not continue forever in administratie positions. Rather, they should alternate, perhaps on a 10-year basis, between an administrative positin and serving as a congregational pastor.

I agree 100%.

[Asia Joe]

15 hours ago, Gregory Matthews said:

the issue is whether or not changes are needed in Adventism, and if so, what is needed to change.

• Among many SDAs, the position of President of the General Conference is thought to be the most important position in the denomination. The reality is that the position of Local Pastor is the most important job in the SDA Church.
• It is thought that people should not campaign for GC President. Yet, it is clear that in the year preceding General Conference, some trips are clearly made to enhance one’s election to that office.
• A very small committee recommends one person at a time for the position of President. If Ted Wilson chooses not to serve again, he will have major influence on who is selected to replace him. Selection of people to be voted on should come from the floor, to include self-nomilnations. We say God is involved and then limit God’s involvement to possible manipultion of the process by that committee.
• The human process will take place. A man (females not alowed) will be elected who will have little impact on what happens on the level of the local congregaton. So, the Church will continue on, in its humaness. The local congregation will continue to be well below first place in the denominations structure.

Again I agree.

Here is another problem. There have been many changes in the way people think and fell in NAD over the last 10 years.

People want to hold their leaders accountable. The older people who just went along with what ever the leadership wanted are dieing out.

I also think they made serious errors in judgment in their remarks toward independent ministries. I wonder if that will be a factor. It appears to me, that the leadership is out of touch with the members.