Every four years, hundreds of Adventists gather from across the Northern California Conference for a constituency session where they cast important votes and interact with NCC officials. On May 21, 476 delegates assembled at the Pacific Union College church for such a session.

“I’m here to take votes and put the officers in for the next four years,” said Frances Alton, a member of the Sacramento-Capitol City church.

One of the first orders of business was the election of the three NCC officers. An overwhelming majority of the delegates, in the 90 percent range, voted for incumbents James E. Pedersen, president; Mark L. Blue, executive secretary; and John D. Rasmussen, treasurer.

“I'm absolutely humbled by the level of support shown for our entire team,” said Pedersen. “And I have a great deal of excitement about what God is going to do through people here in northern California.” Blue also emphasized the need for God to work through the officers. “With God's help, we will work together to get the job done in our lifetimes,” said Blue. “I will be praying and working for the body of Christ, as we work together for Him.”

The delegates then elected the 10 departmental directors and ethnic coordinators. The incumbents again filled each position, as every director and coordinator won with yes votes in the same high range as the administrators. “We’ve got a great team here at Northern,” said Stephanie Kinsey, communication director. “I’m glad we will all get to work together for another four years.”

Also, the members of both the conference executive committee and the constitution and bylaws committee were approved for the next four years, based on the recommendations from the nominating committee.

Once the elections had concluded, the delegates then dealt with two proposed changes to the constitution. The first vote was on a motion to eliminate the mid-term constituency session. While the motion received 228 yes votes and 196 no votes, the motion failed due to a lack of a two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional change.

The second vote dealt with a motion to make the administrator or director of each conference-owned facility, such as Leoni Meadows and Napa Valley Adventist Retirement Estates, an ex officio constituency delegate. This motion passed with more than the necessary two-thirds majority. The delegates referred an additional item, the suggestion of the dissolution of the lay advisory committee, to the executive committee for action, since this committee is not set forth in the bylaws.

In addition to voting, delegates heard reports from Pedersen, Blue and Rasmussen. Before the meeting concluded, the delegates also had an opportunity to publicly address conference officials with questions, concerns and general comments.

“What impressed me among many other things was to hear the comments of our people in the open session,” said Richard Dena, Hispanic ministries coordinator. “Their interest and passion for our young people and the need to make our Christian education available to all was remarkable.”

While there were 669 official delegates from all 153 churches in the NCC, 476 delegates were actually in attendance. Even though not every delegate was present, there were enough to form a quorum and deal with the necessary business matters. “We appreciate the faithful support of the constituents,” said Rasmussen. “The continual dedicated service they give is a blessing to everyone in northern California.”

The 2006 constituency session adjourned at 12:35 p.m., making it one of the shortest meetings in the annals of the NCC. “The record time to do business was a combination of no hot issues and strong confidence in the leaders,” said Tom Mostert, president of the Pacific Union.

Upon the meeting’s adjournment, many people felt that it had been a successful event. “Time was given to people to voice their concerns, and it was done in a peaceful manner,” said Di Ann Randleman, a member of the Yountville-Signs Memorial church. “We were praying for peace and unity and I felt God answered our prayers.”

Ron Stretter, Napa Valley Adventist Retirement Estates administrator, who previously had served as a youth director for 25 years, also felt the meeting went really well. “I can say that this session showed the most loyal support and Christian spirit between leadership and constituency that I have ever seen,” said Stretter. “God can truly bless such unity and cooperation.”