South Colombian Union Conference

The South Colombian Union Conference is one of the 24 unions that constitute the Inter-American Division and one of the two unions established in Colombia. The South Colombian Union Conference comprises the following territory: the departments of Amazonas, Boyaca, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Meta, Guaviare, Huila, Narino, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes y Guainia, and the western center region of Caldas, Bogota, Central District; comprising the Central Colombian, East Los Llanos, Pacific Colombian, South Bogota, South Colombian, and Upper Magdalena Conferences; and the Northwestern Bogota and Boyaca, South Andean, and South Pacific Missions. As of June 30, 2019, the general population of the territory of the South Colombian Union Conference was 28,315,679. There were 743 churches and 157,956 baptized members.¹ Its headquarters office is at Race 45 A # 94 - 31, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

Organizational History

The Colombia Mission was organized in 1922² and its first president was Pastor E. M. Trummer. The address of the mission office was: Section 599, Bogota, Colombia. The members of the executive committee were E. M. Trummer (president), L. V. Cleaves, Fred Brower, F. C. Kelley, and Antonio Redondo.³ In 1927 the Colombia-Venezuela Union Mission was organized, and its territory included the republics of Venezuela and Colombia, and the islands of Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba. The postal address of the union office was P.O. Box 313, Cali, Colombia. The first president was Pastor H. E. Baasch and the secretary-treasurer was Pastor J. B. Ross. The Colombia-Venezuela Union Mission was made up of five missions: Atlantic Colombia Mission, Antioquia Mission, Central Colombia Mission, Pacific Colombia Mission, and Venezuela Mission.⁴

In 1989 the Colombia-Venezuela Union was reorganized and the Colombian Union Mission was born. Then in 1993 the status was changed to Colombian Union Conference.⁵ Thanks to the development and growth of this union, the birth of a new union took place in Colombia as a response to the need to execute missionary strategies in the great cities of the country, especially Bogotá. This capital city has an approximate population of 8,000,000 inhabitants, and the new union will attend to the growth of its parishioners and the local fields that were projected for the immediate future.

In 2003 the administrators of the Colombian Union, Pastor Eliseo Bustamante, Pastor Pedro Iglesias, and Fernando Salazar, visualized the vast territory of the country and the growth of recent years and considered the feasibility of restructuring the Colombian Union and creating an experimental union based in the city of Bogotá. At that time the union had 201,000 members and 869 organized churches. On June 3, 2003, the executive committee voted to accept the commission’s recommendation and the newly configured union was approved. It would be made up of the Upper Magdalene Conference, the Pacific Conference, and the South Colombian Region. To administer and attend to this new project, the union board appointed as vice president Pastor Pedro Iglesias, with delegated authority of the president.⁶

On September 23, 2003, in a meeting held in the city of Paipa, the purchase of a property for this headquarters was approved.⁷ On February 26, 2004, the public deed number 225 was signed at the notary 27 of Bogotá, acquiring the property located in Race 45, A # 94-31 in the La Castellana neighborhood, from which the South Colombian Union Conference would be served. The experimental union would begin its work in the city of Bogotá on January 2, 2004.⁸

As a result of the growth and development of this experimental project, the leaders of the Colombian Union suggested to the higher entities the creation of a new union. With this initiative in mind, on March 8, 2005, the union executive committee convened a special constituency meeting and requested the creation of the new union.⁹ This meeting was formally held from April 1 to 3, 2005, in the municipality of Cachipay, Cundinamarca, near the capital of Colombia. Seventy-five delegates from the six local fields, administrators, and departmental directors of the Colombian Union attended. On April 1 the vote was taken to “Request the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, through the Inter-American Division, to begin the study for the territorial division of the Colombian Association of Seventh-day Adventists.”¹⁰

Upon receipt of this request, the Inter-American Division meeting on November 3, 2008, took a vote to request the General Conference to study the territorial readjustment of the Colombian Union Conference.¹¹ The General Conference received the request of the Inter-American Division and on March 3, 2009, appointed a commission to study the feasibility of creating this new union. The commission was made up of the following people: Pardon K. Mwansa (chair), Agustín Galicia (secretary), Israel Leito, Juan O. Perla, Roy E. Ryan, and Filiberto M. Verduzco-Avila.¹²

The commission presented its report to the General Conference Executive Committee which recommended on April 7, 2010 the reorganization of the Colombian Union, thus officially approving the South Colombian Union Mission.¹³ The Colombian Union voted on May 31, 2010,¹⁴ to hold a constituency meeting in the city of Medellin, Colombia, from July 12 to 14, 2010, where the South Colombian Union Mission was officially born and its departmental directors were appointed.

