What are the leadership structures of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

Answer 1

Seventh-day Adventists have a representative type government. As such, the leadership model is both bottom-up and top-down. Here are the basics.

The Local Church

The local church elects it's own officers, with the exception that the pastor is appointed by the local conference. (The pastoral appointment is often with the advice and consent of the local church board.) Local church officers include elder(s), deacon(s), treasurer(s), Clerk, Sabbath School superintendent(s), and other ministry leaders.

The local church also elects delegates who represent the local church at the constituency meeting of the local conference.

The Local Conference

The Local Conference is made of up all the local churches in an area. In the USA, the area is usually one or two states. The conference executive officers (usually the President, Secretary, and Treasurer) are elected at the constituency meeting. Delegates to the constituency meeting are the delegates elected by the local churches plus all the church employees in the conference. The constituency meeting is also responsible for approving any changes to the conference constitution and other major policies affecting the conference.

Either the conference executive committee or a large conference committee with lay representatives hires the pastors and remainder of conference officials.

The Union Conference

Local conferences in a region are organized into a Union Conference. The Union Conference holds regular constituency meetings to elect the union executive officers (usually President, Secretary, and Treasurer), approve changes to the union constitution, and vote on other major policy matters affecting the whole union. Delegates, lay and church employees, from the various conferences in the union attend the union constituency meeting.

The General Conference

Once every five years a General Conference Session is held with lay and church employee delegates from all over the world. The General Conference Session elects the General Conference President, Vice Presidents, and Secretaries. The General Conference is divided into Divisions with oversight of major portions of the world. The General Conference delegates caucus by division to elect executive officers. The General Conference session approves changes to the General Conference Constitution, the Church Manual, and other major policy decisions affecting the entire world church.

That is how the bottom-up representation works.

From the top-down: Decisions made by the General Conference affect the entire world church. Decisions by a Division of the General Conference affect all the church organizations in that division. Decisions by a Union Conference affect all the church organizations in that union. Decisions by a Local Conference affect all the church organizations in that local conference. And decisions by a local church affect only that local church.