At the 62nd General Conference Session (World Synod) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, delegates from Central and Southern Europe elected further individuals to leadership positions in their transcontinental church administration (Inter-European Division, Bern).
Ventsislav Panayotov was re-elected as the leader of the Department of Pastoral Services, the Department of Chaplaincy, and Leadership Development. Pastor Panayotov is a graduate of Friedensau University of Applied Sciences and has been the president of the Bulgarian Union since 2010. Previously, he served there as the head of the Youth Department and the director of the Bulgarian Theological Seminary.
Vartuhi Panayotova, also from Bulgaria, was re-elected as the leader of the Ministerial Spouses Association. Florian Ristea was re-elected as the head of the Departments for Sabbath School and Personal Ministries, as well as for Adventist Mission. Pastor Ristea has extensive experience in various areas of evangelism and works, among other things, for Hope TV Romania, the Bible Correspondence School, and other specific programs and projects.
Paulo Sérgio Macedo was re-elected for the Communication Department and the Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty. He holds a degree in International Relations and a Master's in Strategic Communication and has been working in the field of religious freedom since 2006.
The new leader of the Youth Department will be Jonatan Bosqued. He has been responsible for youth work in the Adventist Church in Spain and will succeed Jonatan Tejel, who will move to the Adventist University of Sagunto in Spain as a campus chaplain.
Bosqued has been serving since 2017 as the Director of Youth, Pathfinders, and Adventurers for the Spanish Adventist Union, a position he continues to hold to this day.
Marius Munteanu was re-elected as the head of the Education Department. Before being first elected as the head of the Education Department and the Adventist Chaplaincy Service in 2015, he served as president of the Adventist Theological University in Cernica (Romania) from 2010 to 2015 and as president of the Adventist Church in Romania from 2014 to 2015.
Dagmar Dorn continues as the head of the Women's Department. Before taking on this position, Dagmar was the deputy head of obstetrics at Bülach Hospital in Switzerland from 2009 to 2018.
More about the Inter-European Division
The Inter-European Division (EUD) encompasses the area of the transcontinental Adventist Church administration in Central and Southern Europe (Inter-European Division), which includes 20 countries (Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Vatican City) with a total population of around 340 million. Approximately 184,000 Adventists gather in over 2,500 local congregations in this region.
