After appointing the Union President, Ruben de Abreu, the delegates gathered at the Ordinary General Assembly at the Valpré Centre in Eculli near Lyon, and appointed the new administrators of the Adventist Union for a period of 5 years.
Pastor Gabriel Goléa is the new Union Secretary, replacing Pastor Jean-Paul Barquon, who is retiring next July.
Gabriel Goléa is a university teacher, pastor and administrator. He served in different churches before transferring to the administration of the Northern France Conference for four years.
After being an administrator, he served at the churches of Neuilly-sur-Seine and that of Paris Sud-Est.
Pastor Philippe Aurouze, Treasurer of the South France Conference, will replace Pierre-Jean Tizio who will retire and move to Saint-Malo.
Philippe Aurouze has been an excellent administrator for several years in Montpellier. He then pastored in Marseille/Aix-en-Provence and Bordeaux, then became the Communication Director in Montpellier at the headquarters of the South France Conference before being appointed as treasurer joining the ministry of committed disciples there.
Philippe Aurouze will be a very strong addition to the French-Belgian Union by promoting good management as he has always done in the past. His reflections on Christian life management was beneficial and appreciated while he assumed responsibility within the Union since 2014 in collaboration with a team of federal officials.
Mario Brito, President of the Inter-European Division, reported the work of the Nominating Committee with the following details:
Education Department: Pascal Rodet
Communications Department: Pedro Torres
Pastoral Association: Ralph Seechurn (retired pastor, volunteer).
Various other services will be filled by the Board of Directors are:
Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Evangelism Department, Adult Bible Studies, Women's Ministry and Health Ministries.
Those appointed to the Board of Directors are the following:
President: Ruben de Abreu, General Secretary: Gabriel Golea, Treasurer: Philippe Aurouze.
Council members are:
Ralph Seechurn (Pastoral Association), Pascal Rodet (Education), Jean-Jack Chafograck (FFN President), Daniel Monachini (FFS President), Jeroen Tuinstra (FBL President), Jean-Philippe Lehmann (Institution, Adventist Campus), Jeanine Marois (FFN), David Charliot (FFN), Karine Rouvière (FFS), Evelyne Andrade (FFS), Maria Delgado (FBL), Ana Sinôes (FBL) and permanent guest Pédro Torres (Communications Director).
The French-Belgian Union is comprised of 17,874 Adventist members registered in the churches in the three conferences: France-North (10,413 members), France-South (4,756 members) and Belgian-Luxembourg Conference (2,705 members).
According to the report of the outgoing Secretary General, Jean-Paul Barquon, the percentage of growth as of December 31, 2017 was as follows: for the Northern Conference: 3.62%, 227 baptisms and 18 professions of faith; for the South Conference: 2, 87%, 79 baptisms and 14 professions of faith; for the Belgian-Luxemburg Conference: 3.28%, 57 baptisms and 17 professions of faith.
