The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. Its headquarters is located in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and leadership, as well as doctrinal matters. The General Conference, which is overseen by an executive committee and an elected President of the General Conference, is the administrative head of the global church. The denomination is organized in a representative form of church government, which means authority arises from the membership of local churches. In addition to administering their own congregations, churches send representatives to vote on matters and leaders in a shared local unit of administration. They vote also on who will represent them in a large area, with further representation selected at each successively larger administrative region. Finally, the General Conference elects the executive committee and officers who hold its authority between the decisions of the quinquennial

General Conference Session The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, held every five years. At the session, delegates from around the world elect the Church's World Leaders, discuss and vote on changes ...

Major entities

Four units of church structure provide organization. They are interdependent while holding some unique authorities and consisting of specific constituencies. #The local church and its members. #The local conference (in some cases, a field) is made up of a number of churches in an area such as a state, province, or territory. #The union conference (in some cases, a union mission) is made up of conferences and fields in a larger geographical area. #The General Conference administers the worldwide direction of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The General Conference includes 13 regional administrative sections, called divisions.

Divisions and Attached Unions/Fields

Educational institutions

The

Seventh-day Adventist educational system The Seventh-day Adventist educational system, part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is overseen by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists located in Silver Spring, Maryland. The educational system is a Christian school-based syst ...

is extensive worldwide, however only a few institutions are structured directly under General Conference oversight''General Conference - EDUCATION''
ADS *

Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies The Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) (pronounced "I-Us"), is a Seventh-day Adventist graduate institution located in the Philippines, offering graduate degrees in Business, Education, Public health, and Theology. It i ...

* Adventist University of Africa *

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...

Griggs International Academy Griggs International Academy is an accredited Seventh-day Adventist distance learning school, offering courses from preschool to 12th grade. History Founded in 1909 as "The Fireside Correspondence School" and later known as the "Home Study Insti ...

– K-12 distance education *

Loma Linda University Loma Linda University (LLU) is a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in Loma Linda, California. , the university comprises eight schools and a Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist educatio ...

Oakwood University Oakwood University is a private, historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the only HBCU owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Associa ...

Northern Caribbean University Northern Caribbean University (NCU) is a private, liberal-arts institution owned and operated by the Jamaica Union Conference (JAMU) and the Atlantic Caribbean Union Mission (ACUM) of Seventh-day Adventists, and is located in Jamaica. With its ma ...

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Li ...

Southwestern Adventist University Southwestern Adventist University is a private Adventist university in Keene, Texas. It is owned by the Southwestern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The university enrolls about 800 students on a rural, 150-acre campus. The uni ...

University of Montemorelos The University of Montemorelos (Spanish: ''Universidad de Montemorelos'') is a private coeducational Seventh-day Adventist university located in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico. The University grants degrees in medicine, nursing, nutrition, mana ...

https://adventistcolleges.org/

Outreach

Adventist Development and Relief Agency The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA or ADRA International) is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. I ...

Adventist Mission The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions an ...

Adventist World Radio The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

Global Mission The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and ...

Meetings

The General Conference holds three meetings in which leaders from around the world gather to discuss church issues and finances. While two meetings meet annually, usually at the world headquarters in

, the third meets every five years in a selected city. * Spring Meeting meets every April * Annual Council meets every October *

meets quinquennially in a selected city

References

External links

Adventist Yearbook
The official organizational directory
World Divisions
map and links
General Conference Committee Minutes
from Adventist Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:General Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists Ellen G. White Estate History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church