Conference Presidents
Wisconsin Conference Presidents
First president of the Illinois-Wisconsin Conference, organized October 3, 1863. Sanborn accepted Adventism in September, 1854, after months of REVIEW reading and Bible study. With a sense of his inability, he prayed earnestly that if God was calling him to the ministry, a goodly number of souls would accept the message wherever he preached. At the close of his first series, he organized a church of 21 members. In August, 1856, at the age of 33, he was ordained by Elders White and Ingraham. In late summer, 1867, Elder Sanborn offered the use of his cow pasture just east of Janesville, and Wisconsin held their first camp meeting. Visiting speakers were Uriah Smith, James & Ellen White. 1,500 persons gathered for this first camp meeting. Pleased with the success of the Wisconsin camp meeting, James White, suggested a “general” meeting for the benefit of churches as distant as the East Coast be held saying… “A general camp meeting of this kind should be held annually, probably somewhere in Michigan.” Recalling this…
Read More
Elected to the Illinois-Wisconsin Conference in 1870. Served as the first president of the "Wisconsin Conference" which was organized June 22, 1871 Sanborn died in 1913, at the age of 91. For nearly sixty years he had been a zealous debater and defender of the truth.
Ole Olsen was ordained to the ministry at the Clear Lake camp meeting in 1873, and the following year elected president of the Wisconsin Conference at the age of 29.
Elder Olsen was elected a second time in 1880 and served one year. After presidencies in Iowa and South Dakota, he was sent to superintend the Scandinavian work in Europe. The General Conference, meeting at Minneapolis in 1888, elected him to serve as General Conference President, which position he held until 1897. Elder Olsen is remembered as a man of earnest prayer.
William Henry Thurston was born in Kingston, Wisconsin in 1855. He accepted the Adventist faith at the age of 25, and became a local church elder in the Hancock church. In 1890 he became president of the Wisconsin Sabbath School Association. In 1894 he traveled to Brazil, where he was the first official missionary to work in Brazil. After 7 years he returned to the United States. He served as the president of the Lake Union Conference and the Canadian Union, and the Kansas conference. In 1910 he became the president of the Wisconsin Conference.
First president of the Northern Wisconsin Conference, which was formed on July 1, 1916. Served until 1926
President of the newly unified Wisconsin Conference, (combined of Northern and Southern Wisconsin conferences) organized January 1, 1928.
Tobias Edgar Unruh (preferred name Edgar) was born in South Dakota. He began pharmaceutical work at the age of 14. He became a Seventh-day Adventist at the age of 20 and left his work to prepare himself for denominational employment. With no formal training as a teacher he was appointed to teach the church school in Rockyford, near Calgary, AB in 1920. He graduated in 1926 from Emmanuel Missionary College, and immediately was appointed to be principal of Hinsdale Sanitarium Academy. He served as education secretary in Michigan and the Lake Union Conference. In 1940 he was elected president of the Wisconsin Conference at a conference session when Elder Holden indicated that it would not be wise for him to consider re-election because of his health. While he was ordained to the gospel ministry when he became the education secretary for the Michigan conference, he had no pastoral experience.
Later served as general vice-president for the General Conference
Later Elder Wallack served in communication for the Lake Union, and the North American Division. He was instrumental in the development of “SONscreen, an initiative fostering film-making among young Adventists.
Longest serving Wisconsin Conference president to date. 14 years. In addition to evangelism and planting new churches across the conference, Elder Corkum was responsible for the building of the new conference office near Wisconsin Academy, Fireside Lodge and the Pioneer Pavilion at Camp Wakonda, and two dormitories at Wisconsin Academy.
Elected president after serving almost 10 years as Wisconsin Conference Youth Director
First Romanian born conference president in the history of the North American Division