The Seventh-day Adventist Church's Executive Committee elected November 25 four new church officers to ensure a smooth leadership transition when several current leaders retire at the end of the year.

Church officials voted current Ministerial Association director for Euro-Africa, Pastor Bruno Vertallier, to serve as president for that region, replacing Ulrich W. Frikart. In August Frikart announced his early retirement on December 31 to eliminate the need to replace two major regional church officials and ensure a "smooth and efficient" transition of leadership. Both Frikart and the region's church treasurer were initially scheduled to retire in 2010.

Committee members selected Pastor Gilbert Wari, 59, current secretary for the church in West-Central Africa, to serve as the region's president, a position currently held by Luka T. Daniel, who in August announced his decision to leave office at the end of the year.

Wari, who earned his masters degree in Theology at Adventist-owned Newbold College in England, previously served as president for the church in Central-South Cameroon and communication director for Central Africa.

To fill Wari's position as secretary, church officials elected Onaolapo Ajibade, 59, who previously served as general secretary, then president, for the West Nigeria Conference and ministerial secretary for the church's North-Western Nigeria Union Mission.

Committee members elected Emmanuel Manu to serve as treasurer of the church in West-Central Africa. Manu currently serves as associate director for the church's auditing service for the Trans-Africa Indian Area, which covers the following church regions: East Central Africa, Indian Ocean Union Mission, West Central Africa and three institutions of the Middle East Union Mission. A chartered accountant under the Ghana Institute of Taxation, Manu has worked for the church's auditing services for more than two decades.

In his new position, Manu said he plans to promote the church's savings and investments to stimulate growth and bring self-sufficiency to church entities in West-Central Africa by 2015.

Manu fills a role vacated by Ceazar J. Hechanova, who earlier this year accepted a treasurer position at the newly established Caucuses Union headquartered in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Gordon Christo, 57, director of communication and the department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the church in Southern Asia, was elected secretary of the region, based in Hosur, near Bangalore, and providing administrative oversight for the church in India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. Christo replaces John Rathinaraj, who was appointed president of the region during the church's fall business session to fill a vacancy left by D. Ronald Watts.

Christo, who began his studies in the ministry at Adventist-owned Spicer Memorial College in Pune, India, holds a master of divinity degree from AIIAS in the Philippines and a doctoral degree in ministry from the Andrews University Adventist Theological Seminary.