Members of the Mid-America Union Executive Committee gathered on Nov. 20, 2025, for their regularly scheduled fall meeting to receive reports, vote on ordination recommendations, and discuss the preliminary budget for 2026. The 38-member group is composed of institutional leaders, pastors, educators and lay members from all six conferences in the union.
The day began with a focus on prayer led by new Union Adventist University chaplain Mollie Duper. She reminded the group that “when we face mighty giants we must pray mighty prayers.” Pastor Mollie shared multiple stories of prayers answered in marvelous ways in her life and also the lives of students at Union Adventist University in the past few months. “Don’t just add prayer to your schedule; build your schedule around prayer,” said Duper before asking the group to spend time praying together in small groups.
The day-to-day of accomplishing mission
During his remarks, MAUC president Gary Thurber introduced new members of the committee. He also paid tribute to LouAnn Howard, former MAUC education director who passed away in September.
Thurber then shared updates from around the union, including the dates for constituency sessions happening in 2026 (two local conferences and the Mid-America Union). Members of the Executive Committee watched a video highlighting some of the 361 Pentecost 2025 projects in churches and schools taking place across the Mid-America territory. Over $1 million in funding for these projects has been received from the North America Division to date.
Thurber also mentioned the newest General Conference evangelism initiative called OneVoice27. This initiative, as described by GC leaders, is a coordinated emphasis for September 2027 in which the Seventh-day Adventist Church will proclaim the gospel “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” through a unified message and an integrated use of media—by media ministries, local churches and individual members.
One of the reasons 2027 has been chosen is that it marks the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus’ baptism and anointing as found in Luke 3:21-22. Specific Bible readings and selections from The Desire of Ages are outlined to accompany OneVoice27.
Membership, policy and finance
Hubert J. Morel, Jr., MAUC vice president for administration, presented the union’s membership report in a printed format, which showed a slight overall increase YTD in membership. The current membership total for the union is 67,119. Morel also brought forward two names for ordination of individuals who serve as chaplains at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. The chaplains have met with the Kansas-Nebraska Conference committee and followed the same preparation for ordination as other pastors.
The committee also received a brief update from NAD undersecretary Jorge Ramirez. One of the things he shared was the creation of a new policy being introduced—NAD Working Policy S 83: Asian Church Building and Scholarship Fund. This recommended policy is designed to support the needs of the church’s rapidly growing Asian membership. Under U.S. Census and eAdventist definitions, “Asian” includes individuals with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (e.g., Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). The proposal suggests a future funding model tied to membership and tithe percentages (a 5% threshold) for Asian and other ethnic groups. The committee received the information as part of ongoing policy alignment discussions.
Financial report
During the financial report, recently-elected MAUC vice president for finance Roy Simpson reported a union-wide tithe gain of 2.14 percent YTD, as of August 2025. Simpson also presented the MAUC 2026 preliminary budget, which was unanimously approved.
Collaboration is key
In the report from Union Adventist University, presented by President Yami Bazan, she shared that the theme this year for UAU is thanksgiving and hope. “These two things must co-exist in the present,” she said, “as we look both to the past and the future.”
Dr. Bazan also shared new initiatives and a number of relevant statistics. She further said that plans are developing with Mid-America Union’s conference youth directors for student recruitment. Repeatedly, Bazan emphasized that collaboration is our key to the future.
The focus on collaboration continued through reports from AdventSource and AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. New hires and new products and processes were highlighted by both organizations. AdventSource president Brad Forbes spoke about the upcoming leadership transition that will occur when he retires in 2026-27 and president-elect Pastor Andre McCloud begins to serve as president.
Sam Huenergardt, Chief Executive Officer for AdventHealth’s Mid-America Region, reported on the new hospital that opened in Lenexa, Kansas. He also highlighted the significant number of AdventHealth leaders who have graduated from Union Adventist University’s business program. Now, due to the nursing shortage, AdventHealth has started a nursing internship program in their area and some of their interns have been Union students.
Education report
Carisa Carr, newly-elected MAUC director of education, showed her passion for Adventist education saying, “Our teachers are growing the future leaders of our church and they are preparing the way for what is coming for the church.” Carr also continued the theme of collaboration in describing the partnerships of our Adventist academies with Union Adventist University. “We are stronger when we connect and collaborate,” she said.
Carr reported that total student enrollment is stable at all levels including early childhood through grade 12. She also shared data from the John Hopkins School Culture Survey showing how the emotional and spiritual classroom environments are strong across the Mid-America school system.
The teacher shortage continues
Currently there are 234 teachers in Adventist schools in Mid-America territory. Unfortunately, several schools did not open this fall because they could not find a teacher. Most of the schools in Mid-America are small schools (one to three teachers) where multiple grades learn in one room. Carr pointed out that Union Adventist University is the only Adventist university that operates a lab school, training teacher graduates to manage multi-grade classrooms. She stated that about 65 percent of our students come from Adventist families, which presents a big opportunity for supporting students on their spiritual journeys.
A week of learning, worship, and presence
The MAUC Executive Committee meeting concludes a busy week for conference leaders of learning, information sharing and team building led by each department of the union. Each morning the group meets together for a time of worship. Earlier in the week Chaplain Duper had reminded Mid-America leaders during her talks not only of the necessity of prayer but also about “living with the rhythm of being in the presence of Jesus” so they would be prepared to help others be in the presence of Jesus. “It’s not so much about productivity,” she concluded. “It’s about presence.”
The next Mid-America Executive Committee is scheduled for April 23, 2026.
