The Secretariat Report

The Secretariat Office of the British Union Conference (BUC) serves not only to maintain church records and statistics. It also plays a vital role in shaping and facilitating operational governance and ensuring organisational cohesion across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and all adjacent British islands (‘the Territory’). As the operations arm of the Church, the Secretariat Office currently covers the areas of charitable governance, policy and legal compliance, people management, risk management, health and safety, workplace pension, IT systems and membership management. During this quinquennium, this work has included the following: 

Charitable and Organisational Governance 

The term began under the Secretariat leadership of Pastor John Surridge, who was re-elected as Executive Secretary, and at the start of this quinquennium the BUC Executive Committee (ExCom, also known as the trustees) was brought together for governance training, which was provided by our solicitors, Anthony Collins.  

Governance and Administrative Support 

In addition to the induction, trustees regularly availed themselves of additional governance training courses, including attending the annual Trustees Exchange presented by the Governance and Leadership Institute, and the Faith Charities Forum presented by the Civil Society. These conferences focused on charities and faith charities respectively. 

Each year the BUC ExCom submitted its annual trustees’ report to the Charity Commission of England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator before the deadline. 

Until September 2021, the BUC Associate Executive Secretary fulfilled an assigned role of Executive Secretary for the Irish Mission (IM), the Scottish Mission (SM) and the Welsh Mission (WM). Due to the increased governance and administrative demand within the fast-growing Irish Mission (IM), the BUC ExCom appointed the IM’s first dedicated executive secretary from 1 October 2021. 

Board Management 

In 2023 the BUC replaced the previous BUCTrustees portal designed and maintained by Pastor Surridge with OnBoard. OnBoard is a piece of board-management software designed to give organisations a secure, all-in-one platform for planning, running and following up on board meetings by centralising documents, agendas, communication, voting and minutes so that boards can collaborate more efficiently and govern more effectively. 

This board-management system was first used by the South England Conference (SEC), and following a review of their experience the BUC facilitated a synergised move away from the BUCTrustees portal to OnBoard for all the fields, including ADRA-UK and Newbold College of Higher Education. 

Using OnBoard’s skills analysis, for example, helped the BUC trustees to identify the need to strengthen the ExCom’s expertise and knowledge in the areas of compliance and audit (including risk), safeguarding, legal, people and asset & investment. The BUC advertised on two occasions for these volunteer non-executive expert advisor (NEEA) roles in 2024. By the third quarter of 2025, the BUC ExCom identified and appointed a safeguarding NEEA until September 2026. With the assistance of the safeguarding NEEA, the BUC ExCom has begun to address governance, leadership and policy shortcomings in the area of safeguarding. 

Sessions and Constitution Development 

Over the quinquennium, the BUC Secretariat supported the fields as they navigated their various sessions according to the requirements of their constitutions and operating policies. These include the IM in 2021, The North England Conference (NEC) in 2024, the SM in 2021 & 2024, the SEC in 2023, and the WM in 2022 & 2025. 

In conjunction with the BUC Constitution Committee, the BUC Secretariat has worked to update the BUC constitution in line with the model which is mandated by the General Conference (GC). The constitution is the most important document for maintaining the good governance of any charity, but in the case of the Seventh-day Adventist Church it is also the glue which binds us together as one single entity and provides the synergy which makes us so effective as a worldwide organisation. 

Assisting the conferences with their constitutions and the missions with their operating policies was another important function of the BUC Secretariat, helping to maintain consistent governance practices and procedures at each level of the Church. 

 Looking Ahead 

• The incoming BUC ExCom can continue to build and strengthen good governance by considering ways in which trustee knowledge development should be an expectation to strengthen areas of governance expertise which might be lacking or weak.  

• The incoming BUC ExCom can work towards maximising OnBoard’s ability to measure trustee engagement and the ExCom’s collective effectiveness. 

• The effectiveness of the safeguarding NEEA has demonstrated the value of the BUC ExCom, analysing its skills and expertise gaps at the start of its term and recruiting additional trustees or NEEAs with the necessary skills and expertise to fill these gaps. 

