On June 29, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s General Conference Executive Committee met to receive the name of Judy R. Glass, the recommendation for division treasurer, from both the North American Division’s standing nominating committee and executive committee.^* Glass was confirmed in a 99 percent affirmative vote and is the first woman to serve as treasurer for the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“I am happy to have Judy R. Glass joining our executive team in this historic moment. This is the most diverse executive team in our history. I believe God has uniquely equipped and prepared her to serve the church in North America at this moment,” NAD president G. Alexander Bryant, who chaired both division meetings, said.

Bryant continued, “She has served the church faithfully and dutifully in various aspects during the past 25+ years. By God’s grace, with her appointment, we will aggressively move the mission of the church forward — and soon our Lord will return. Let’s pray for her as she assumes her new responsibilities.”

Glass is set to replace Randy Robinson, who will retire on July 31 after serving the church for 40 years. Robinson was officially voted to serve as treasurer for the North American Division in November 2018 during the NAD Year-End Meeting and was re-elected at the 2022 General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri.

“It has been such an honor to serve as treasurer of the North American Division for the last nearly five years. For most of that time, Judy has served as under treasurer and has shown herself to be an outstanding administrator,” Robinson said. “Without any reservation, I support her election to this position. I am confident that God will use her to guide this great division financially and to support the mission He has called us to.”

Upon learning of the voted decision, Glass said, “It is a privilege and honor to be asked to serve as the North American Division treasurer/CFO. God has blessed me with amazing mentors throughout my career, and I appreciate the investment each one made in me. I look forward to seeing how God’s plans for our church will unfold and how I may be of service in my new role.”

Glass has served as the NAD under treasurer since November 2019. In that role, Glass helped manage the division’s budget and oversaw the day-to-day operations of NAD treasury and its staff. Previously, Glass served as the chief financial officer of AdventSource, where she worked for ten years, leading the ministry to pay off its debt and build a building, among many other accomplishments.

Glass also served as an adjunct teacher in the Union College Division of Business & Computer Science in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1996, 2013 to 2015, and 2019. She is no stranger to the region, having worked as an associate administrator/CFO for the NAD Retirement Plans from 2006 to 2009.

Before that, Glass was the business manager at Spring Valley Academy in Centerville, Ohio, from 1997 to 2006; and business manager for both College View Academy and Helen Hyatt Elementary in Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1994 to 1997. Her first role after college was assistant treasurer for Great Lake Adventist Academy in Cedar Lake, Michigan, where she served from 1991 to 1994.

Glass received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with emphases in accounting and management, from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1991. In 2008, she earned her Master of Business Administration from Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) in Takoma Park, Maryland.  

Glass joins Bryant and executive secretary Kyoshin Ahn as the leadership team of the NAD, a territory with more than 1.2 million members in Bermuda, Canada, Guam, Micronesia, and the United States.

^* All world division executive officers serve as elected officers of the General Conference, and their nomination and election by the region they represent must be approved by the General Conference Executive Committee. NAD meetings leading to the GC meeting were held virtually via Zoom with a previously used electronic voting process that utilizes mobile phone technology.

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.