Mission, Spirituality, Connecting  

On October 9, our Lake Union Executive Committee elected Gary Thurber as executive secretary of the Lake Union Conference, to replace Rodney Grove, who recently retired. My version is that this election ended the Lake Union's four-year "loan" of Gary to the Rocky Mountain Conference. I put it that way because Gary and Diane have a rich history in and strong love for the Lake Union.

The Thurbers first came to the Lake Union in 1992 when Gary joined the Michigan Conference as senior pastor of the Lansing Church. Subsequently, Gary served as the director of youth ministries, camp ministries and family ministries for the Michigan Conference for five years, and then as assistant to the president for just under one year. The Thurbers were then "loaned" to the Northern New England Conference where Gary served as president for more than two years before returning to the Lake Union as president of the Indiana Conference for a productive seven years.

In 2009, Gary accepted an invitation from the 17,000-plus-member Rocky Mountain Conference to serve as president. That expansive territory includes Colorado, Wyoming and the northwest corner of New Mexico. His leadership within and beyond the Rocky Mountain Conference included board membership of the following organizations: Navajo Ministries (MAUC, PUC, SWUC), Philanthropic Service for Institutions, Adventist Health System Board of Trustees, Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries, Christian Record Services, Eden Valley Institute, Porter Adventist Hospital Board of Trustees and Union College Board of Trustees. There is very strong consensus that Gary's leadership in the Rocky Mountain Conference was successful and extremely appreciated.

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The message in this section is the intro to President's Perspective, by Don Livesay, Lake Union president, reprinted from the current issue of the Lake Union Herald. It will be updated monthly.