• The BUC ExCom began to conduct an analysis and review of the various legal structures of relationships with the conferences, missions and institutions, both charitable and corporate. A governance sub-committee appointed by the BUC ExCom began this work in 2025, and it would be good for the incoming BUC ExCom to continue this work.

Policy and Legal Compliance 

During the quinquennium, policy and legal compliance was the remit of the BUC Secretariat. This work included policy review and development. 

General Data Protection Regulation 

Due to the growing complexity of processing data legally and with integrity within our hyper-informed and technologically diverse world, the BUC Secretariat led a union-wide data-protection compliance audit which included the conferences, the missions and the Stanborough Press. The audit was conducted by the DPO Centre in 2023/24, with a report presented to the BUC ExCom at the beginning of 2024. This was the first audit of its kind.  

The top recommendations following the outcome of the compliance audit included developing a record of procession activities; implementing data-processing agreements where necessary; improving privacy notices; doing due diligence checks on data processors; data governance training for senior roles; use of good CCTV policies; and so on. Since the report was presented to the BUC ExCom, the BUC and field Secretariat offices have been working collaboratively to implement the recommendations. 

Working Policy 

The BUC Working Policy functions almost like a corporate balanced scorecard which helps us to maintain organisational unity and identity across our fields and institutions. With the help of the BUC Policy Working Group, working policies were reviewed, amended or developed. 

Historically, reviews and development have occurred reactively as legal and practical needs or conflicts arose. However, a policy review schedule was introduced in 2025, and this is to be approved annually at the first ExCom of each year. The purpose of the policy review schedule enables ExCom members to ensure that policies stay current, compliant and effective by providing a clear, consistent timeline for regular evaluation, updates and new developments. 

During this quinquennium, forty-five policies were reviewed and updated. In addition to reviews and updates, ten new policies were created or began development. The BUC Working Policy Book is available to all members on the BUC website. 

Looking Ahead 

• Trustees’ and staff’s knowledge and expertise of GDPR should continue to be developed. Another data-protection audit should be carried out as part of the recommendation to conduct these once during each quinquennium to continue to strengthen and develop each administrative field and local churches’ ability to manage personal data with exceptional integrity and legality. 

• Collaboratively develop GDPR training programmes and resources for field offices and local churches. 

• Finalise the development and implementation of the Crisis Management and Risk Management Policy.  

• Complete all scheduled review cycles during the next quinquennium. 

People Management 

During this quinquennium, BUC Secretariat continued to develop and improve its people-management framework, building on the introduction of annual appraisals at the end of the previous quinquennium. 

Skill and Expertise Development 

Staff skill and expertise development was a particular focus resulting in the Assistant Secretary completing a CIPD Level 5 qualification in People Management, and the Executive Secretary obtaining Chartered Membership with the CIPD. This has helped the BUC Secretariat team continue to improve its structures and support for the employee cycle, from induction to learning and development, performance management and wellbeing.  

As a result, a recruitment policy was implemented for the BUC office, including an improved process for the recruitment of elected personnel between sessions. In addition, health and wellbeing support and access has increased; and, with the help of annual wellbeing pulse surveys, a wellbeing-focused absence-management policy was implemented and a wellbeing policy was drafted. This renewed focus on wellbeing has helped the BUC office to reduce unauthorised absences and those related to sickness year-on-year. 

Ongoing staff development of the annual appraisal process, which was introduced at the end of the previous quinquennium, was improved and digitised. The process now also helps staff identify potential learning and development opportunities and allows line managers and staff to align personal professional goals and departmental KPIs with the BUC’s strategic objectives. 

Regular office-wide training, such as conducting appraisals, performance management, GDPR and bullying and harassment training, complemented the individual training staff are required to complete annually. 

The GC introduced a new 360-degree Executive Secretary appraisal and Secretariat Office review system in 2023. Each division is encouraged to conduct Union, Conference and Mission appraisals once within each of their terms. In 2024 the Trans-European Division (TED) conducted a 360-degree appraisal and review of the NEC Executive Secretary and his team, and in 2025 the SEC and BUC executive secretaries and their teams underwent their appraisals and reviews. 

Following the BUC Secretariat’s GC review in 2025, the TED recommended the creation of a data-protection committee and crisis-management policy. Terms of reference for the data-protection committee were created at the end of 2025, and a draft crisis-management policy was developed at the end of 2025 for approval in 2026. 

