Chapel and Forum Presenters
Fall Semester 2009
Sept. 03 | Keren Toms (Chapel)
Keren Toms is the Chaplain for Outreach at Andrews University and associate pastor at Pioneer Memorial Church. She oversees all of the outreach initiatives organized by Campus Ministries. She holds a degree in Spanish Studies from Andrews University and will soon complete a Masters in Youth Ministry. She firmly believes that missions and service are the most important things in life.
Sept. 10 | Jasmine Saunders/AUSA (University Forum)
Jasmine Saunders is the 2009-2010 Andrews University Student Association (AUSA) President. She is a senior Behavior Sciences major with a concentration in Anthropology and is preparing to enter medical school upon graduation. At the AUSA University Forum she will introduce her team of executive officers for the year and welcome the new AUSA sponsor, Paul Buckley, Associate Dean for Student Life.
Sept. 14-19 | Alex Bryan (Week of Spiritual Emphasis)
Alex Bryan is senior pastor of Walla Walla University Church in College Place, Washington. He has previously served churches in Georgia and Tennessee, and studied at Southern Adventist University (B.A.), Andrews University (M.Div), and George Fox University (D.Min.). He is Husband to Nicole, Daddy to Audrey, and Servant to his 8-pound dog, Roosevelt.
Sept. 24 | Japhet De Oliveira (Chapel)
Japhet De Oliveira currently serves as the Director for the Center for Youth Evangelism and as Chaplain for Missions at Andrews University. He came from from England in 2006 where he served as Youth Director for the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He is an energetic and innovative leader with a passion for young people. This year he’ll be leading Open Word, a weekly Bible journey meeting each Tuesday morning, starting in the book of Genesis. All are welcome; co-curricular credit will be offered.
Oct. 01 | Tim Nixon (Chapel)
Timothy Nixon is Chaplain for Inreach at Andrews University. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, he has served as a pastor for 28 years in three conferences and has worked at Andrews since 1998. Nixon is a graduate of Oakwood Univeristy (B.A.) and Andrews University (M.Div.) and is currently completing his Doctor of Ministry. Chaplain Nixon and his wife, Sandria, have two children, Michael age 21 and Camille age 14. “I live with the assurance that I am where God wants me to be and am doing what God wants me to do.”
Oct. 08 | TBA (University Forum)
Oct. 15 | César González (PowerPac)
César González has worked at the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists for over a decade specializing in discipleship and young adult issues. He spearheaded the Genesis 2000 and Seven Signs initiatives that worked to foster young adult inclusion and discipleship in North America and around the world.. In 2007 César was awarded the Adventist Ministries Award for Excellence in Young Adult Ministries. His first book, The God I Saw, will be released next year. César lives with his wonderful wife Grace in Cambridge, Maryland.
Oct. 22 | Chris Blake (Chapel)
Chris Blake is an English and communications professor at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a former editor of Insight magazine and a columnist for the Adventist Review, he has published numerous award-winning articles. His bestselling book Searching for a God to Love has been translated into four languages. He loves questions and those who ask them.
Oct. 29 | LeClare Litchfield (Chapel)
LeClare Litchfield (Litch) was a student missionary when he came to a spiritual turning point in his life. He obtained a ministerial degree at Newbold College, married, and continued working in England for four years. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1980, Litch has served in both church and academy settings, most recently as chaplain at Collegedale Academy. He and his wife Shelly have two sons in college, Ryan and Adam. He enjoys working with young people because they are “some of the most spiritual people on the planet.”
Nov. 03 | William Paul Young (University Forum)
William Paul Young is author of the best-selling book The Shack. Written to share his perspectives on God and inner healing with his six children, Young had no intention to share it more widely. Friends urged him to do so, and after being rejected by 26 publishers, The Shack quickly rose to become the top-selling fiction and audio book of 2008. The son of missionary parents to a primitive tribe in West Papua New Guinea, Young suffered from abuse as a child. The Shack is a testament to his journey out of pain and into God’s love.
