The Adventist Church in Australia Has Elected a New President

By: Adventist Record and Australian Union Conference, and Adventist Review

Terry Johnson, Michael Worker, and Peter Cameron have been elected as leaders of the Australian Union Conference (AUC) in the South Pacific Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The elections come following the first day of the sixth AUC Constituency Meeting, conducted virtually due to current COVID‐19 restrictions.

Johnson’s appointment as president comes after Jorge Muñoz, the incumbent AUC president, indicated his intention to step aside earlier this year. Muñoz expressed a desire to return to local church ministry after 16 years in church administration.

Johnson has ministered in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia as a local church pastor and conference youth director. He was president of the Western Australian Conference before moving to his current role as president of the Greater Sydney Conference. He has been married to his wife, Kimberly, for 28 years, and they have two children, Kyrstin (22) and Alec (17).

“We wish Pastor Johnson and his wife, Kimberly, God’s richest blessings as they step into this new season of ministry,” Muñoz said. “Terry is a passionate, Spirit‐led leader who will continue to foster creative personal and public evangelism strategies to reach our communities.”

Johnson said he knows he’s up for a big challenge. “It is daunting, but mostly it is humbling to be called to this position,” he said. “The time we spent in prayer as a family convinced us that this was the Lord’s calling.

He added, “There is not a day that goes by where I look at my limitations and wonder how the Lord is going to use me to bless His church, and I am honored He has given me this opportunity,” Johnson said. “Jorge is such a wise man and a great leader; he has done a great job, and it will be hard to follow in his footsteps.”

Worker and Cameron will continue as AUC secretary and chief financial officer (CFO) respectively and, together with Johnson, will lead the Seventh‐day Adventist Church in Australia for the rest of the quinquennium (2020‐2025).

“We are looking forward to working with Terry and pray that God can use us as instruments to help further His work and be a blessing to the church in Australia,” Worker said.

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.