, ANN
The church’s South Central American Union Conference will become
two unions, the Panama Union Mission and the South Central American Union
Mission, in a step that underscores church membership growth in the
region.
A union is made up of several local administrative fields. A
union with the "conference" designation is financially
self-supporting, while a union with a "mission" status relies on its
parent management structure, a "division," for support and oversight.
The move affects church structure in the countries of
Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, which are home to a combined church
membership of about 295,000.
"We're wanting to make these changes in recognition of
the development of the mission of the church in those territories," said
Agustin Galicia, an associate secretary of the Adventist world church.
Church leaders approved the change on Oct. 15 on the final
day of Annual Council, a major church business meeting, at the denomination’s
headquarters in Maryland.
The reorganization will become effective on Jan. 1.
The headquarters for the Panama Union Mission will be in
Balboa, Panama, and the headquarters for the South Central American Union
Mission will be in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Once the changes are implemented, the church's
Inter-American Division will be comprised of 23 unions, the most in of any of
the denomination’s 13 world divisions. Inter-America is also the largest
division by membership, with more than 3.7 million Adventists.
The current South Central American Union Conference
territory will divide into two unions to better support management of local
ministry. One union will include Panama, and the other union will include both
Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
