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Africa University graduation success stories (Press release, 9/8/11)

A United Methodist-Related Institution

Serving God. All the time. Everywhere.

Dear friends,

I hear the refrain “God is good. All the time.” whenever I reflect on Africa University's June 11 graduation.

Arun Gandhi gives the commencement address.

Our graduates that day—279 bachelor’s and 71 master’s degree recipients—represented 19 African countries. More than that, they represent the answered prayers and the hopes of tens of millions of people in their homelands across the continent. They also represent the answered prayers and the sacred commitment of United Methodists around the world.

This day—our 17th commencement in our 19th year—is a testament to the prayers and the financial support of persons like you. Four thousand students have earned degrees from Africa University since our opening in 1992. Our graduates are making a difference in countries and communities across Africa. By staying in Africa, they are changing Africa.

Attending university is an answer to prayer and a dream come true for our students and their families. The vast majority are the first family members to attend university, and for many this requires significant sacrifices. This is where the support of United Methodist local churches and annual conferences through the Africa University Fund and your second-mile support of scholarships play such a vital role. Your financial support makes a university education accessible to our students from across Africa.

AU Graduates

Jeffrey Mtini-Nkhoma from Malawi is committed to stay in Africa to help change Africa.

This member of the Class of 2011 earned his bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and is joining with two other graduates to establish their own information technology company with bases in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Through the entrepreneurship and community service projects they participated in while undergraduate students, they have built a network of contacts that will help them build their business. Access to computers and technology networks is a vital link in Africa’s future development.

Sarah Norkor Anku of Ghana, who came to Africa University as a trained lawyer, received a master’s degree in intellectual property during the commencement. As Africa develops, this will become a vital field where expertise is desperately needed. We are the only institution of higher learning in sub-Saharan Africa to offer this specialized degree. She too is staying in Africa to be a leader in changing Africa. Sarah is returning to Ghana to work as an assistant registrar general in her nation’s Registrar General’s Department.

These are but two of hundreds of compelling stories from our graduates and undergraduates. Some overcome great adversity just to reach our campus in Zimbabwe. Others surmount incredible financial challenges to attend class and succeed beyond their dreams. And others find themselves called by God to serve Jesus with a foundation of learning from Africa University.

Marilyn Chimbaira achieved the highest grade-point average.

United Methodists are helping to make all of these dreams come true.

Finally, I want to tell you about two important achievements in this year’s graduating class. The Class of 2011 saw our first eight graduates majoring in natural resources management in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and five postgraduate diplomas in nongovernment organization (NGO) management were awarded in the Faculty of Management and Administration. These are important fields with great demand across Africa for qualified professionals. Your support helps us to identify and fill areas of need throughout Africa.

I opened this letter with the refrain “God is good. All the time.” It is true. All the time. God is good.

Your prayers and financial support are the reasons we are able to train new generations of leaders for Africa. We need your constant prayer, and we need your continuing financial support as we focus on serving God, all the time, everywhere in Africa. Grace and peace,

Dr. Fanuel Tagwira

Vice-Chancellor
Africa University

Changing Africa: Learning Here. Living Here. Leading Here.

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Asbury Theological Seminary received $13 million donation (from TNUMConnects 7/28/11)

ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY RECEIVES $13MILLION DONATION TO FUND SECOND PHASE OF FAMILY HOUSING COMPLEX 
Donation Provided by the Bill and Carol Latimer Foundation

WILMORE, Ky. (July 25, 2011) – Asbury Theological Seminary announced today that it will be undergoing additional construction of 50 new family housing units in the North Phase of the Ellsworth and Janet Kalas Family housing complex, also know as Kalas Village, thanks to the generous donation of $13 million provided by the Bill and Carol Latimer Foundation.

In addition, the Foundation will assist Asbury Seminary in constructing a community center designed to promote relationships and community formation among the married students who attend the Seminary. The housing units will be designed to accommodate families of various sizes and built to substantially conform to the current family housing that was dedicated on May 16, 2011. Asbury Seminary will use the net income from the family housing units to fund student scholarships.

