Adventist Church Elects President
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SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Rev. Jan Paulsen has been elected president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Paulsen, vice president since 1995, is a native of Norway and is the first European to lead the denomination, which has 9.7 million members worldwide and 876,000 in North America.
Paulsen succeeds the Rev. Robert Folkenberg, 58, president since 1990, who submitted his resignation in February. The church had ordered a special investigation of his business dealings after a California businessman sued Folkenberg and the church, accusing them of reneging on a 1993 business deal.
Paulsen, a onetime pastor, teacher and college president, is a graduate of Andrews University, an Adventist school in Michigan, and the University of Tuebingen in Germany.
The Adventist church, known for Saturday worship and evangelistic efforts, is a fast-growing denomination that claims five new congregations per day.
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