Keeping in mind the mission statement of “Glorify God, and under the influence of the Holy Spirit, guide each believer to an experience of personal and transformative relationship with Christ, to enable him as a disciple to share the Eternal Gospel with everyone,” the new administration made up of Pastor Eliseo Bustamante (president) and Germán Pérez Villamarín (secretary-treasurer), began their work with the desire to continue the task in close collaboration with the Inter-American Division.

Union Development

In addition to the administrative team, the departmental team of this union was made up of Pastor Héctor Julio Arias García, director of health and education, and ministerial secretary; Pastor Roberto Carvajal, director of stewardship, youth, and chaplaincy; Pastor Álvaro Niño, director of ADRA and religious freedom; Pastor José Aicardo Arias Quintero, director of Sabbath School, personal ministries, and communication; Pastor Juan Caicedo, director of home and family and evangelism; and Clementina de Caicedo, director of women’s ministries and children’s ministries.

The Church has developed in this part of the country despite the low growth of the economy in the years 1990 to 2012,¹⁵ and in the midst of internal conflicts that were experienced as the result of political polarization and other factors.¹⁶ Some of the important factors that contributed to this development was the aggressive evangelism program in each congregation in the territory of the union, the preaching caravans with international evangelists, and the training and equipping lay members for service with evangelistic materials.

As part of the social assistance provided through ADRA, three humanitarian programs were designed to meet some of the needs of the vulnerable population of the territory. These include: “Child feeding program” (CFP), providing food and utensils for school canteens; “Resources for emergencies and disasters” (RED), attending to the victims of natural disasters, so recurrent in our country, with cleaning kits, blankets, and markets; and training displaced communities in beauty and dressmaking courses to generate their own economic resources. In addition, high-income children were encouraged to be generous in giving study kits to low-income children, a program called “Children helping children.”

One of the high moments of this union has been the construction of the headquarters on the property acquired in 2003. It is a five-story, comfortable, and functional building where the union staff currently works. The other important factor has been the commitment of the administrators and departmental directors, the 132 pastors, the hundreds of teachers and employees of the institutions, and the thousands of lay people committed to the mission, which produced a growth in this new union that went from 130,373 members gathered in 531 churches, to 153,027 members gathered in 713 churches in 2015; and went from 132 pastors in 2010 to 145 pastors in 2015. From five local fields in 2005, in 2015 the union had nine local fields. This growth and development allowed for the change of status of the South Colombian Union Mission to the South Colombian Union Conference in June 2015. The most difficult moments have been the death of the union treasurer, Germán Pérez Villamarín, and the receptionist, Olga Velasquez.

In Bogotá, Colombia, the work of the church has grown in recent years to the point of having three local fields that have allowed it to become the most successful region of the union. Growth in the Bogota area challenges the union to also develop the church in the valley of Cauca and the eastern plains, where the country has great potential.

This union’s close relationship with the leaders of the division has allowed it to receive support for all the projects that have been generated for the growth of new local fields. Through a solid organizational structure, well-defined evangelistic programs, and systematic attention to the laity, new territories have been reached and the mission of the church has been accomplished.

Perspective of the Union for the Future

After the General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, the world Church provided a strategic plan which served as the basis for directing the union’s strategic plan.

The motto “Colombia Closer to God” is based on three pillars: Through the first pillar “I approach God,” each member is challenged to recognize their need to strengthen their personal communion with Jesus, by using and producing technological resources that can help fellow members achieve this ideal.

Through the second pillar, “We are getting closer to God,” it is intended that as a community of faith, members participate together in worship, growth, commitment of faith, and development of ministries to accomplish the mission.

