Although the Nevada-Utah Conference membership (7,160) is only a little larger than that of the Loma Linda University Church (6,584), its geographic territory, which includes parts of California and Arizona in addition to all of Nevada and Utah, covers nearly half the Pacific Union territory (210,000 of 483,000 square miles). So getting representatives together from all the churches to vote for leaders and make plans every four years, as they did in Las Vegas, May 5-7, is no small challenge.

Because of the travel requirements, delegates from NUC met all weekend — from Friday evening to Sunday noon. The Sabbath hours were devoted to fellowship, praise and reporting God’s blessings.

One hundred ninety-two delegates were present when business began Saturday night. The nominating committee was appointed and immediately met to nominate conference officers. They nominated the incumbents, President Bradford Newton and Secretary/Treasurer Gary Norman, who were then approved almost unanimously by the delegates.

At previous sessions, the members of the nominating committee would have gone back to work immediately after the officers were elected, nominating ethnic ministry coordinators and leaders and associates for the departments in the conference office. But this year, the constitution and bylaws committee had suggested that only the officers, ethnic ministry coordinators and conference committee members be elected at quadrennial session, with the departmental leaders to be appointed at the next meeting of the executive committee. After the delegates approved that suggestion, the nominating committee convened again to listen to presentations and to nominate ethnic coordinators and members of the executive committee and the constitution and bylaws committee.

Delegates voted to make both the Hispanic ministries coordinator and the Regional (predominently African-American) ministries coordinator ex officio members of the constitution and bylaws committee and the executive committee. The delegates then added an additional lay person to the executive committee to retain the ratio of at least 50 percent lay members.

Sunday morning, delegates re-elected the incumbent Hispanic ministries coordinator, Armando Juarez, and the incumbent regional ministries coordinator, Kingsley Palmer.

Norman reported that during the last four years, 1,632 people joined the Adventist family in the NUC through baptism and profession of faith, helping swell the membership from 6,522 to 7,160. During those same four years, 10 groups became companies and seven companies became churches, bringing the total to 45 churches, five companies and five groups.

“We can praise God for His advancement of the church since we last met in 2002,” said Newton. “But we are not home yet. Currently in North America, there is one Seventh-day Adventist for every 325 people. That ratio applied to the NUC would place our membership at 13,390."