On Sunday, July 6, delegates at the sixty-second General Conference Session in St Louis (Missouri, US) re-elected Paul Douglas as treasurer of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The motion passed with 1851 votes in favour and 47 votes against.
Dr Douglas has held this position since April 2021, when he was elected to replace outgoing treasurer Juan Prestol-Puesán at Spring Meeting, one of two annual business meetings held at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
A native of Jamaica, Dr Douglas began his service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1986 with the General Conference Auditing Services (GCAS), advancing from audit manager to regional manager, assistant director and finally GCAS director in 2015, a position he held for 14 years.
During his tenure as treasurer, Dr Douglas has been a passionate supporter of the church’s global mission, implementing a strategic framework to mobilise and allocate resources that advance its cause. Dr Douglas said he “is committed to motivating church leaders to think and act differently as the second coming of Jesus Christ nears by being more intentional with a mission strategy; benefiting from integrated efforts among and between all levels of church organisation; and believing that investing for impact is the most effective and efficient way to mobilise resources for mission.”
He emphasised this in his Treasurer’s report during the Friday afternoon business session. “The global treasury team has adopted the theme ‘Mobilising Resources for Mission’ to represent our singular and systematic focus on mission. This is not a slogan for us, but rather serves as our signature commitment to be faithful stewards of the resources, financial, human and technological, that God has provided the church to advance His kingdom.”
Addressing delegates after his election, Dr Douglas said, “I want to thank God for the continued privilege to serve in this capacity. I don’t believe I’m worthy, but I’m willing, knowing that the same God who has called me is the same God that will empower me to do His work.”
Dr Douglas holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loma Linda University, a master’s degree in business administration from California State University and a certificate from the Leadership and Strategic Management program at Cornell University, and has successfully defended his dissertation toward a PhD degree from the Bayes Business School in London, England.
Dr Douglas has been married to Rochelle since 1991 and they have three adult children.
