Pastor Exton Clarke was on Thursday elected President of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists capping an eventful day at the church’s Fifth Quadrennial Session being hosted at the Central SDA Church in Georgetown.

He replaces Pastor Avert James who served two terms as president of the religious body. Clarke the immediate former Executive Secretary has pledged to build on the foundation set by former leaders even as he committed to give of his best service to the church. The day also saw the electing of Pastor Jumoul Sancho as the Executive Secretary and Mrs. Rovena Harrinaugth as Treasurer. Sancho is the immediate former Personal Ministries and Community Services Director.

Clarke was elected by delegates representing the over 60,000 members of the local church. He holds a Masters in Pastoral Theology with an emphasis in Family Life from the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC) and is the husband of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education Adele Clarke.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton had urged the executives to elect persons willing to protect social cohesion; promote equality and work towards a future where the difference of all Guyanese are respected.