Robert S Folkenberg

The international head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, dogged by questions about his financial ties to a Sacramento investor, resigned his post Monday after nearly a decade at the top of the 10-million-member church. Robert S. Folkenberg, the son of missionary parents and president of the fast-growing denomination since 1990, told associates that the controversy over his financial dealings was "detracting from God's work."

The international head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, dogged by questions about his financial ties to a Sacramento investor, resigned his post Monday after nearly a decade at the top of the 10-million-member church. Robert S. Folkenberg, the son of missionary parents and president of the fast-growing denomination since 1990, told associates that the controversy over his financial dealings was "detracting from God's work."

World leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church ended three days of tense emergency meetings Wednesday without deciding whether the church's president should be disciplined over allegations of financial and ethical misconduct. Instead, 40 senior leaders of the 10-million-member church, who came from as far as Korea and Australia, voted to pass the question of President Robert S. Folkenberg's future to the executive committee of the church's ruling body for consideration in March.

World leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church ended three days of tense emergency meetings Wednesday without deciding whether the church's president should be disciplined over allegations of financial and ethical misconduct. Instead, 40 senior leaders of the 10-million-member church, who came from as far as Korea and Australia, voted to pass the question of President Robert S. Folkenberg's future to the executive committee of the church's ruling body for consideration in March.

Delegates to the Seventh-day Adventist World Session have reelected Jan Paulsen as their world president and have elected Michigan Pastor Don C. Schneider as their North American president. Paulsen, 65, was first elected in March 1999, replacing Robert S. Folkenberg, who resigned amid allegations that he was involved in fraudulent business dealings. Paulsen, a native of Norway, will serve in the presidential post for a full five-year term. Schneider, 57, of Berrien Springs, Mich.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, a worldwide organization founded on the concept that the Second Coming of Jesus is imminent, has issued a statement opposing the setting of dates for his return. "While anticipating Christ's return, Adventists reject any attempt to set specific dates for the event," the church announced in a statement released by the office of its president, Robert S. Folkenberg, during the 56th world session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.