Jay Gallimore to Retire from Michigan Conference Presidency
December 7, 2017: Jay Gallimore, the president of the Adventist denomination’s Michigan Conference and an outspoken opponent of women’s ordination, has announced that he will retire from the office on January 31, 2018.
His December 6 announcement (sent out to conference officials, pastors, teachers and its lay advisory coordinating committee) is printed in full below:
Dear Friends,
Yesterday on December 5, at the Michigan Conference Executive Committee [MCEC], I shared that I would be retiring from the office of the President of the Michigan Conference January 31, 2018, after which I would be taking my vacation.
It has been my privilege and joy to serve the Lord in ministry in Michigan. You have been a wonderful and fantastic support to my work and the ministry of this conference. Your dedication, love and commitment to the Lord and His cause are deeply cherished. Watching the Lord use each of you with your talents and abilities to minister to the churches and schools and the citizens of this state has brought a great deal of satisfaction and value to my own life. This conference is so blessed to have such faithful, loving and devoted members that serve the Lord in His churches. Their devotion to the cause of God inspires all of our hearts and I am so grateful for them.
The Michigan Conference constitution calls for the previous nominating committee from the Constituency Session of the Conference to join the Michigan Conference Executive Committee, under the chairmanship of the Union President, to elect a new president. Elder Maurice Valentine, Union President, met with the MCEC yesterday and is working on the dates for this committee to meet. We will share the date for their meeting when it becomes firm. Thank you in advance for your prayers for this committee as it does its work.
In the days ahead may the Holy Spirt [sic] guide and direct the treasured Michigan Conference with its churches and schools, as it continues to carry out its part in hastening the soon coming of the Lord. May it every [sic] be faithful to His dear cause.
As I move into retirement, it is my plan to continue to add my efforts to yours in winning souls and building up the kingdom of our precious Savior. “Even so come Lord Jesus.”
Yours In Christ,
Jay Gallimore