Dr. Jan Paulsen is a Seventh-day Adventist Church leader. Paulsen has served in Africa, Europe and America. He was president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from March 1999 to June 2010.

Presidential service

Paulsen was re-elected to the office of president at the 57th General Conference Session in

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, Canada in 2000. During this term, Paulsen's office was responsible for the initiation of such programs as "Go One Million", "Faith & Science Dialogues" and "Sow One Billion". Paulsen also took the initiative to open dialogue between the youth of the church through his "Let's Talk" campaign. On 1 July 2005, Paulsen was again re-elected to the office during the 58th General Conference Session in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. His term ended on 25 June 2010, when Ted N. C. Wilson was elected as president during the 59th General Conference Session in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Previous roles

Paulsen was vice-president of the General Conference from 1995 until his appointment as president. Prior to that, he was president of the Trans-European Division from 1983 to 1995. He has also been a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, a departmental leader, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

president, and has written three books.

Biographical notes

Paulsen was born on 5 January 1935, in Narvik,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

to Adventist parents. Baptised at the age of 14, he attended Vejlefjord High School in

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and graduated in 1954. On 1 July 1955, he married Kari Trykkerud, with whom he has had three children: Laila (1961), Jan-Rune (1963) and Rein Andre (1970). Paulsen studied theology in Denmark before obtaining a Bachelor of Theology degree from

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universi ...

. He went on to obtain his master's degree from Potomac University. Paulsen also has a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He is the first Adventist Church world president to hold a doctorate, which he obtained from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. Paulsen is the third non-American president of the World Church. In February 2008, Paulsen was the first Adventist Church president to be interviewed on a major international television network, by Mike Schneider on ''Night Talk'',

Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is hea ...

. He has outlined "three people in particular... who have helped me along the way" – his mother, schoolteacher O. K. Naerland and "mentor" theologian Ted Heppenstall. On 11 November 2011, Paulsen was named a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livi ...

.
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- The award was presented at Tyrifjord Videregående Skole on 2 June 2012.

Publications

* ''When the Spirit Descends'' ( Review & Herald, 2001) - * ''Let Your Life So Shine'' ( Pacific Press, 2003) - * ''Where Are We Going?'' (Pacific Press, 2011) -

References

External links