The Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian Denomination which is distinguished by having an observance on Saturday, which is the Seventh day of the week in Christian and Jewish Calendars. The theology of Adventist Church corresponds with the common Evangelical Protestant Christian Teachings like the trinity and infallibility of Scripture. The World Adventist church is governed by a General Conference with small regions governed further by divisions, union conferences and local conferences. The Adventist church currently has a membership of about 18.1 million baptized members and it is the 12th largest religious body in the world as of 2007. The local hierarchy of the Adventist Church is given below. The details will make it easy for you to understand the local governance of Adventist Church.
- Pastor: The Pastor is the most prominent church officer or minister. The Adventist Church followers are the ones who believe that pastors are divinely called to ministry and are ordained by the church for their ministry. The position of the pastor is appointed by a local conference and when the minister transfers to the local church to work as a pastor, he transfers his membership to that local congregation. The pastors do not necessarily need to follow celibate priesthood as Adventists believe in clerical marriages.
- Elders: The Elder works with the pastor in the local church. He is usually appointed by the local church and ordained by the local pastor. He is seen as the Christian religious leader of the local church and has the authority to conduct ordinances. The elders are mostly responsible for running the church and distributing the responsibility of the church to their further juniors. The local elder only has his limitations to the local church which he or she is been serving.
- Deacon: The Deacon, just like the elder is an elected and ordained role position. The primary responsibilities of the deacon are assisting in running the services of the church, visitation of members and caring the sick of the church’s trust. They are also responsible for maintaining the church property.
- Deaconess: The Deaconess holds a similar position to that of the deacon. Initially, there was no provision given for the induction of the deaconess but in 2010, conduction of the induction was decided. The duties of the deaconess are similar to that of the deacon, where particular emphasis is given on assisting in the care of the sick and running the services of the church.
- Church Clerk: This is an elected position and he is responsible for keeping and maintaining the records of the church. The Clerk facilitates the addition and removal of members from the church records on the request of the church. He helps in generating the reports of the church at various conferences.
- Treasurer: The treasurer is an elected position who is responsible for keeping and taking care of the church funds. The treasurer is responsible for taking care of the accounts of the church and safeguarding the money received by the church. He has to maintain all the account books regularly.
This is the structure of Adventist Church Hierarchy. Also know about Evangelical Church Hierarchy.