Marcos Faiock Bomfim Elected New Stewardship Director

By Adventist Review staff

Annual Council delegates chose a group of General Conference departmental staff, filling positions that come up for appointment every five years after a General Conference Session and a few elections that were deferred from the GC Session last July.

The nominating committee started two days of meetings at noon Sunday and returned to deliver its report to delegates about three hours later.

Delegates approved all nominations unanimously and without comment.

The elected staff are:

• Marcos Faiock Bomfim, a native of Brazil, was elected director of the General Conference’s Stewardship Ministries department, replacing Erika F. Puni, who had held the position since 2005. Marcos Faiock Bomfim most recently worked as director of Stewardship Ministries for the South American Division.

• Planned Giving and Trust Services got a new director with the election of Dennis R. Carlson. The previous director retired. Charles B. Simpson was returned as associate director, while the position of the second associate director remains unfilled.

• Sam Neves and Tanya Holland were elected as associate directors to the General Conference’s communications department, replacing Garrett Caldwell, who accepted a public relations position at Loma Linda University, and André Brink, who was appointed on Sunday as associate editor of digital media for the Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines. Neves is an associate pastor in Watford, Britain, and leader of the development team behind the popular Adventist game app “Heroes the Game.” Holland most recently worked as design manager at the General Conference’s communications department.

• Elias Brasil de Souza was appointed director of the Biblical Research Institute, replacing Artur A. Stele, who had held the position for five years and was elected to a second five-year term as a general vice president of the Adventist world church at the General Conference Session last July. Elias Brasil de Souza previously worked as an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute, a position he had held since 2012. Three associate directors were reappointed to the Biblical Research Institute: Kwabena Donkor, Ekkehardt F.R. Mueller, and Clinton L. Wahlen. They were joined by a new associate director, Frank M. Hasel.

• David Trim was reappointed director of the Office of Archives, Statistics and Research and named editor of the new online Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists.

• Bill Knott was returned as editor-in-chief and executive publisher of the Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines, as were his two associate editors, Gerald Klingbeil and Lael Caesar. André Brink joined them as a new third associate editor overseeing digital media.

The nominating committee will meet again Monday to select nine field secretaries.