During this quinquennium, learning and development became an expected part of permanent staff’s annual goals. During the first quarter of each year, permanent staff review the previous year’s goals and agree on their learning and development goals for the coming year in consultation with the Executive Secretary. 

As a result, departments have become more effective in systematically identifying gaps in skills and competencies. The introduction of learning and development logs for staff have seen an improvement in skills and competency levels while keeping staff up to date with developments in their fields and technology. 

Investment in learning and development and wellbeing has grown year-on-year since the start of the term, underlining our commitment to staff’s professional development, while the focus on wellbeing has seen a reduction in sickness and other unauthorised absences. 

Employees 

At the beginning of 2021 there were 189 full-time and 3 part-time employed pastors and Bible workers across the territory, while at the end of 2025 there were 167 full-time and 7 part-time employed pastors and Bible workers. In addition to these employees, the staff of the schools, regional and national administrative offices and the Stanborough Press complete the total number of denominational employees at 405. The various categories of employee and credential types are listed below. 

Looking Ahead 

• The incoming BUC ExCom should consider introducing 360-degree appraisals for all officers and departmental directors in the next quinquennium. 

• The incoming Secretariat team must continue to finalise work on additional HR policies not yet in place. 

• During the next quinquennium, the BUC Secretariat team will be required to facilitate a Union-wide review of professional HR. Additionally, the Union might want to consider conducting an analysis of HR practices across all the fields and institutions from the perspective of creating a potential unified and synergised organisational structure that could drive up exceptional standards of efficiency and effectiveness with integrity and authenticity. 

• The incoming BUC Secretariat team must continue to improve the quality and experience of the induction of directors as they come to grips with the different expectations of their roles at a Union level compared to those of a Conference and Mission director or sponsor. 

Risk Management 

During previous terms, the BUC Secretariat introduced a risk register as part of the BUC’s ongoing commitment to better governance. ExCom members were requiredto update their assessment of risks each quarter. However, continued governance has led the BUC ExCom to dissolve the audit sub-committee and create an audit and risk sub-committee with new terms of reference: namely, to review the BUC’s internal and external audit reports and risk register in line with the BUC Risk Management policies, control and aspects of governance, with the purpose of recommending mitigating steps to the BUC ExCom. 

Throughout 2024 and 2025, the BUC Secretariat team steadily increased its learning in the field of risk management, completing short courses, attending conferences and webinars, and engaging in one-on-one learning with experts. At the time of writing, a risk-management policy is in development for implementation in 2026. This includes overhauling the BUC risk register.  

Looking Ahead 

• Work should continue in this field to establish a Union-wide risk-management framework that includes modernised risk-management tools to bring the Union intoline with best practice and charitable regulations within each legal jurisdiction. The purpose of this is not just to reduce operational and reputational risks, but also to become exemplars of exceptional charitable work, which is essential to our mission to make disciples of Christ. 

Health and Safety 

The BUC’s health and safety policy has seen significant improvements during this quinquennium with annual professional reviews. The BUC has also contracted the professional services of Citation, which conducts biennial health and safety audits and fire risk assessments of the office. 

Looking Ahead 

• Regular professional health and safety audits – as well as other audits, such as the data-protection audit in 2023/24 – highlight a significant gap in the BUC Secretariat team’s capacity to keep standards high and maintain compliance. This gap is due to the shortage in human resources, as highlighted by the TED’s 360-degree appraisal and review of the BUC Secretariat team. The incoming BUC ExCom should review the need to provide additional human resources towards these fields. 

• The BUC Secretariat has provided Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) administrative support for the conferences and missions’ administrative teams. However, as this is an important safeguarding service, it should sit with the BUC Safeguarding Lead and their administrative support. 

Workplace Pension 

Closed Defined-Benefit Scheme 

In the 2016 and 2021 BUC Secretariat reports, delegates were updated regarding the defined-benefit Seventh-day Adventist Retirement Plan (SDARP). The SDARP was closed on 31 December 2013. The BUC and all participating employers committed to a funding schedule that would lead to the buy-out of the SDARP once the plan became fully funded. 

