Local Seventh-day Adventist churches are part of a local
district, which is part of conference/union, which is part of a
division, which is part of the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists. The hierarchy may vary a little bit in different areas
or divisions, but that is the general organization. If a church
becomes "independent," it ceases to be a Seventh-day Adventist
church. To put it another way, the Seventh-day Adventist
denomination does not follow congregationalist polity (hence the
term "denomination"), but instead it is hierarchical.