Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ Executive Committee members voted to elect Stephen Ralph, MD, ABIM, DipABLM, as the conference’s health ministries’ volunteer coordinator effective Nov. 1, 2024, during its Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, meetings. A physician since 1983, Dr. Ralph has worked in several hospitals and clinics and currently practices in Central Texas.
“Health ministries is an important aspect of the Seventh-day Adventist Church mission,” Texas Conference President Elton DeMoraes shared. “It is also a wonderful way to connect with communities to improve health and share information about a loving Savior and local church family ready to embrace them.”
The health ministries’ position is designed to enhance the health message within the Texas Conference with workshops and digital content and encourage churches to have health expos in their area. With 354 congregations, this could provide a strong impact on our Texas communities.
Fluent in English and Spanish, Dr. Ralph, certified by the American Board of Physician Specialties® in emergency medicine, was an emergency room physician in New York from 1990 until he moved to Texas in 2011.
Currently, he works in a primary clinic in Killeen, Texas. Dr. Ralph practices Internal medicine promoting lifestyle medicine. This includes lifestyle counseling emphasizing healthy nutrition, adequate physical activity, restorative sleep, stress, reduction and avoidance of toxic substances and the importance of social interrelationships.
Dr. Ralph is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and, in 2017, became a Diplomate for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (DipABLM), among other licenses and memberships.
He is a member of the Killeen Seventh-day Adventist Church and leads a local chapter of Walk With A Doc. Dr. Ralph has two adult children and a nine-year-old with his wife, Ketsia.
“We’ve appreciated Dr. Ralph and his family being a part of the Texas Conference Killeen community for the past 13 years,” DeMoraes added. “We look forward to his continued service there as he shares his lifestyle medicine expertise with the rest of the conference.”
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By Tamara Michalenko Terry, an associate director for Communication & Public Relations for the Texas Conference.