Defined-Contribution Schemes 

Since January 2014, the BUC, on behalf of the participating employers, subscribes to an auto-enrolment qualifying workplace pension scheme with Legal & General. All employees of the participating employers are auto-enrolled into the Seventh-day Adventist group personal pension (SDAGPP). This scheme facilitates employer contributions in addition to employee contributions in accordance with government legislation. 

For denominational employees in the Republic of Ireland, who are not UK citizens or have never worked within the UK, a similar group personal pension scheme has been running since January 2014 with The New Ireland Assurance Company. 

During this quinquennium, the BUC Secretariat has continued to deliver regular pension-awareness presentations to each of the conferences and missions. Additional presentations to all participating employers, including schools and the TED, have also been given by invitation. 

Looking Ahead 

• The incoming BUC Secretariat and Treasury teams will be required to continue to work closely with all the participating employers; the SDARP trustees; the SDARP actuaries, Barnett Waddingham; and the SDARP’s solicitors, Sackers, to complete the SDARP buy-out. 

• Although regular pension-awareness presentations were made during this quinquennium, they were mostly presented to pastoral employees. Similar presentations to all staff of some participating employers have taken place by invitation only. This means that some staff of some participating employers have never received such awareness presentations. The incoming BUC Secretariat team is encouraged to engage all participating employers more intentionally so that regular pension-awareness presentations are delivered and made available more widely to all employees who are part of the SDAGPP, including those in the Republic of Ireland.

IT Systems (Information Technology) 

Under the able leadership of the BUC IT Systems Manager, Paula Carrillo, a major transformation began in 2022 with the successful implementation of a 100% cloud-based directory system. BUC staff were trained on Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, enabling every department to securely organise and collaborate on their files in the cloud. 

This momentum continued into 2023 with the rollout of the Cybersecurity Essentials Certification for all BUC staff, reinforcing digital safety across the organisation. That year also saw support for the 7me App roll-out and collaboration with Hope Media Europe to enhance statistical reporting for Bible courses and assess a new web platform, the Adventist Web Engine (AWE). 

In 2024 the regional website migration to AWE became a reality through cooperation with the field leaders and communication departments. The BUC emergedas the only union in the TED to implement an integrated news system connecting churches up to the GC, which was later used as a case study. The Hope Channel system also expanded successfully across all conferences. 

By 2025 the BUC IT Systems Manager trained the fields on the new AWE platform, while churches prepared for the transition from netAdventist. Data analysis and AI adoption began, supporting research on London’s Hispanic population, analysing 7me donor behaviour, and developing insightful dashboards for church growth and engagement.  

Looking Ahead 

• During this quinquennium consultation took place with conferences, missions and institutions to consider adopting similar merged media, communication and IT models as can be found in other unions across Europe. The incoming BUC ExCom should consider pursuing this further. 

Membership Management 

So often we can forget when we look at the BUC Secretariat report on membership statistics that the numbers are really about people – people whom God has a desire to save for eternity. This belief is so important for the purpose of the Secretariat that in the second half of this quinquennium the BUC Secretariat team began working closely with the conferences and missions to promote redemptive membership reviews across the BUC. 

Redemptive Membership Reviews, Clerk Training and ACMS 

Pages 46-50 of the Church Manual remind us that a healthy church develops a nurturing plan that equips every member to be involved in disciple-making. A regular redemptive membership review process can be a part of such a plan, and it is intended to improve pastoral care based on the foundation of accurate membership records. With this in mind, pastors, elders and church clerks were invited to attend a couple of BUC-led training sessions on redemptive membership reviews in 2024 and 2025. 

The 7me app offers members the ability to manage their church membership data personally, connects members with prayer communities, and offers additionalresources from several other Seventh-day Adventist ministries across the world, all in one place. It also allows members to return tithes and give offerings when they don’t have cash on hand, as well as allowing them to request membership transfers. 

The central ACMS database allows us to maintain accurate membership records across the whole of the BUC, and we extend our thanks to our local church clerks, or church secretaries, for the great work they are doing as they carefully record the numbers that represent our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our quarterly membership reports show a sea of numbers, but it is important to remember that every number represents a person – each one a valuable member of the community of the church. 

