about

 
 
The Victory Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the 86, 576 churches  of the global religious denomination named Seventh-day Adventist.
 
The Seventh-day Adventist church is a Christian denomination, with churches, schools, hospitals and disaster relief agencies located around the world. 
 
Seventh-day Adventist Churches are located in 235 countries and areas of the world as recognized by the United Nations ( Summary of Statistics as of December 31, 2018 – https://www.adventistarchives.org/quick-statistics-on-the-seventh-day-adventist-church)
 
Our Local Conference  (local organization over- seeing all Seventh-day Adventist churches within our locality, of which there are 205 churches –  (https://www.gnyc.org/Find-a-church) is the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (gnyc.org).
 
All Seventh-day Adventist Local Conferences are accountable to a level above called a Union Conference. These Union Conferences report to another level above called a Division and the final administrative level in the operations of Seventh-day Adventist Churches is  a body called the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. This level is the highest level of administration in the global structure of the  Seventh-day Adventist church.
 
The global  Church is organized with a representative form of church government. This means authority in the Church comes from the membership of local churches. Executive responsibility is given to representative bodies and officers to govern the Church. Four levels of Church structure lead from the individual believer to the worldwide Church organization:
The local church is made up of individual believers
The local conference, or local field/mission, is made up of a number of local churches in a state, province, or territory
The union conference, or union field/mission, is made up of conferences or fields within a larger territory (often a grouping of states or a whole country)
The General Conference, the most extensive unit of organization, is made up of all unions/entities in all parts of the world. Divisions are sections of the General Conference, with administrative responsibility for particular geographical areas.
 
Each level is “representative.” That is, it reflects a democratic process of formation and election. Local churches elect their own officers and church boards by majority voting. Churches elect delegates to the conferences which meet “in session” every two or three years. Executive authority between sessions is exercised by the Conference Executive Committee and the executive officers (normally President, Secretary and Treasurer), all of whom are elected by the session.
 
A similar process operates for Union sessions usually every five years, and General Conference sessions, at which times officers and committees are elected, reports given and policies decided.
 
Within these four levels the Church operates various institutions. In their world outreach, Adventists serve the whole person and have developed educational, health-care, publishing, media (radio, print, television, web, satellite), and other institutions. The multiple units of the world Church, whether congregations, conferences, health-care institutions, publishing houses, schools, or other organizations, all find their organizational unity in the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in which they have representation.
 
The General Conference is the highest earthly authority for the Church. The General Conference in session, and the Executive Committee between sessions, is the highest organization in the administration of the Church’s worldwide work, and is authorized by its constitution to create subordinate organizations to promote specific interests in various sections of the world.
 
When differences arise in or between organizations and institutions, appeal to the next higher organization is proper until it reaches the General Conference in session, or the Executive Committee at the Annual Council. During the interim between these sessions, the Executive Committee shall constitute the body of final authority on all questions where a difference of viewpoint may develop.
 
Administratively, the world-wide Church has 13 Divisions, which are composed of churches grouped by a collection of missions, fields, or states into unions of churches. The North American Division is one of the 13 Divisions. The Divisions, and headquarters are:
  1. East-Central Africa (ECD) Nairobi, Kenya
  2. Euro-Asia (ESD) Moscow, Russia
  3. Inter-American (IAD) Miami, Florida, United States of America
  4. Inter-European (EUD) Berne, Switzerland
  5. North American (NAD) Columbia, Maryland, United States of America
  6. Northern Asia-Pacific (NSD) Koyang City, Korea
  7. South American (SAD) Brasilia, Brazil
  8. South Pacific (SPD) Wahroonga, Australia
  9. Southern Africa-Indian Ocean (SID) Harare, Zimbabwe
  10. Southern Asia (SUD) Tamil Nadu, India
  11. Southern Asia-Pacific (SSD) Cavite, Philippines
  12. Trans-European (TED) St. Albans, England
  13. West-Central Africa (WAD) Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
  14. NAD Unions and Conference Headquarters
 
 This information was obtained from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists web site. – https://www.adventist.org/en/world-church/