It’s been 10 years since conference and union presidents, executive secretaries, and treasurers gathered in one room to brainstorm how best to carry out the church’s mission in North America. In 2014, the historic “Dulles meetings,” held near Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., took a hard look at church finances, governance, structure, and education. 

A long-awaited follow-up, the 2024 administrators’ conference hosted more than 200 conference and union officers at the NAD’s Columbia, Md. headquarters on Oct. 30-31, just before the slightly shortened NAD Year-End Meeting. While the NADYEM empowers leaders to share their views through breakout discussions and post-report “Q & As,” the conference offered a deeper level of engagement. Moreover, while leaders typically meet in separate advisories, the conference brought all voices to the table; notably, leaders from different territories sat together, allowing for what NAD president G. Alexander Bryant called a “cross-fertilization” of ideas. 

On the 30th, Bryant asked, “What can we do more effectively and efficiently together?” He added, “Every single administrative decision is a mission decision.” 

The conference addressed critical topics, including the church’s early organization and policies; challenges with remuneration, IT, and employee shortages; and possible changes to retirement plan funding, healthcare, and risk management. Each segment was followed by roundtable and full-group discussions, with a central question being, “What prevents people from accepting change in an organization?” Responses highlighted that resistance to change often stems from tradition, time constraints, fear, and reluctance to leave comfort zones. 

In an early session titled “Together in Mission,” Lowell Cooper, retired world church vice president, shared historical examples to illustrate that while policy provides “stability, continuity, and relational symmetry across entities,” it can and should evolve as circumstances change. 

Morning devotionals set a spiritual tone. On Wednesday, Ken Denslow, Lake Union Conference president, drew from Acts 4 to illustrate that when Jesus touches our lives, we cannot help but share His goodness. On Thursday, Elton De Moraes, Texas Conference president, urged leaders to be “risk takers” for God, following the early church’s example — particularly on the Day of Pentecost — of relying on the Holy Spirit for power and unity in mission. “If we’re united in prayer and work together, the Lord will do the addition,” Moraes concluded. 

Tackling Remuneration, Healthcare Benefits, and Other Concerns

On Wednesday, Mark Remboldt, North Pacific Union Conference vice president for finance, addressed remuneration. He reviewed historical assumptions behind the church’s basic wage scale, including that 35 percent of salary covered housing costs and ministers’ spouses did not work for pay. He also discussed the Economic Research Institute (ERI) software adopted in 2003 to gather more accurate cost of living (COL) data. Remboldt noted that many conferences found the software’s cost prohibitive, thus creating their own COL measures. 

Discussion questions covered the continued use of ERI and the assumption that 35 percent of remuneration would cover housing. Across the division, even administrators using ERI admitted they could not provide full COL allowances, but still wanted to continue using the software. Leaders also noted that many church workers rely on high-earning spouses to make ends meet. Questions raised included whether the NAD can subsidize ERI software for unions and if the basic wage factor should be higher. A representative comment was, “Everybody’s financial situation is so scattered, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.”

Reassessing the status quo was a theme in several other presentations. James Winegardner, Adventist Risk Management president, explored a one-rate healthcare benefits plan, weighing its benefits (simplicity, cost predictability, collective risk sharing) against its drawbacks (initial costs, regional inequities). Attendees were open to the idea, pending more data on its financial impact. In a presentation titled “IT is possible,” Milton Sand, NAD Information Technology Services director, discussed division-wide IT challenges and possible solutions, including employing shared IT services and developing a pipeline for recruiting and training IT and human resource professionals.

Brainstorming Creative Ways to Confront the Pastor and Teacher Shortage

A session titled “Church Employee Shortage: Strategies and Marketing,” led by Ivan Williams Sr., NAD vice president of strategy and leadership, prompted much debate. Williams revealed that 94 percent of conference and union leaders surveyed reported shortages of pastors, teachers, and other church workers. He shared that pastoral attrition is driven by retirement, with 880 pastors currently eligible for retirement, transitions to administrative roles, and issues such as conflict with members, lack of support, theological differences, and remuneration. 

Participants shared best practices from their territory, including:

• Offering theology and education major scholarships, which tripled the number of incoming theology majors and boosted education majors by nearly 50 percent in one union, and added four new teachers to the workforce in another;
• Supplementing educators’ salaries for their first three years, which helped one union hire 22 new teachers; and
• Accepting second-career and associate degree teachers and second-career pastors.

