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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

from March 1999 to June 2010.

Presidential service

Paulsen was first elected upon his predecessor's resignation for the remainder of the term ending in 2000. He was re-elected to the office of president at the 57th General Conference Session in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. His term ended on 25 June 2010, when

Ted N. C. Wilson Theodore Norman Clair Wilson (born May 10, 1950) is an ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and currently serves as the List of presidents of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, President of the General Conference o ...

was elected as president during the 59th General Conference Session in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, 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. w ...

and a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

president, and has written three books.

Biographical notes

Paulsen was born on 5 January 1935, in

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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 (Andrews) 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 flag ...

. 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 (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. 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 diversified information and media private company Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, re ...

. 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 livin ...

.
-
- 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 The Pacific Press Publishing Association, or Pacific Press for short, is the only remaining Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in North America, following its absorption of Review & Herald in 2014. It was founded in 1874 by James White in ...

, 2003) - * ''Where Are We Going?'' (Pacific Press, 2011) -

References

External links