The Upper Columbia Conference meets on Sunday, September 24 for their regular Constituency meeting. Among the agenda items is a sneaky but substantive bylaws change.
“The purposes, policies, and procedures of this conference shall be in harmony with the working policies and procedures enacted by the executive committee of the North American Division of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.”
This Article 3 bylaws addition is a deceitful attempt to make the Upper Columbia Conference subservient to the NAD Executive Committee.
At a minimum, this bylaw proposes a concentration of power that is foreign to the SDA Church and extremely unhealthy for the Body.
Two years ago, the Oklahoma Conference attempted a similar change. It was defeated by delegates at the 2021 Constituency with a whopping 90% margin.
GC policies and procedures are what forbids female ordination, and forbids non-ordained ministers from being conference and union presidents. So if you pledge loyalty to the policies and procedures of the NAD executive committee, you’re out from under the prohibition on ordaining women.
Notice they are pledging loyalty to the “mission“ of the General Conference, and the voted fundamental beliefs, but not the policies of the GC. Exceedingly clever. And very devious.
I am told by sources that I trust that the NAD is recommending these changes to local Conferences (or pressuring them).
If the NAD was ideologically and theologically aligned with the GC, then this change—while odd—might be no big deal. However, under the current circumstances, this is a real bad thing to do. Our advice, delete the words executive committee of the North American Division from this Article and leave the words General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Article 3 appears to be an attempt of the NAD to arrogate smaller entities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to itself. I hope it fails.
Why would you want to be subjugated to a Division that is out of compliance with the entire Seventh-day Adventist Church?
The Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has many good people in it. My prayer is that informed delegates will reject this attempt to align their Conference with a liberal executive committee and Division in place of the worldwide Body that we are all part of.
Tirade by Dan Jackson
NAD Sympathizers Shut Down Motion From Young Adult At Year End Meeting
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“Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul's officers, said, "I saw the son of Jesse. He came to see Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob” (1 Samuel 22:9-23).