Officers and Directors Re-elected
At the 106th regular session of the Minnesota Conference constituency the entire office leadership team was unanimously re-elected for a term of four years.
Elder Charles Drake, vice president for administration of the Mid- America Union, introduced them as follows:
- President: Elder Tom Lemon (also ASI representative)
- Vice President for Administration and Youth Director: Elder Doug Hardt
- Vice President for Finance and Stewardship Director: Reggie Leach
The departmental directors were also introduced as follows:
Gift Planning Director: Elder Justin Lyons (Also SAGE Coordinator, and Property Manager)
- Education and Sabbath School Director and Family Ministries Co- Director: Pamela Consuegra
- Women’s Director: Lynette Hubin
- Ministerial, Evangelism, Multi- Ethnic, Family, and Communication Director: Elder Claudio Consuegra
Several changes were made to the constitution and by-laws; among them were:
1. The term of office for the conference officers was extended from three to four years.
2. The number of church delegates to a constituency meeting will be 1 for every 25 members.
3. A plans committee was officially established
All of us here at the conference office thank all of you for the opportunity to serve you during the last three years and for your support as we continue serving you during the next four years. We pray that together we will continue Lighting the North Country for Jesus.
New Mid-America Union President: Roscoe J. Howard
Roscoe J. Howard, III is the new president of the Mid-America Union of Seventh-day Adventists. He will lead the 60,000 members of the nine-state region that stretches south from Canada to the Oklahoma border and west from the Mississippi River to the border of Utah.
Howard was elected April 9 by the Union Executive Committee, accepting the position after several days of prayer and consultation with his family. He is the fifth president of the Mid-America Union and the first African American to hold the post. Howard comes from suburban Washington, D.C., where he was secretary of the North American Division, responsible for the Church’s administrative operations and policy implementation. He is no stranger to Mid-America, having grown up in Casper, Wyoming. He also served the Union previously at as vice president for administration at headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Howard has preached the gospel in Africa, Canada, England, Jamaica, Korea, the Philippines and throughout the United States. He began ministry in 1978, pastoring several churches in the Washington Conference before becoming its first black youth director. He then served the North Pacific Union as special assistant to the president and regional affairs director.
While attending Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, Howard met his wife-to-be, the former Osceola Wimbish. They have two adult children, Heather and Seth.
Howard received his undergraduate degree from Pacific Union College and later a Masters of Divinity degree from Andrews University. Presently he is a candidate in the Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Howard’s favorite scripture is: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has began a good work in you shall complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Howard succeeds Dennis N. Carlson, who accepted the invitation of Walla Walla University in Washington State to be vice president for advancement.