BUC Annual Membership 2016-2025 (Click to enlarge)

Statistics 

Over this quinquennium, net membership of the BUC increased from 39,969 at the beginning of 2021, to 47,195 at the end of 2025. This is an increase of 7,226 or 18.08%, which compares to a 10.59% increase in the previous quinquennium. 

The number of churches increased in line with membership by 15, from 297 at the end of the last quinquennium to 312 at the end of 2025. The number of companies has increased from 110 to 117 in the same period. This may reflect the regularisation of many informal ‘groups’, which are now officially recorded as companies. 

The charts presented here show how these statistics are distributed across the conferences and missions of the British Union Conference, but special mention should be made of the Irish Mission (50.29%), Scottish Mission (31.69%) and Welsh Mission (31.66%), which had remarkable membership increases over this quinquennium. 

Looking Ahead 

• The incoming BUC Secretariat team is encouraged to build on the momentum of promoting the redemptive membership review process. Looking at the statistics should help us to realise the obvious fact that adding one new member is the same, at least numerically, as preventing one member from leaving the church. However, it is generally the case that far more effort is spent on ‘evangelism’ than ‘member retention’. The principle of nurturing, which underpins the redemptive membership review process, can transform the retention rate of the BUC. 

In Memory 

Over the quinquennium we have lost 1,509 of our members through death as recorded in ACMS. The number of deaths represents 3.19% of our total current membership. In the previous quinquennium we lost 1,092 members through death, or 2.73% of our membership. The increase during this quinquennium may reflect the high number of older people we have in our churches and the ongoing work churches are conducting in updating their records. 

Of those who have died during the quinquennium, we would particularly like to pay tribute to our denominational workers and their spouses. These are listed in the table below. As we think of those who have died, let us remember the One who came to give eternal life to all who believe in His name. Let us also remember the reason for our existence as a church – to bring the good news of salvation and eternal life to a world of dying people. 

Acknowledgements and Appreciation

It is my hope that with this report you can see the varied nature and scope of the Secretariat Office. This is also true of the Conferences and to some degree the Missions. 

I’m grateful for my fellow Officers, Pastor Eglan Brooks and Wederly Aguiar, with whom I’ve had the opportunity to serve since April 2024. Their leadership and wisdom made leading as a team a blessing, fun, sometimes challenging, but above all, meaningful. Additionally, I’m grateful for the wisdom, knowledge and collective compassion of the Executive Committee and all the subcommittees I got to work with. Your dedicated commitment was revelation of your call to mission for which I have a deep appreciation. 

I would like to pay tribute to my counterparts and their teams who have served during this quinquennium. Pastors Douglas McCormac and Nathan Stickland in the SEC with their team, Jacqui Crawford (HR Manager), Valerie Austin (Administrative Secretary), Tanya Grant (SEC Church and DBS Clerk), and Alberto Francis (Departmental Secretary). In the NEC, Pastor Emanuel Bran and his team, Preethy Christopher (Assistant Secretary), Yvonne Weekes (Administrative Secretary), Chioma Ikechi-Ekpendu (Administrative Secretary). In the IM, Pastors Adam Keough and Ben Pontanar and Keisha Durrant (Administrative Secretary). In the SM, Hellevi Walker (Office Secretary) and WM, Pauline Allcock (Office Secretary).

Thank you to all the amazing local Church Clerks, who allowed us into their private spaces via Zoom on many occasions as we did local mission together. May God bless you abundantly as you serve this vital role in your churches.

My deepest appreciation and thanks to the BUC Secretariat team for their camaraderie, dedication to our mission and the skill and expertise they have served with. To Pastor Max McKenzie-Cook who joined as Associate Secretary in April 2024. To Paula Carrillo, IT Systems Manager. To Desiré Lewis, Assistant Secretary who joined the team in February 2023. To Jacquelyn Johnson, Administrative Secretary, who joined the team in November 2022. To Kerrine Guthrie who served as Administrative Secretary until October 2022, and to Pepi Bunardzhieva, the BUC Receptionist.

Finally, thank you to Pastor John Surridge who served as BUC Executive Secretary from 1 June 2016, until his retirement on 8 July 2024. Thank you for showing me the ropes, for your patience, guidance, kind-hearted management and for always being there to call upon