wfn.org | Adventists Elected First Woman Vice President

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

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July 8, 2005
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

Adventists Elected First Woman And First African-American Vice 
President, Regional Presidents Voted In 

St. Louis, Missouri/USA, (ANN/APD) In a historic vote on July 3, 
delegates to the 58th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day 
Adventist Church elected veteran educator Dr. Ella Louise Smith 
Simmons as a general vice president of the church. This is the first 
time a woman has been elected to this position and is an attempt by 
the world church to make the leadership more inclusive. 

Until recently, Dr. Simmons was provost and vice president for 
Academic Administration at La Sierra University in Riverside, 
California (USA). As part of the 10-member leadership team -- 
world church President Jan Paulsen and nine vice presidents -- 
it is expected Simmons will bring her skills in education and as an 
administrator to the job. 

Delegates responded very positively to the election of Simmons. 
Zeljko Porobija of Croatia stated, "I think it is a very, very good 
thing. As a matter of principle we should see more women in office." 

Owen Lloyd Bryar Gayle, a delegate from Inter-America, agreed. 
"It is wonderful to give females a part in church leadership." 

Anton Van Wyke from the Adventist church's South Pacific region 
believes "It is a breakthrough for our church in its standings with 
world organizations, and it will lead us from strength to strength in 
our mission." 

It took a long day in session before the nominating committee 
presented its third report, recommending names for the nine vice 
presidents as well as the presidents of the 13 divisions around the 
world. 

While six current vice presidents were returned to office, the three 
new officers demonstrate the emphasis on the church for both diversity 
and evangelism. 

Also newly elected is Pardon Kandanga Mwansa, currently president 
of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean church region, who brings a wealth 
of experience to the world church leadership, having served in the 
Euro-Africa church region prior to his current position. 

The third new vice president is popular Adventist evangelist Mark 
Finley, currently director of Global Evangelism at the world church 
headquarters and speaker/director emeritus of the It Is Written 
television program. Emphasizing the need to raise the profile of 
evangelism both in head office and worldwide, Paulsen took time 
to emphasize that Finley "is so saturated in evangelism that it is the 
center of his life." Finley's new position is not a change of job so 
much as recognition of the importance of evangelism to the church, 
he said. 

Six incumbents were returned to other general vice presidential 
offices: Lowell C. Cooper (Canadian), King-Yi Eugene Hsu (Chinese), 
Gerry D. Karst (Canadian), Armando Miranda (Mexican), Michael L. 
Ryan (USA) and Ted N. C. Wilson (USA). 

Paulsen also paid tribute to outgoing vice president Harold Baptiste. 
Having faithfully served the church for many years, he indicated his 
desire to retire at this business session. 

The vice presidents assist the General Conference President with the 
general administrative work, as resource counsellors and liaisons 
between the president and the world church regions (so-called 
divisions). The vice presidents have also the mission to strengthen 
the bond of this world-wide protestant mainstream church.

In the same report the presidents of 13 world church regions were 
elected. There were no surprises, with the only change being in the 
Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division where, due to the election of 
Mwansa as a world church vice president, Pastor Paul S. Ratsara, 
current secretary of the region, was unanimously elected as president. 

The returned regional Adventist church presidents are: Geoffrey G. 
Mbwana, East-Central Africa; Ulrich W. Frikart, Euro-Africa; Artur A. 
Stele, Euro-Asia; Israel Leito, Inter-America; Don C. Schneider, North 
America; Jairyong Lee, Northern Asia-Pacific; Ruy H. Nagel, South 
America; Laurie J. Evans, South Pacific; D. Ronald Watts, Southern 
Asia; Alberto C. Gulfan Jr., Southern Asia-Pacific; Bertil A. Wiklander, 
Trans-European Division, and Luka T. Daniel, West-Central Africa. 
 [Editors: Victor Hulbert , Braden Blyde and Christian B. Schaeffler for 
ANN/APD]

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Profile of Dr. Ella Louise Smith Simmons
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A native of Louisville, Ky., Simmons earned her bachelor of science 
degree in elementary education from Indiana University Southeast. 
Her teaching career started in 1978 with an elementary-level teaching 
post in the Indiana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. From there, 
she went on to posts of school principal in the South Central Conference 
of Seventh-day Adventists and in the New Albany (Ind.)-Floyd County 
Public Schools.
Simmons earned her master's of arts degree in curriculum, instruction 
and supervision from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Mich.; and 
her doctorate in curriculum, supervision and administration from the 
University of Louisville, which she received in 1987. Her doctoral 
dissertation focused on problems and politics associated with urban 
education.
In 1988, her career in higher education started at Kentucky State 
University, where she was assistant professor of education and 
chair of the education department. From 1990 to 1997, she served 
on the faculty of the University of Louisville as both assistant and 
associate professor of education, and as associate dean of the 
School of Education. She taught classes on both the undergraduate 
and graduate level, specializing in sociology and the politics of 
education. As a graduate faculty member, she supervised the 
dissertation development process for numerous doctoral students.
During her years in Louisville, she served the U.S. Department of 
Education in its "Career Opportunities in Special Education" program 
and acted as director of the "Avenues to Certification for Teaching 
Program" sponsored by Dewitt Wallace and Reader's Digest 
Foundation. Her 1997 appointment as vice president for academic 
affairs at Oakwood College marked her return to Adventist educational 
circles. IFrom August 2000 until recently, Dr. Simmons was provost 
and vice president for Academic Administration at La Sierra University 
 (LSU) in Riverside, California.
Among the specific causes that Simmons has promoted in her career 
are intervention for at-risk students and program evaluation for the 
development and maintenance of high educational standards. 
She served on numerous educational commissions for the state of 
Kentucky and for the Jefferson County (Ky.) Public Schools. During 
the course of her career, she has acted as either primary investigator, 
co-investigator or primary researcher on educational grants totalling 
more than US$2 million. Simmons has been widely published in 
academic journals and is the recipient of numerous awards including an 
"outstanding contributions" award from the University of Louisville 
Office of Minority Services in 1995 and an award for "outstanding 
service" from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher 
Education in 1991. 
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This article is also available on the APD-Web Site: 
http://www.stanet.ch/apd/news/800.html#art3926
<http://www.stanet.ch/apd/news/800.html> 

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