The third pillar, “We bring them closer to God,” focuses on evangelistic initiatives, how to reach those we have not reached. We have chosen the “I want to live healthy” program to approach the community in a more friendly way; and “The Road to Christ,” the global mission program to reach the unreached through the distribution of a million books. Through these pillars the union is fulfilling its mission.

Challenges for Progress

The union believes that the biggest challenge it faces is in the area of communication. We need to be able to reach the community through a radio station and be able to use the technological means for the benefit of the mission. A second challenge for the union is education. It is an important means for the foundation of the faith of children, youth, and the church in general. The institutions of the union have flaws in their physical plants and they are in need of resources. There is a need for educational systems that increase the number of Adventist students in Adventist institutions. The third challenge is the involvement of the member with the mission of the church, the development of the discipleship process, and training them to take on the leadership and missionary tasks that result in church growth. And the fourth challenge is to financially consolidate the local fields to be able to advance in the growth of the church.

Lessons Learned from the Past that Serve as a Guide for the Future

Opening new fields resulted in the development of this union because members received more attention, and the number of local church pastors grew. It was certainly a blessing from this perspective. However, there remains the challenge of strengthening educational institutions, leadership development, and training of pastors to face the globalized world we live in, both in learning the English language and in participation in the challenges of the world Church.¹⁷

Executive Administrators

Presidents: Eliseo Bustamante Villabona (2010-2015); Juan Caicedo Solis (2015-present).

Secretaries: Germán Pérez Villamarín (2010); Héctor Julio Arias García (2010-2015); Alvaro Niño Escobar (2015-present).

Treasurers: Germán Pérez Villamarín (2010-2012); Jenny Calderón Romero (2012-2015); Deivy Vega (2015-present).

Sources

Greenleaf, Floyd. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Latin American and the Caribbean Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1972, vol. 1.

Minutes of the GC Executive Committee, March 3, 2009. GC Files. http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/Forms/AllFolders.aspx.

Minutes of the board of directors of the Colombian Union. Colombian Union Archives.

Schwarz Richard W. and Floyd Greenleaf. Bearers of Light–History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Buenos Aires: South American Publishing House Association, 2002.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1923, 1930.

Viana, Yerko. History of Adventism in Bogotá D.C. 1921-2011. Bogota: Department of Communications Association of Alto Magdalena, SF.

Notes

1. “South Colombian Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed April 3, 2020, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=31968&highlight=South|Colombian|Union|Conference.↩

2. Floyd Greenleaf, The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Latin American and the Caribbean (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1972), 1: 134.↩

3. “Colombian Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1923), 176. Accessed March 13, 2019.↩

4. “Colombia Venezuela Union Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1930), 196. Accessed March 13, 2019.↩

5. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, “South Colombian Union Conference,” accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.↩

6. Minutes of the board of directors of the Colombian Union, June 3, 2003, vote 03-020. Colombian Union Archives.↩

7. Minutes of the board of directors of the Colombian Union, September 23, 2003, vote 03-035. Colombian Union archives.↩

8. Pastor Pedro Iglesias Ortega, executive secretary of the Colombian Union, 2000-2010, has provided abundant information on the early years of the Southern Colombian Union.↩

9. Minutes of the board of directors of the Colombian Union, March 8, 2005. Colombian Union Archives.↩

10. Ibid., April 1, 2005.↩

11. Minutes of the board of directors of the DIA, November 3, 2008, vote 08-179. DAY files.↩

12. Minutes of the GC Executive Committee, March 3, 2009. GC Files. http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/Forms/AllFolders.aspx.↩

13. Ibid., April 7, 2010.↩

14. Minutes of the board of directors of the Colombian Union, May 31, 2010. Colombian Union Archives.↩

15. Colombian economic evolution, accessed July 10, 2019.

    https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/economía/evolución-economica-colombiana-articulo-516666.↩

16. Internal armed conflict in Colombia, accessed July 10, 2019.

    https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/conflicto armado interno de colombia.↩

17. Alvaro Niño Escobar, executive secretary of the Southern Colombian Union, interview by author, March 20, 2017.↩