How The Seventh-day Adventist Church Is Organized
The congregations in a given geographical area such as a state or province makeup a local conference. In the United States, populous states may be divided into more than one conference (California, for example, has four conferences), while in less populated areas, a conference may include two states (North and South Dakota are a single conference).
The local conference appoints ministers for individual congregations. Adventist ministers are all paid from the tithes sent to the local conference by the members of its individual congregations – and all the ministers receive the same, salary whether their congregation is large or small.
A number of local conferences together form a union conference. Nine union conferences, for example, cover the United States and Canada. The entire world is divided into eleven divisions — each composed several union conferences. Together, these divisions make up the worldwide level of church government called the General Conference.
The world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church – its General Conference — is located in Washington, D.C. The chief executive of the church is its president, who is elected (or re-elected) every five years at a General Conference session. Delegates from each level of church government convene for this quinquennial session to hear and transact business that relates to the world church.