What Happened at the 2026 Advent Christian General Conference Triennial Convention

The following summary highlights the actions taken by the Advent Christian General Conference delegate body at the 2026 Triennial Convention. A total of 211 delegates and 70 guests participated in the meetings:

  • Special voting rule for the 2026 Declaration of Principles ruled unnecessary; amendments out of order.
    Entering the Triennial convention, it was anticipated that a vote would be taken on adopting a special rule that would make the vote on the 2026 Declaration of Principles an up/down measure. This was ultimately set aside as the parliamentarians determined that our bylaws indicate that making amendments at that stage would not have been in keeping with the prescribed process for making changes to the Declaration of Principles, found in Article XII of the ACGC bylaws.

  • Amendment to the Enduring Resolution on Human Dignity
    The Executive Council’s proposed amendment (authored by Karen Hall and Tom Loghry) to the Enduring Resolution on Human Dignity was adopted by the delegate body after the addition of the word “such”. See final updated version here.

  • The 2026 Declaration of Principles failed to garner sufficient support.
    The ACGC bylaws stipulate that a vote of 75% in favor is required to change the Declaration of Principles. After discussion on the floor, the vote to adopt the 2026 Declaration of Principles was taken by ballot of the delegates present. The outcome was a vote of 60.3% in favor (122), 39.6% opposed (80).

  • The 2026 Declaration of Principles was sent back to the Executive Council for further consideration.

    The business and resolutions committee proposed a motion that was adopted:

    Since an update to the Advent Christian Declaration of Principles (DOP) was requested,

    and significant work and thoughtful consideration have already gone into this process; and the

    current revision was not approved by the 2026 Delegate Body; the Business/Resolutions

    Committee moves that the Executive Council continue this work, taking into consideration the

    feedback of the 2026 Delegate Body and following the established process for making changes to the Declaration of Principles (Articles of Association and Bylaws, Article XII).

  • The proposed changes to the articles of association and bylaws were adopted with some adjustments as described.

    Any changes to the articles of association and bylaws require 2/3 majority in favor of the changes. Under Article I, Section 2 of the bylaws, the Declaration of Principles was removed from the originally proposed standards of membership, as seen in the following:

    Section 2.    Membership shall only include those regions, conferences, churches, and associate member organizations, that:

    a.     Affirm and uphold the Advent Christian Statement of Faith

    b.     Affirm and uphold the Enduring Resolutions of the General Conference

    c.     Financially contribute, directly or indirectly, to the ministry of the General Conference

    d.     Cooperate with the provisions set forth in these Articles of Association and Bylaws

    A ballot vote was taken on this section, the result being 154 in favor, 30 opposed, surpassing the 2/3 majority required with 84% in favor.

    The name of the proposed “General Conference Ministerial Committee” was amended throughout to be known as the “General Conference Standards Committee” (GCSC). The GCSC will replace the General Conference Judiciary Committee. See all relevant articles of association and bylaws changes here.

  • The Enduring Resolution on the Intermediate State and Final Punishment was adopted.
    See resolution here.

  • A Resolution Encouraging Healthy Consolidation was passed.
    See resolution below:

    Resolution Encouraging Healthy Consolidation

    Whereas the work of conferences is of tremendous importance to the health of the Advent Christian General Conference;

    Whereas the members of the conference ministerial committees must include a minimum of three ordained ministers and should only include capable lay people;
    Whereas the declining number of churches have left conference volunteers stretched thin and positions vacant;

    Be it therefore resolved that the delegate body recommend that Advent Christian conferences,

    and especially those with less than six churches, seriously consider consolidation with other

    conferences or reducing the positions required to serve the basic needs of their conference;

    and that a copy of this resolution be sent to every conference board of the Advent Christian

    General Conference.

  • New members of the Executive Council and nominating committee elected.
    President - John Tate
    Recording Secretary - RaeAnn McCune
    Member-at-Large - Heath Simpson
    Appalachian Regional Representative - Nancy Miller (ratified)
    Southern Regional Representative - Penny Batten (ratified)

    Nominating Committee: Andrew Sherwood (Appalachian), Mark Woolfington (Central), Nathaniel Bickford (Eastern), Luke Copeland (Southern), Matt Marsh (Western)

  • Resolutions of Honor included:
    Rick Qualls Sr., Steve Epting, Mike Gardner, Tom Loghry, Beth Larkin, Matt Larkin, George Karl, C.J. Nicely, John Gallagher, Dr. Gordon Isaac, Program Committee, Ridgecrest Conference Center, Appreciation for the Children

Thomas Loghry