Arizona’s new conference president, Duane McKey, may have challenges in leading the Arizona Conference during the next four years, but apathy among lay members does not appear to be one of them. At least it was not evident at the 27th session of the constituency Sept. 21. When the session started at 10 a.m., 301 of the 387 regular delegates were present, but before the devotional was over, chairs had been added around the walls of the Thunderbird Academy chapel, and every delegate packet had been distributed.

After the academy band performed, McKey challenged the delegates to drink from the fountains of God’s grace and then do His work in Arizona. “The Lord can’t come until the work is done in Arizona,” he said. “The population of Phoenix is projected to double in the next 10 years,” he added. “Will we be watching? Or will we be doing something about it? What if the Lord plans to return in less than four years? What will the church have to look like—and do—to finish the work in less than four years?” McKey challenged church leaders to cast a vision, create a plan, develop innovative funding, and then “just do it.” Delegates responded enthusiastically.

In the Arizona Conference, delegates vote not only who will be president and treasurer for the next four year, but also who will lead the ministry departments. After the president’s devotional, delegates completed secret ballots for all the positions. Duane McKey and Keith Heinrich were reelected as president and secretary/treasurer, and the following ministry directors were elected: Judy McGee, Adventist Book Center; James Edgecombe, Community Services, Prison Ministries and Inner City; Ivan Weiss, Education; Greg Jones, Religious Liberty; Tony Anobile, Youth and Family Life; Donovan Edwards, African-American Coordinator; Omar Greive, Hispanic Coordinator, and Bob Parrish, Native American Coordinator.

The delegates also approved the nominating committee’s suggestion that three ministries be studied further by the conference executive committee before staffing decisions are made: Communication/Development, Ministerial/Evangelism and Trust Services/Stewardship.

As delegates looked over the accomplishments and blessings of the previous four years, there was much to celebrate. Church membership grew by 15 percent to 13,616, including 2,790 people who have joined the church through baptism.

Heinrich reported that tithe has increased at a steady rate during the last four years, from $6.47 million in 1999 to $7.64 million in 2002. Thunderbird Academy operated in the black during the 2002-2003 school years, the first time that has happened in many years. But Camp Yavapines has continued to sustain operating losses in recent years, in spite of renting it to non-Adventist groups and providing groups with accommodations and meal services. In order to reduce the losses, Heinrich said, the camp will no longer provide meals or be rented to outside groups.

On a happier note, delegates were pleased to welcome the following new churches into fellowship: Adventist Worship Center (Phoenix), Avondale Spanish, Chandler Spanish, Foothills Community (Phoenix), Phoenix Deer Valley Spanish and San Luis Spanish.

Two items on the agenda elicited significant discussion. On the first issue, delegates rejected a proposal to reduce the size of the nominating committee because the proposal did not include guarantees that all ethnic and demographic groups would be adequately represented.

The second discussion involved raising money for Thunderbird Academy by leasing part of the school property for commercial development. After discussing several other options, delegates voted to lease out the unused property located between the conference office and existing faculty housing.

Ivan Weiss, superintendent of schools, reported that K-12 enrollment is at its highest level in at least eight years, but the small increase has not kept pace with either the increase in Adventist membership or with increased costs. For those reasons, there is a critical need for more students in our schools. During his presentation on attitudes toward Adventist education in the Arizona Conference, researcher Roy Naden reported to delegates that there are 17 churches in the conference that each has 20 or more students not enrolled in Adventist schools. Naden also reported that Arizona constituents have mostly very positive attitudes toward Adventist schools and Adventist education.