Cuban Union Conference (Unión Cubana)

Cuban Union Conference is an administrative unit in the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Its headquarters is in Havana, Cuba. It was established in 1905 and reorganized in 1941, 1968, 1979, 1989, 2010, 2019, and 2020.

Territory: Cuba; comprising the Central, Del Amanecer, East, and West Conferences; and the Pinarena, and Villa Perla Missions.

Statistics (June 30, 2024): Churches, 384; membership, 40,427; population, 11,044,000.¹

Institutions

The Colegio Adventista Industrial was established in Bartle, Oriente, Cuba, in 1923.² In 1940, the college changed its name to Colegio Adventista de Cuba and was established in Santa Clara.³ Because of the political situation of the island, in 1967 it was closed and moved to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

In 1969, Cuba Adventist Theological Seminary, now located in Havana, was established to prepare pastors and staff for the Cuban Union Conference. The Union has a printing press that publishes materials needed by the Church in Cuba as well as a recording studio that prepares audio-visual materials for public and personal evangelism.

Organizational History of the Union

An Adventist couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sterquel, who had property in north-central Cuba and were establishing a plantation, were also engaged in self-supporting missionary work in Cuba. In early 1904, Laura wrote a response letter for her husband that finished:

We are trying to do what we can for our Master. We hold our little meetings every Sabbath morning, and prayer-meeting every Tuesday evening. One man has begun to keep the Sabbath, and another one comes to the meetings. Sometimes we have only three and sometimes four.⁴

Pastor W. A. Spicer, secretary of the General Conference Foreign Mission Board, traveled to Cuba and, upon his return, recommended initiating missionary work in the country. Spicer pointed out the opportunities that the country represented to be evangelized, stating:

It is a ripe field for the message of the coming of the Lord with its reformation on the principles of health. One must admire these active, emotional peoples, and the truth as it is in Jesus will surely work wondrously for many of them. But we have not a soul in the field to tell it.⁵

In mid-1904, Isaiah E. Moore and his wife, Lura Collins Moore, who were both recent graduates of the medical missionary nurses’ class, were “appointed to Cuba” by the General Conference as “Missionary Licentiates.”⁶ Mr. and Mrs. Moore stationed in east-central Cuba. In “February 25, [1905,] the first Seventh-day Adventist church in Cuba was organized in Havana with thirteen members.”⁷ In 1905, the General Conference officially organized the Cuban Mission and elected Elwyn W. Snyder as director. Snyder, I. E. Moore, and O. L. Dart were voted as the members of the Cuban Mission Committee.⁸ The mission’s territory included Cuba and the Isle of Pines, and the headquarters were established in Marianao, Cuba.⁹

For many years, the Cuban church grew and expanded throughout the country. By 1935, the Cuba Mission had 30 churches and 1,369 members. At that time, the president was E. J. Lorntz, and the secretary-treasurer was B. Bullard. ¹⁰ An example of the growth that the church in Cuba experienced was seen in the change in status and name from Cuba Mission to Cuba Conference in early February 1935. Pastor E. J. Lorntz, who had been the Cuba Mission’s president, was named president of the Cuba Conference.¹¹

In January 1941, due to the rapid growth of the church and for strategic reasons, the Cuba Conference was divided into two conferences to cover the eastern and western sides of the island of Cuba. The East Cuba Conference had 24 churches and 1,300 members. J. B. Sales was its president, and C. A. Rentfro was its secretary-treasurer. Its headquarters were located in Camagüey, Cuba. West Cuba Conference had 25 churches and 1,160 members. G. C. Nickle was its president, and J. A. Zaragoza was its secretary-treasurer. Its headquarters were located at Vibora, Havana, Cuba.¹²

In 1969, for political and strategic reasons, the East Cuba Conference and West Cuba Conference decided in a joint biennial session to merge into what became known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba. Pastor Pedro de Armas was its president, Alejandro Delgardo was its vice president, and Gervasio Rivas was its secretary-treasurer. Its headquarters remained in Havana. The Church in Cuba was also organized into six provinces, each with its president and secretary-treasurer to cover the entire territory of Cuba. Therefore, the two conferences in Cuba ceased to exist, and the Adventist work in Cuba was officially known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba.¹³

