Southern Conference-Defunct (1994–2000)
By Jón Hjörleifur Stefánsson
Jón Hjörleifur Stefánsson, M.A., is a Ph.D. candidate, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
First Published: October 25, 2021
The Southern Conference was a church unit in Southern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that operated from 1994 to 2000.
Territory and Statistics1
Period: 1994–2000
Territory: The Kzylorda, South Kazakhstan, and Zhambyl Regions, and Kyrgyzstan
Population: 7,348,890
Membership: 1 783
Churches: 31
Origin of Seventh-day Adventist Work in the Territory
Adventists arrived to Central Asia in the late nineteenth century. In 1909, the Turkestan Mission was organized. For information on the origin of Adventist work in South-Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, see the article on that church unit.
From 1931 to 1980, the church units in the Soviet Union were not listed in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. In 1978 and 1979 the Kirghizian and Kazakhstan Districts were organized, respectively. In 1990 they became conferences.
Organizational History
In 1994, the Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Conferences were reorganized. The southern Kazakhstan regions Kzylorda, Shymkent, and Zhambyl were cut off the Kazakhstan Conference and joined to Kyrgyzstan to become the Southern Conference. The headquarters were moved to ul. Magadanskaya 63, Bishkek. Starting members were 1,026. Initial officers were President Rubin R. Ott, Treasurer A. V. Svoboda, E. G. Belyaeva, V. T. Kirshenman, P. S. Rtischev, and K. K. Shnaider.2
Over the few years that the conference existed, membership nearly doubled, from 1,026 to 1,783.
In 2000 the church units in Central Asia were reorganized. The Southern Conference was dissolved. The Kazakhstan regions3 were assigned to the new Southern Kazakhstan Conference, and Kyrgyzstan was added to the Central Asia Conference.4
List of Presidents
Rubin R. Ott, 1994–2000.
Sources
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing, 1990–2011.
Notes
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“Southern Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing, 2000), 116.↩
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For statistics at the commencement of the reorganized conference, see “Southern Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing, 1995), 104.↩
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The Shymkent Region, by then called South Kazakhstan Region, is not listed in the Yearbook.↩
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“Central Asia Conference” and “Southern Kazakhstan Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing, 2001), 117, 118.↩