What is a Constituency Session?
All members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are part of a constituency, which is defined as a group of voters in a specified region who elect representatives to a legislatorial body. Church members of the Mid-America Union Conference have designated 394 delegates who will gather at the College View Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, to represent them during the ninth quinquennial constituency session occurring Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021.
What happens at Session?
As required by our Bylaws, every five years delegates elect union leadership, receive reports from union leaders and entities, and vote on general decisions and church business. Reports on finances, church membership, audits and other statistics are also received and voted. Additionally, the delegates will vote on proposed changes to the union’s Constitution and Bylaws.
Why is it important?
It’s about accountability. The union president, vice presidents and department directors will present reports and be available for questions. The president of Union College will also give a report, since Union College’s Constituency Session is joined with the Mid-America Union’s.
But there’s more than business reports and votes! It’s also a celebration highlighting mission, evangelism and the blessings of the Lord in the past five years. It’s an opportunity to analyze the state of the Mid-America Union Conference—organizationally, financially and statistically—and to cast a vision for how best to advance God’s work in the heartland of America.
Who is representing me?
Please contact your local conference for a list of the delegates from your area.
Can I get live updates on what’s happening?
Yes! Follow the constituency session on Sept. 12
through OUTLOOK’s Facebook or Twitter.
Why Do Unions Exist?
All levels of Adventist organization exist to support local churches and schools—from the General Conference with its world divisions, to the union conferences and the local conferences, to which the churches belong. No other level connects the parts of the church as directly as does the union. Nor does any other part have time to do what the union does.
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Mid-America Union Conference facilitates the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout a nine-state region in the Mid-western United States. Organized into six local conferences, our territory spans Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and San Juan County in New Mexico.
This Mid-America territory includes over 64,000 church members in more than 525 churches or companies, as well as 65 elementary and secondary schools, one college, nine summer camps and a number of youth and young adult programs.
The union conference serves by providing assessment tools, facilitating collaboration, offering mentoring and training, and providing a layer of communication and accountability between local conferences and the global church structure.
Union conferences are also shared service centers for teacher training and certification and school accreditation, regional Pathfinder camporees, ministerial conventions, religious liberty services, low-cost loans to build or renovate churches and schools, and coordination of humanitarian aid through Adventist Community Services.
In addition, union leaders provide counsel and support for the Board of Trustees of higher educational institutions, maintain lines of accountability with Adventist healthcare institutions, and publish the union paper that helps members be aware of and celebrate what God is doing in each territory.
The Mid-America Union Conference would like to thank each member of the Executive Committee for their term of service (Sept. 2016-2021):
Central States Conference
- Roger Bernard
- Gary Collins
- Joann Herrington
- Dwayne Williams
Dakota Conference
- Daniel Hanson
- Darren Purdy
- Mark Weir
Iowa-Missouri Conference
- Lou Alfalah
- Steve Bascom
- Matt Cook
- Dean Coridan
Kansas-Nebraska Conference
- Ron Carlson
- Josh Huenergardt
- Michael Halfhill
Minnesota Conference
- Marilyn Carlson
- Justin Lyons
- Eric Mokua
Rocky Mountain Conference
- Ed Barnett
- Sam Miller
- Wayne Morrison
- Carol Turk
Mid-America Union Conference
- NancyBuxton
- Darrel Huenergardt
- Hubert Morel
- Troy Peoples
- Gary Thurber
Union College
- Vinita Sauder
AdventHealth
- Ken Bacon
- Sam Huenergardt
Other Institutions in our Territory
- Brad Forbes (AdventSource)
- Diane Thurber (Christian Record Services for the Blind)
