Inter-American Division Becomes First to Hold Secretariat Academy Training

Union executive secretaries gain practical tools in governance, membership care, policy, and administration during the four-day training.

August 20, 2026 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

Strengthening the work of Secretariat as a vital part of church mission was at the center of a four-day Academy that brought executive secretaries from across the Inter-American Division (IAD) to its headquarters in Miami, Florida, Aug. 2–5, 2026.

Through presentations, workshops, and small-group discussions, union executive secretaries addressed governance, policy, membership management, records, strategic planning, parliamentary procedures, and other responsibilities, while sharing practical approaches they can apply across their territories.

Pastor Gerson Santos, associate secretary of the General Conference (GC), said Inter-America is the first world division to begin training under the newly launched GC Secretariat Academy.

“This is a historic event,” Santos said, explaining that the global program had been launched only days earlier. “Inter-America is beginning the first training of the Academy.”

Building Competence for Mission

Pastor Selom Sessou, associate secretary of the GC and coordinator of the GC Secretariat Academy, said the initiative responds to the need for specialized preparation among executive secretaries, many of whom enter the position after years in pastoral or evangelistic ministry.

“We realized that there is a gap,” Sessou said. The Academy is designed to build the “knowledge and competency to perform the task with confidence and accuracy,” while strengthening efficiency, organization, time management, and problem-solving.

During the four-day Academy, participants received training on the role of the executive secretary, working policy, parliamentary procedures, strategic planning, calls and their processes, union reporting, Secretariat evaluation, statistical data interpretation, records management, church planting, Adventist Volunteer Service, VividFaith, and software and resources for Secretariat work at the local-field and local-church levels.

The Academy’s broader foundational curriculum includes seven modules and 34 lessons covering the spiritual foundations of Secretariat, governance and committee management, policy and constitutional integrity, membership management and disciple-making, records and archives, and the mission of Secretariat.

Sessou said the Academy is intended to provide an ongoing learning environment where leaders can continue developing the competencies needed as administrative and ministry demands evolve.

‘An Agent of Mission’

The spiritual responsibility of Secretariat leadership was also emphasized throughout the gathering.

During a devotional message, Santos reminded participants that church leaders must remain committed to continual growth. “The leadership of God’s church is not a destination; it is a journey of continuous growth,” he said, emphasizing that preserving the church’s unity, integrity, and mission requires both professional development and a life grounded in Christ.

Pastor Pierre Caporal, executive secretary of the IAD, reinforced that perspective in his Aug. 5 devotional, “More Than a Scribe.”

Drawing from the biblical relationship between Jeremiah and Baruch, Caporal described how Baruch’s professional skills became instrumental in preserving and communicating the message God had entrusted to Jeremiah. He challenged executive secretaries to see a similar connection between their responsibilities and their calling.

“One can see in you a simple scribe, or a simple executive secretary, but God sees in you an agent of mission,” Caporal said.

“Let us consecrate all our skills, our professionalism, our influence to God’s mission,” he added.

Caporal also stressed the shared responsibility of church administrators. “The president doesn’t have a different mission from the mission received by the secretary and vice versa,” he said. “The executive secretary receives the same mission.”

Taking the Strategy Across Inter-America

The Academy provides a way to translate that mission focus into stronger Secretariat practices throughout the territory, said Pastor Álvaro Niño, undersecretary of the IAD.

“The General Conference Secretariat presented its strategic plan, and what we are doing is following through,” Niño said. The IAD is taking the strategy to its unions so they, in turn, can carry it to local fields, with an emphasis on leaders who are grounded in Scripture, focused on mission, and equipped to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.

Niño said organizers intentionally moved beyond a traditional lecture format. Participants worked in small groups that paired experienced secretaries with those newer to the position, allowing them to discuss actual situations, ask questions, and share solutions.

“We wanted the executive secretaries themselves to participate in the process,” Niño said. “We didn’t want it to be only a class; we wanted workshops.”

The approach is particularly relevant as leadership transitions bring new executive secretaries into office. In one union alone, Niño said, nine of 11 local-field executive secretaries recently changed, underscoring the need for structured orientation and professional development.

“One of the reasons for the Secretariat Academy is to have a continuous training program,” Niño said.

To sustain that effort, the IAD plans regular follow-up sessions, ideally monthly, and hopes to hold the Academy in person annually when possible. Union executive secretaries are also expected to extend the training to local fields and, ultimately, local church clerks, where much of the denomination’s membership information originates.

Seeing People, Not Numbers

For Niño, accurate information ultimately must lead to better care for members. Behind church statistics “there is a face, there is a story, there is a person,” he said. Membership data can help leaders strengthen pastoral care, improve retention, reconnect with those who have left, and disciple active members for service.

Pastor Daniel Polanco, executive secretary of the Dominican Union, offered one example through the union’s redemptive membership review process.

“We have seen in the Dominican Union [a move] from a technical office, an administrative office focused on cleaning lists, crossing out names, to seeing people instead of numbers,” Polanco said. He described Secretariat as “an agency of mission” that can foster care, restoration, and reconnection.

Through the Grupo Especial de Revisión (Special Revision Group), or GER, congregations identify members who may be inactive, difficult to locate, or in need of pastoral attention and organize efforts to reconnect with them.

“The GER is not a tribunal that judges,” Polanco said. “It is a team that cares.”

As the executive secretaries return to their unions, the work begun at the Academy is expected to continue through local fields and congregations, supported by regular training and follow-up. For Niño, stronger Secretariat practices should ultimately translate into better information, more intentional member care, and greater support for the church’s mission.

“Intentionality is what makes the difference,” Niño said.