Idaho Conference delegates, met Sunday, May 20, and re-elected officers Stephen L. McPherson, president, Donald A. Klinger, secretary, and Harold R. Dixon III, treasurer.
Delegates also confirmed several departmental positions: Klinger, who serves as vice president for administration, as director of the communication and trust services departments; Dixon, also vice president for finance, as ASI and stewardship director; Paulette Jackson as education director; and Ervin Furne, Nampa Church pastor, as ministerial director in addition to his pastoral duties.
The other major item of note during the day's agenda was discussion of an endowment for Gem State Adventist Academy to keep alive the vision that Dean Dennis and C.M. Muncey had when the academy was relocated to the present site 40 years ago. The challenge: how to solve a growing shortfall in funding. At question was a proposal to investigate the sale of a portion of the academy's 385-acre property to fund an endowment. At a special 2006 constituency session delegates approved the creation of three committees to explore both short- and long-term visions for the academy, investigate options for the development or sale of the current property, and develop investment and management strategies for a potential endowment.
During this session, delegates gave these committees further approval to move ahead on a) a long-term vision for the academy, b) a master plan for academy land development, and c) specific strategies for an endowment fund. The Visioning Committee is chaired by Paulette Jackson; the Land Use Committee by Stephen McPherson; and the Endowment Management Committee is chaired by Robert Hastings, North Pacific Union Conference Association treasurer.
In closing, McPherson challenged delegates to ask hard questions. "How can we make the adjustments that enable our church to remain relevant in this changing world? How do we change while remaining true to our unique core values?" He urged each member to prayerfully invest in three areas of personal and corporate focus: 1) Nurture—re-establishing an Adventist culture that highlights the spirituality of members, and raises a generation of children to be spiritual champions; 2) Outreach—creating an evangelistic climate that dynamically retools churches from an institutional focus back to that of a movement; and 3) Endowment—working together on the future of Adventist education so that every child can attend an Adventist school.
Following its 51st constituency session, the Idaho Conference now looks ahead. With just over 6,300 members spread throughout southern Idaho and a portion of eastern Oregon, conference leadership is encouraging members to become invested in greater evangelistic growth. During the end of October, the conference will host two simultaneous evangelistic series, in English at the Cloverdale Church in Boise, and in Spanish at the Caldwell Church. The English meetings will be rebroadcast Nov. 10–17 on the Hope Channel.
Idaho Conference officers and their wives, from left, Harold, vice-president for finance, and Janelle Dixon; Steve, president, and Sharon McPherson, Linda and Donald, vice president for administration, Klinger.
Delegates to the Idaho Conference Constituency Session vote on a Gem State Academy issue by raising their voting cards.
During the discussion about the use of academy land, delegates examine a land use map which detailed potential sale parcels as well as areas to keep.
The Gem State Academy Chorale under the direction of Ben Purvis sang during the devotional time at the 51st Idaho Conference Constituency session.
Newly re-elected Idaho Conference president Steve McPherson led the discussion about the establishment of a foundation to help support Gem State Academy.