In 1981, the church in Cuba was renamed the Cuban Union Conference, with its headquarters still located in Havana. In April 1989, for political reasons, changes were made in its organizational structure. The provinces that existed merged into three Delegations: West Delegation, Central Delegation, and East Delegation.¹⁴

Due to the rapid growth of the Church in the East Delegation, it became necessary to divide the territory. Therefore, in March 2010, when all the previous delegations were renamed as conferences, the Eastern Mission was organized with the provinces of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba as its territory. In 2015, its name was changed to the High Eastern Conference, and the East Conference was renamed Del Amanecer Conference. However, these name changes were corrected in 2016: the High Eastern Conference was correctly renamed Del Amanecer Conference, and the original East Conference, which was incorrectly named Del Amanecer Conference, was correctly renamed East Conference.¹⁵

In 2019, Pinareña Mission was organized with Pinar del Rio as its territory and headquarters in Pinar del Rio. Waldo Jose Santos Serrano was appointed president, and Ramon Vega Avila was appointed secretary-treasurer.¹⁶

In 2020, Villa Perla Mission was established with Cienfuegos and Villa Clara as its territory, with its headquarters located in Santa Clara, Villa Clara. Eduardo Lorenzo Jr. was appointed president, and Radames del Sol was appointed secretary-treasurer.¹⁷

Perspectives for the Future of the Cuban Union Conference

An ongoing plan exists for the spiritual development and strengthening of all church members with the purpose of involving them in the church’s mission in Cuba. Another plan is to transform each member into a disciple through small groups, reaching out to places where there is no Adventist presence in the country. Institutional and financial growth are also part of the growth strategy. There is a determined stewardship plan that will enable the creation of new fields, a home for seniors, and a youth camp.

List of Union Administrators

Presidents

Pedro de Armas (1968-1977); Alejandro Delgado (1977-1982); Juan Guerrero (1982-1994); Daniel Fontaine (1994-2010); Aldo Joel Pérez (2010- )

Secretaries

Alejandro Delgado (1968-1973); Nicolás Bence (1973-1976); Héctor Torres (1976-1980); Julián Rumayor (1980-1991); Rolando Morgado (1991-1993); Waldo Santos (1993-2005); Aldo Joel Pérez (2005-2010); Alberto Lache (2010-2014); David Días (2014-2014); Heber Paneque (2014-2023); Luis E. Rodriguez (2023- )

Treasurers

Gervasio Rivas (1968-1973); Arturo Broche (1973-1980); Ildefonso Ara (1980-1997); David Diaz (1997- )

Sources

General Conference Committee 36^th Meeting minutes. September 25, 1905. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1905.pdf.

“Notes and Items.” Echoes From the Field, June 7, 1905.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Spicer, W. A. “Central Cuba.” ARH, August 27, 1903.

Sterquel, Laura R. “Pioneering in Cuba.” ARH, May 5, 1904.

Notes

1. “Cuban Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed May 27, 2025, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/entity?EntityID=14041.↩

2. “Colegio Adventista Industrial,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1924), 193.↩

3. “Colegio Adventista de Cuba,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941), 260.↩

4. Laura R. Sterquel, “Pioneering in Cuba,” ARH, May 5, 1904, 18.↩

5. W. A. Spicer, “Central Cuba,” ARH, August 27, 1903, 9-10.↩

6. “Missionary Licentiates,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1904), 15.↩

7. “Notes and Items,” Echoes From the Field, June 7, 1905, 4.↩

8. General Conference Committee 36^th Meeting, September 25, 1905, “CUBA: E. W. Snyder was…,” 56, accessed May 27, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1905.pdf.↩

9. “Cuban Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1907), 84.↩

10. “Cuba Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1935), 132, 143.↩

11. “Cuba Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1936), 141.↩

12. “East Cuba Conference” and “West Cuba Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1942), 109.↩

13. “Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1969), 174.↩

14. “Cuban Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1990), 160-161.↩

15. “Del Amanecer Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2017), 117.↩

16. “Pinarena Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2020), 104.↩

17. “Villa Perla Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2022), 128.↩