Government of The Seventh-day Adventist Church

Government Of The Seventh-day Adventist Church

The governance (polity) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is based on democratic representation, and therefore resembles the Presbyterian system of church organization. The organizational structure of the church consists of the following levels:

• The global church is called the "General Conference", composed operatively of 13 "Division"s.
• Each division is composed of "Union Conferences" and/or "Union Missions" (112 total). Union Conferences are self-supporting financially, while Union Missions are not.
• Each union conference is composed of "Conferences" and/or "Missions" (572 total). Local Conferences are self-supporting financially, while Local Missions are not. Certain unions are composed of local congregations. They do not have local conferences/missions.
• Each local conference/mission is composed of local churches (congregations). Often a number of local congregations are grouped operatively as a district, led by one senior pastor. In the United States, these numbers tend to be smaller (2-4 churches per district, perhaps), while in most of the worldwide church, the numbers tend to be larger (5+ per district and per pastor, sometimes as many as 15 or more).

Each level of organization holds a "general session" at certain intervals, when elected representatives gather to vote on general decisions and church business. The president of the General Conference, for instance, is elected at the General Conference Session every five years.

At the local churches, decisions are made by elected committees through vote of members. The day-to-day running of churches is governed by a church board formed by members of that church, together with the pastor of that congregation.

In contrast to congregational polity, the conference corporation owns church property, employs and pays ministers, and receives tithes from members. In contrast to episcopal polity, the ministers or pastors are a single level of ordained clergy and there are no bishops; elders and deacons are lay ministries. Moreover, it resembles a hierarchical polity.

A 2002 survey of Adventists worldwide showed three quarters "affirm the structure, polity, and financial policies of the church."