Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

by Renee Brownlow
Barbara Popp and Norm Middag met while students at Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University) in 1950 and married in the summer of 1952.
Norm was an educator, pastor, and youth director in a career spanning more than four decades of ministry. He served in Michigan, Southern California, Northern California, Florida, and Potomac Conferences before joining North American Division (NAD) as Pathfinder, Adventurer, and Camp Ministries Director.
When Norm was with the NAD, he coordinated development of the Adventurer and Pathfinder curricula and the Association of Adventist Camp Professionals. He was the originator of Camps For the Blind and the 1991, 1992, and 1993 Witness Through Rose Parade floats sponsored and decorated by Pathfinders. As chairman of the Camporee Coordinating Committee, Norm helped launch the North American Division camporee program and its first national gathering of Pathfinders in 1985 at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colo.
In addition to supporting her husband in ministry, Barbara taught French, music, and secretarial science subjects at Battle Creek Academy in Michigan. Taking a break from the classroom to raise their family, Barbara returned to the workforce in the early 1970s to teach at Forest Lake Academy, Apopka, Fla. Later, she served at Potomac Conference and as an administrative secretary in the General Conference presidential office.
Norm and Barbara were blessed with three children: David, Loren, and Renee Brownlow; and six grandchildren. The Middags are retired and make their home in Mount Dora, Fla. They are members of Forest Lake Church, Apopka, Fla.