January 29, 2009 – Mandeville, Jamaica…[Nigel Coke/IAD]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the West Indies region elected two of its top leaders during its executive committee meetings yesterday at its headquarters in Mandeville, Jamaica.
Pastor Derek Bignall will serve as the new president of the church in the West Indies along with Pastor Glen O. Samuels will serve as executive secretary.
In accepting his new role, Pastor Bignall thanked the union committee for the confidence placed in him and pledge to carry on the work of his predecessor, Dr. Patrick Allen, who was recently appointed as Governor General of Jamaica.
“This is an awesome responsibility to lead the team at this stage with over 260,000 members in over 700 churches with diverse culture,” said Pastor Bignall. “The path that was planned for the church will be continued and increased. We want every member to catch the vision to share the gospel. We will increase our commitment to community work with the care of the needy and those who are depressed and oppressed. The church will be a lighthouse to Jamaica and the other islands of our Union in this regard. By God’s grace we will achieve these goals.”
Pastor Bignall commended outgoing president Dr. Allen for his visionary and dedicated leadership over the past eight years, which has guided the Union from four Conferences and two Missions in 2000 to its present status of six conferences, two missions and one experimental field.
Prior to his election as president, Pastor Bignall served as Secretary of the Union; a position he occupied since 2005. As a pastor and church administrator, he has served the church at various levels for more than 34 years.
A graduate of West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University), and of Andrews University, Michigan, USA, Pastor Bignall holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and a Master’s Degree in Education. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education at Northern Caribbean University.
Evangelist Pastor Glen O. Samuels joins the church’s headquarter office from leading the West Jamaica Conference as president.
In his closing address to the executive committee, Dr. Allen thanked the administrators, directors, field and institution leaders of the West Indies, the Inter-American Division and the General Conference.
“It is with a sense of anxiety and some burden that I take my leave from you,” said Dr. Allen. “It was so good working with this committee and I laud you for the level of discussion and decision that we made and your support for the vision that we cast in the Union.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the West Indies Union is comprised of territories of Jamaica, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands with over 262,000 members worshiping in over 735 congregations.
