Adventist seminary appoints first woman as associate dean
Teresa Reeve, an associate professor of New Testament contexts, will fill a role vacated by Clifford Jones, who became president of the Lake Region Conference on July 1, 2014.
“This is a historical nomination because for the first time a lady will hold this position!” seminary dean Jiří Moskala said in a letter to seminary faculty and students.
Moskala said the selection process included consultations with the church’s North American Division and the General Conference, which oversees the world church, and he believed that the appointment would bring “unique diversity in our leadership.”
Addressing Reeve, he said, “I praise God for you, and I am glad that I can play a part in this historic moment. I am looking forward to an excellent collaboration with you.”
Reeve, who received her doctorate in Christianity and Judaism in antiquity from the University of Notre Dame and has taught at Andrews for 11 years, said she would seek to promote greater learning and leadership in her new position, which she likened to the role of academic dean. “I have to make sure that we are making the best leaders for the church. I believe we are in the last days, and we are on the verge of great new things that God wants to do for us in the church,” she said. Reeve also promised to spend a lot of time listening, especially to the faculty. “They are the center of the institution. We have a super faculty.” [Adapted from Andrew McChesney/ Adventist Review]
Adventist Church’s philanthropy promotion gaining more traction worldwide
The headquarters’ sponsorship highlights the growing need for professional fund-raisers in more Adventist churches, schools, and hospitals worldwide. PSI leaders say the agency, in recent years, has fielded an increasing number of consulting requests from outside its territory. “We’re designed to serve North America, but we answer questions from around the world. It’s definitely growing,” PSI director Lilya Wagner said.
Several participants described their first such conference as “eye-opening” for education about the profession’s best practices. “This conference is quite a good one. An eye-opener. When I get back to Africa, I would like to see something like this start,” said Masamba Eliudie, director of financial administration for Rusangu University in Zambia. “Philanthropy introduced at the right time will yield great results.”
“This [conference] is an eye-opener. It makes you want to go out and do it,” said Sophie Masuku, research coordinator at Solusi University in Zimbabwe. “It should really be taken seriously because many institutions are languishing,” Masuku added.
An institution’s commitment to philanthropy often starts with the crucial first steps of hiring an expert and educating the organization’s leader on his or her role in charitable giving, said Wagner. “It’s equally important to educate both fund-raisers and nonprofit leaders because that has to be a partnership,” Wagner said. “It’s deeply challenging when either one of those parties doesn’t have the education and information they need for an organization’s philanthropy program to flourish.”
PSI associate director Kristin Priest said the agency offers resources to Adventist institutions at no cost and promotes the industry’s professional accreditation: Certified Fund Raising Executive. Priest said the Adventist Church can do more to promote philanthropy, including presenting it more often to college and university students as a career option. “Fund-raisers are sometimes seen as professional beggars, which unfortunately deeply misconstrues what the profession is about,” Priest said. “Philanthropy,” she said, “is about relationships and inviting donors to be part of an institution’s mission. Sometimes it can benefit the donor in a big way.”
For Lois E. Peters, philanthropy helped her realize she was capable of greater accomplishments in her own life and career. The president of At Home Pediatric Nursing Team, Peters got into charitable giving after an Adventist institution’s fund-raiser visited her and toured her growing business of nursing homes. The philanthropist asked for a donation greater than the amount she had, which motivated her to increase the size of her business.
“We need [philanthropists] to teach us to know what we’re able to give,” Peters said during the keynote address at the conference’s awards luncheon. “God’s wealth is bigger than you can imagine.” [Adapted from Ansel Oliver/ANN]
