News
Providing Encouragement and Assessment
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.
Adventist Community Services Prepares to Help After Tornadoes Strike Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin
Yesterday afternoon, a devastating tornado struck Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri. In Kentucky, 14 are reported dead. In St. Louis, five deaths have been reported, along with widespread damage. At least 20 blocks of the city sustained damage. More than 5,000 properties are without power, and local emergency services are actively responding. As ACS begins to respond, they urge members to pray for those impacted and those providing assistance.
Union Adventist University Receives Grant for Culinary Medicine Teaching Kitchen
The Ardmore Institute of Health has awarded Union Adventist University’s Master of Public Health Program a grant to establish a culinary medicine teaching kitchen (CMTK). The $35,000 will purchase six commercial-grade mobile workstations, each including the culinary tools and appliances to support two students at a time, enabling the university to host classes of up to 12 students in the teaching kitchen. Any remaining funds will support a student garden that was established by the university’s first public health cohort last year.
Mid-America Union Conference Executive Committee Appoints New Communication Director
During its regular spring meeting, the Mid-America Union Executive Committee voted to approve a recommendation by MAUC’s administrative team outlining a leadership transition for the union’s communication department. Following the vote, then-director Brenda Dickerson became the associate director, and then-associate director/digital media manager Hugh Davis became the new director, effective May 1, 2025. This transition of titles, initially proposed by Dickerson, serves as a model for succession planning and smooth leadership transitions in appointed positions.
James P. Willis II Elected as New Vice President for Education for the Pacific Union Conference
The Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has elected James P. Willis II as its new vice president for education, effective July 1, 2025. He will succeed Dr. Berit von Pohle, who is retiring after a distinguished career spanning 46 years in Adventist education
Walla Walla University Professors, Students Publish Report on Ocean Acidification Research Device
In his 2023 sabbatical report, James Foster, assistant professor of computer science at Walla Walla University, published a detailed description of a new aquarium tank controller, describing the design, construction, and customization of the device. Foster helped write the software for this device, along with mathematics faculty John Foster, and several senior computer science majors. Additional contributions to the device’s physical build were made by other WWU professors from the biology and engineering departments.
Construction Set to Begin on Pacific Union College's Tonge Media Center
Thanks to two recent grants, Pacific Union College’s Department of Visual Arts will begin this spring to construct a new and innovative media center. The Tonge Media Center in Fisher Hall will house an advanced audio and video studio with state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The center will provide high-quality video and audio production access to the entire campus community.
La Sierra University Theologian Wins National Hispanic Book Prize
For Marlene Ferreras, assistant professor of practical theology at La Sierra University, the goal of her research trip to Yucatán, Mexico in November 2016 was straightforward – to collect data utilizing scientific research methods to shed light on the struggles of female Mayan workers at multinational maquila manufacturing plants. But through a three-month immersion into the daily life of a welcoming village family and numerous conversations with the community’s mexicana assembly line seamstresses, the scope of her analysis deepened to ultimately offer a re-shaping of the paradigm of how pastoral care can support marginalized peoples who are suffering. Her research journey morphed into a book.
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division (NAD) administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission (GMM) for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.