After a battle with cancer and short time in hospice care, Jere Wallack, former director of the North American Division’s (NAD) Church Resource Center (CRC, later known as “Vervent”), and co-founder of Sonscreen Film Festival, passed away on Aug. 17, 2018. Wallack was retired from denominational service and had moved from Colorado to Arizona with his wife, Nancy, this past September. He had been excited about getting involved with the baseball league in his retirement community, but fell ill a few months ago.

Wallack, a pastor, also served as associate director of the NAD’s Adventist Communication Network, Lake Union Conference communication and PARL director. Before joining the NAD, he also worked for the Potomac Conference and in the Southern California Conference as Communication director and assistant to the president. In 2002 while at the NAD, Wallack, a supporter of both young adults and visual arts, saw his dream of fostering film-making among young Adventists come to fruition with Sonscreen (then SONscreen). In response to the 2016 festival, Wallack commented, “I am so very proud of what the festival has matured [into]!”

Touted as the “the only film festival by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for young people,” Sonscreen, sponsored by the NAD, has just entered its 18th year.

“I had the privilege of working on several projects with Jere when I was a young producer starting out my career,” said Julio Muñoz, current director of Sonscreen and associate director of the NAD’s Office of Communication. “He provided me with invaluable opportunities to grow professionally. His trust in and support of young creatives knew no bounds. It was Jere’s strong desire to create a safe space for young Christian artists and filmmakers to express themselves and his complete faith in Stacia Dulan that led to the creation of Sonscreen.”

“He was totally committed to service of God for others and he wasn’t afraid to try new things, even if they failed — and that always kept our office exciting!” said Stacia Dulan Wright, Sonscreen co-founder and first director. “I loved his charismatic spirit, his commitment to the team and support for each of us, both personally and professionally.”

“At the Church Resource Center, Jere flipped the denominational structure upside down and asked not how churches could serve the denomination, but how could the denomination serve the churches," said Dave Gemmell, an associate director of the NAD's Ministerial Association. "Through extensive research, Jere and his team were able to develop, produce, and distribute dozens of relevant resources for congregations.”

Remembering Jere

Kermit Netteburg, former NAD assistant to the president for Communication, said it was a privilege to be a colleague and friend of Wallack’s. “Jere and I first met in 1966, working in the public relations office at a General Conference Session in Detroit. We worked together again in the 1980s in Berrien Springs, Michigan, where he was Communication director at the Lake Union and I was a journalism teacher at Andrews University,” Netteburg wrote on Facebook.

“Our careers came together one last time 15+ years ago when we both worked in communication at the North American Division office of the Adventist Church. Jere had a great passion for Jesus, for people, and for new ways to communicate God's love.”

Netteburg also shared that the adventurous Wallack loved to fly his private plane. “One time we flew into northern Michigan; [Jere] took the plane up fairly sharply, then down sharply. Then he looked at me and said, ‘You're not as much fun as Nancy; she screams when I do that.’”

Wright was the youngest person in the Vervent office, and had just finished up her post graduate internship, when Hawaiian shirt-clad Wallack said to Wright, “We want to keep you on staff here at [the] NAD and I have a project specifically for you. I sat down with Ray Tetz and we came up with a name — it’s called SONscreen. But we have not defined what SONscreen is. That is up to you. We just want it to be a project that is for young creatives across the North American Division — help keep them engaged with the church and let’s find out who and where our talented creative young people are and develop and mentor them — it could be a TV show or movie series or anything ... so you take it from here!”

With excitement and trepidation Wright worked with Wallack to define and develop SONscreen. “It is one of my greatest joys to have had the opportunity to co-found it with Jere Wallack,” said Wright. “Jere championed the project all the way through — along with the blessings of Kermit Netteburg and the NAD."

"Jere never let you forget that there were many layers to why we do things, how things work, and how the gospel can be understood and expressed through varied means," said Ray Tetz, director of Communication and Community Engagement for the Pacific Union Conference. "He knew that life was filled with complex situations that could be challenging and frustrating. He valued creativity and innovation as ways in which the Adventist message could become real and transformational for people navigating diverse circumstances."

Added Wright, “I remember when we presented him with the only custom made SONscreen Bomber Jacket (because we knew how much he liked planes) at his final SONscreen Festival before he retired. He was so moved to see how many young people’s lives were blessed through SONscreen and often said it was one of his greatest joys in his ministry career.

“Whether he was flying his prop airplane, sky diving, coming up with crazy, never-been-done-before ideas over staff lunch, or fiercely advocating for innovative ways to do ministry (like when we did an entire Bible photo shoot in the desert of Las Vegas, [Nevada]), he always advocated for his team,” Wright said. “He was spiritual, thoughtful, humble, and kind. A wild-eyed dreamer, a 100-percent doer, he always had an open-door policy where you could talk with him about almost anything. He loved his family — especially his grandsons! I believe I am a better person personally and professionally because of the mentorship of Jere Wallack.”

Said Tetz, "Jere was most persistent about creating opportunities that would open up new ways of thinking, and that enabled experiences that could be challenging and life-changing."

Wallack is survived by his wife, Nancy; sons Kurt, a mortgage banker from Chicago; and Kent, a middle school teacher at Burton Adventist Academy in Arlington, Texas, and several grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado, where Jere and Nancy met.

UPDATE (Aug. 29, 2018): A memorial service will be held at Campion Academy Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loveland, Colorado, on September 23, 2018, at 2 p.m.