President Timothy C. Tennent said, “Asbury Theological Seminary remains deeply committed to providing quality residential theological education. The support we have received from the Latimer family has truly been a blessing from God. I would like to thank the Latimer’s for their generous donations over the past two years that will enable Asbury Seminary to continue to advance forward in its global mission.”

Parties interested in making private donations towards Asbury Seminary’s ongoing commitment to residential theological education or for continuance of campus improvements and academic resources may visit www.asburyseminary.edu for information on how they can help Asbury Seminary maintain its mission as a community called.

About Asbury Theological Seminary:  With multiple campuses, Asbury Theological Seminary is an interdenominational graduate school of theology committed to serving the global Church by teaching the unchanging truth of historic Wesleyan Christianity through the most dynamic means available. Asbury Seminary offers a variety of degrees, including the master of arts, master of divinity, master of theology, doctor of ministry and doctor of philosophy in intercultural studies, biblical studies. Total current enrollment nears 1,600 students, representing 93 denominations and 47 countries. For more information, please visit www.asburyseminary.edu.

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Ministry Study Plan provides peer review process (from TNUMConnects 3/22/11)

by Vicki Brown*

Concern in the church about protecting women and racial-ethnic clergy has prompted the Study of Ministry Commission to modify language on security of appointment for clergy so that if an elder in full connection does not receive an appointment for reasons other than ineffectiveness, a process will be in place for that elder to seek a peer review from the annual conference Board of Ordained Ministry.

Bishop Albert Gwinn, chair of the commission, said that many of the comments the commission has received from United Methodist lay and clergy centered around open itinerancy – protecting the rights of women and racial-ethnic clergy to continue to be appointed if security of appointment is eliminated.

The Rev. Ken Carter, a commission member who is also the chair of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s Division of Ordained Ministry, said that responses from the church about this issue led to changes to the proposal which the commission is preparing to submit to General Conference 2012. The changes mean a modification of the continuing appointment process.

Commission members, meeting in Nashville March 14 – 16, fine-tuned proposals and set a tight schedule for completing their report. In addition to modifying the security of employment for clergy, the commission proposes legislation that will further streamline the candidacy process. Changes include a proposed vocational discernment coordinator who will work through the Board of Ordained Ministry and in consultation with the district superintendent to recruit and train people as leaders for candidacy group mentoring which will expedite the mentoring process and foster peer reflection and learning. Group mentoring will also allow particularly gifted mentors to work with more candidates.

A redesign of licensing school will offer a Ministry Preparation Orientation for all candidates for the purpose of building collegiality and understanding among local pastors, deacons, and elders, as well as preparation for licensing in each of these ministries.

In addition, the proposed legislation allows ordination and provisional membership to occur earlier in the process, following certification, completion of theological educational requirements, and other requirements. The practice of commissioning would be eliminated and following a minimum two-year provisional membership period, the ordained clergyperson would be eligible for full conference membership.

The group also drafted a new section on transitional leave of absence that would guide annual conferences in working with clergy who are not appointed to a church or extension ministry post because of missional reasons or because there were not enough jobs for clergy in the conference. The Rev. Aslam Barkat asked the group to consider how grace entered into the proposals, noting that much of what was being done was pragmatic, but adding that the church must consider more than that. Bishop Grant Hagiya responded that the annual conferences have a moral obligation to provide transitional benefits such as health coverage and job counseling.

Gwinn said the proposals move the church toward a cooperative, shared ministry. “The commission has seen the wisdom of our tradition to have the areas of set-apart ministry –elders, deacons, and local pastors – depending on one another, which is really a return to our traditions. We have seen the wisdom of how the early church modeled shared ministry,” Gwinn said.

The Rev. Sharon Rubey, interim associate general secretary of GBHEM’s Division of Ordained Ministry, said the commission also plans to present the legislative proposals in such a way that each piece may be considered on its own merit.

“We want General Conference delegates to see how all the pieces fit together, but if some of the changes are deemed less beneficial to the church than others, we hope they will consider each on its own merit and not discount the entire report,” Rubey said.

Commission sub-groups will continue working on the report and figuring out how the proposals fit with other reports that will be before General Conference, including the Call to Action report, and proposals from the Faith and Order Commission and the Church Systems Task Force.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

> Read this article on the GBHEM website

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