July 7, 2005
by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International

NEW YORK – The Seventh-day Adventist Church has elected a woman to serve as a vice president of the 14 million-member denomination.

Ella Simmons, a 57-year-old African-American educator, will be the Adventists' first female VP. She was elected on July 3 by delegates to the church's 58th world convention in St. Louis.

Denomination leaders said the choice of Simmons for the post was "an attempt by the world church to make (its) leadership more inclusive."

During a July 4 news conference, Simmons , a native of Louisville, KY, spoke of her childhood experience as one of the first African-Americans to attend newly desegregated schools. She hailed the denomination's commitment to leadership diversity.

"The church as an organization cannot be efficient until it allows all people to contribute in ways God called them to contribute," she said. "I think the church is taking a step in the right direction."

In her most recent post, Simmons was provost and vice president for academic administration of La Sierra University, in Riverside, CA. She has also worked at Oakwood College in Alabama, Kentucky State University and the University of Louisville, where she earned her doctorate in education.

Simmons said she sees education "as a mission, a call from God."

She will be part of a 10-member leadership team headed by Jan Paulsen, the Adventists' president.

The church, which has 14.3 million baptized adult members in more than 200 countries, says about 2.5 million people attend its services weekly.

Presbyterian News Service