Dr. Edward (Ed) Wright has been chosen by a committee of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists as the president.

Dr. Ed Wright will serve the nearly 30,000 Seventh-day Adventists of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference, which includes Georgia, eastern Tennessee and Cherokee County in North Carolina.

The decision was reached by the 45 members of the conference Executive Committee and the Standing Nominating Committee, which considered more than 40 names.

These committees are comprised of church officials, pastors and lay leaders from throughout the Georgia-Cumberland Conference.

Dr. Wright fills the vacancy left when previous president, Dave Cress, was killed in a plane crash near Collegedale last December 2. Mr. Cress, along with three other leaders, including the conference vice president for administration, assistant to the president, communication director and the pilot, were killed when their Cessna 421 crashed shortly after takeoff.

Dr. Wright, 53, has served as a pastor at the 3,000-member Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church, beginning as the young adult and family life pastor in January 1985 and becoming senior pastor in July 1994.

During his years as senior pastor of the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church, he initiated the SonRise resurrection pageant, an Easter outreach to the community involving more than 400 participants and attracting more than 8,000 community guests each year.

The congregation has become more diverse, now supporting two traditional worship services, two contemporary services, as well as Russian and Haitian worship services each week.

An adjunct professor in the School of Religion at Southern Adventist University, Dr. Wright has also presented leadership and pastoral training seminars in Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, and West Africa.

The Georgia-Cumberland Conference is one of eight conferences that comprise the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

According to Gordon Retzer, president of the Southern Union Conference, "The committee voted to invite Ed Wright to become president after much prayer and discussion. He is very experienced as a church pastor, leader and administrator—and he knows the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. He has a heart for God and a heart for people."

Dr. Wright began his ministry in 1973 at the Turlock and Livingston churches in the Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He then attended the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. He later served as the youth pastor for the Fresno, Calif., Central Adventist Church.

Born in Lodi, Calif., he earned a B.A. degree in Theology in 1973 from Pacific Union College in Angwin, Calif. He received his Masters of Divinity in 1976 and his Doctor of Ministry in 1994 from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. He and his wife, Marilyn, have four children and a grandchild and currently make their home in Ooltewah.

Dr. Wright enjoys active recreation in the out-of-doors, especially biking, sailing, skiing, backpacking and diving.

© 2005 The Chattanoogan.com