Other suggestions included offering student loan forgiveness and signing bonuses, raising salaries through NAD-wide policy, supporting women pastors in pursuing their calling, and providing mentorship for prospective church workers. The group also discussed the importance of encouraging the younger generation, including children, toward ministry. 

One administrator shared that her then-nine-year-old daughter, expressing interest in children’s ministries, was appointed junior children’s ministries leader under her pastor's mentorship. Over four years, she has attended ministry meetings, helped plan initiatives, and given reports. Recently, she asked her mom what it takes to become a pastor. This leader stated, 'If she could start at nine, why not take our young people once they’re baptized and get them involved in ministries? Give them what they can do, bite-sized, challenge them, and help them grow, and maybe they’ll consider [becoming Adventist pastors or teachers]."

The group considered intentional recruitment strategies, such as online promotions, pastor and teacher testimonies, and a central website for pastoral jobs, similar to the education jobs site. They were encouraged to post jobs on the Adventist Learning Community job board (click here). 

This segment ended with a simple prayer: “Lord, help us invest in kids in a way that will inspire them to finish the work.”

The final segment on October 31 involved voting on possible changes for further consideration. Focus areas included exploring shared digital assets and payroll functions at the union level, receiving 95 percent and 80 percent approval, respectively. HR support at the union level garnered 66 percent approval, and a single employer plan for Adventist Healthcare 67 percent. Seventy-seven percent were in favor of seeing more data on the benefits of keeping funding for the defined benefit retirement as is versus reducing contributions; and 92 percent supported taking a three-pronged approach to increasing wages: 1) a stronger stewardship emphasis; 2) increasing organizational efficiencies; and 3) using retirement funding before or after being fully funded. Finally, 85 percent supported investing in a division-wide employee awareness and recruitment campaign.

Bryant noted that, unlike the Dulles discussion, where some items required constituency meeting decisions, “these decisions are within our purview and ability to make happen.”

Next Steps

Bryant asserted that this meeting was just the beginning of enhanced collaboration among the division’s conference and union leaders. 

He presented these next steps:

• Asking the NAD IT Services team and union IT directors to develop some recommendations for shared services; 
• Asking NAD retirement to bring data from consultants on staying the course on fully funding; and
• Asking NAD ministerial, education, and administration to devise a recruitment strategy and plan for teachers and pastors.

Participants were also given April 21, 2025, as a potential date for a follow-up Zoom meeting. 

As he concluded, Bryant thanked the administrators for their presence. “It’s been a delight to have all of you here.” He then spoke on his recent trip to Papua New Guinea, where he, GC leader Ted N.C. Wilson, and others led evangelistic efforts resulting in 300,000 baptisms. Local church leaders and members had taken advantage of COVID-19 restrictions to form small groups of 10, which multiplied into 100,000 groups, preparing hearts for baptism before the evangelists arrived. Bryant said, “If God can do that in Papua New Guinea, then maybe God is using our challenges to get us to do something we wouldn't do [otherwise].”

Bryant prayed for a fresh daily baptism of the Holy Spirit as division leaders tackle various complexities. He underscored, “Lord, help us look at these challenges and concerns as opportunities for a new day, [so] we can advance your church forward and finish what You've given us to do so we can go home.” 

Other Pre-NAD YEM Meetings

The NAD building was abuzz with several other meetings before NADYEM.

The NAD Children’s Ministries advisory offered participants an overview of the new “Alive in Jesus” children’s Sabbath School curriculum and curriculum training opportunities. 

Notably, the Baby Steps and Beginner Sabbath School curriculum will launch in 2025, and Kindergarten and Primary in 2026. Click here for more info. 

The Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU) board discussed values and branding, namely how to communicate the benefits of Adventist education to members. They also addressed ways to maintain and improve enrollment, which has risen after a decade of decline. Click here for an AACU Board press release on enrollment. 

The annual ARM Presidents’ Symposium brought union presidents together to discuss risk management issues, policy updates, and initiatives. Their tagline is “Our ministry is to protect your ministry,” thus this meeting informs leaders about available risk management services. 

Other gatherings before NADYEM included the compensation review committee, Message magazine advisory, and the NAD Officers and Union Presidents committee.