4 July 2025 | St Louis, USA [Vanesa Pizzuto]
Delegates at the 62nd General Conference Session elected Erton Carlos Köhler to serve as President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, on Friday, 4 July, in St Louis, USA.
The Nominating Committee began deliberations at the start of the business day and returned to the Dome of America’s Center Convention Complex ready to report at around 3:00 p.m. Upon receiving the proposal, delegates used the electronic voting system, ElectionBuddy, to cast their votes.
Of the 1909 delegates voting, 1721 voted in favour of Köhler, who has served as General Conference Executive Secretary since April 2021.
Addressing delegates and guests, Köhler said, “Nobody is prepared for this moment. I am speechless!” Sharing from his family worship time on Friday night, he continued, saying that God had given him a Bible verse — Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (NKJV).
“This is no time for division. Our mission will be accomplished when we are together,” he continued. “I believe in integration… Moving forward together is the call we have received from the Lord… We appreciate all opinions, because we are one family.”
Expressing gratitude to the global Church, and to Elder Wilson and his family for their service, Köhler concluded, “We need, as a Church, to move forward—strong, united, and focused… [through] communion with the Lord, unity, identity, and mission.”
Köhler, a Brazilian of German descent, was born in 1969. Following in his father’s footsteps, he became a pastor and served in São Paulo from 1990 to 1994. Over the past 30 years, he has held various leadership roles within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
He is the first South American to be elected as President of the General Conference — a position traditionally held by an American. Köhler speaks Portuguese (his native tongue) and is also fluent in Spanish and English.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theology and a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from the Brazilian Adventist University, and is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry degree from Andrews University.
Köhler is married to Adriene Marques, a nurse, and the couple have two children.
Featured image: [James Botha, Adventist Media Exchange]
Photo: James Botha