Nov. 12 | Nick Snell/Religion Department (PowerPac)
Nicholas Snell is the Religious Vice President for the Andrews University Student Association and a senior Theology major. Nick will be working with the Religion Department to offer a series of student- and faculty-led presentations for this Power Pac Weekend.
Nov. 19 | Don Livesay (Chapel)
Don Livesay began serving as the president of the Lake Union Conference in 2008, with prior service as vice president and president of the Oregon Conference. Livesay completed his M.Div. at Andrews University in 1976 and has also been a pastor, academy chaplain, and conference youth director. He and his wife Barbara, an educational administrator, have two daughters, Christina and Stephanie, both of Loma Linda, California.
Dec. 03 | Clive Wilson (Chapel)
Clive Wilson was born in the quaint town of Bedford, UK, the youngest of six children. He currently serves as the Campus Chaplain for Kettering College of Medical Arts in Ohio, where as an assistant professor, he also teaches undergraduate classes in religion and theology. Clive is responsible, along with a team of student leaders, for the spiritual programming on the college campus. He works alongside the pastoral team at the campus’ Kettering SDA Church, teaching and speaking there regularly.
Spring Semester 2010
Jan. 07 | Karl Haffner (Chapel)
Karl Haffner is the teaching pastor at the Kettering SDA Church and mission strategist for Kettering Health Network in Ohio. He’s the husband of Cherié and daddy of Lindsey and Claire. He travels tons and runs marathons. He is the author of nine books including Pilgrim’s Problems and The Cure for Soul Fatigue and writes a regular column for three different periodicals. He’s got two BA degrees, two Masters degrees and a Ph.D.. But he’s really just amazed by God’s acceptance and is committed to communicating that grace to others.
Jan. 14 | Freeman Hrabowski, III (University Forum)
Freeman Hrabowski, III is President of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, he received his Ph.D. at the age of 24 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is co-author of two books: Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds, focusing on successful African American males and females in science. A child-leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Hrabowski was prominently featured in Spike Lee's 1997 documentary, Four Little Girls, on the racially motivated 1963 bombing of a Birmingham Baptist church.
Jan. 21 | Duane McBride (Chapel)
Duane McBride is Professor and Chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department at Andrews University as well as Director of the University's Institute for Prevention of Addictions. Dr. McBride holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His research interests include drug policy, risk behavior prevention, health services quality and access, and etiology and consequences of drug use. Dr. McBride frequently serves as a consultant to a wide variety of governmental agencies, universities and foundations, including the National Institute of Health.
Jan. 25-30 | Student Week of Spiritual Emphasis
Student Week of Spiritual Emphasis features a team of undergraduate speakers from different backgrounds and disciplines who will share their own personal stories and encounters with the Word of God. The series will close with a student speaking for Sabbath services in Pioneer Memorial Church. This year’s theme is “Saved to Serve.”
Feb. 04 | Black History (Chapel)
Black History Month is celebrated at Andrews University each February. Black History Weekend begins with a guest speaker for Thursday’s Chapel and continues throughout the weekend with a service in Pioneer Memorial Church on Sabbath. All students, regardless of their heritage, are invited to share in this celebration of freedom, dignity, and courage.
Feb. 11 | AUSA Elections (University Forum)
AUSA Election Forum features campaign speeches from the candidates running for AUSA executive offices in the 2010-2011 school year. Candidate platforms will also be published in the Student Movement. Applications and requirements for those wishing to be a candidate can be picked up at the Student Life Office. All students are encouraged to participate in student government by exercising their right to vote.
Feb. 18 | Vincent Dehm, II (PowerPac)
Vincent Dehm, II serves as Associate Pastor for Youth and Diversity Ministries at Miracle Temple Worship Center in Baltimore, MD. He has the God-given ability to reach all people regardless of age, gender, culture or race. Dehm was the first Caucasian pastor in the United States to serve as the senior pastor of an all black congregation. He is the founder of The Diversified Church, an organization dedicated to demolishing the walls that separate different cultures in the Church. His dream is that one day God's church can become what He desires it to be, a Diversified Church.
Feb. 25 | Janine Martins (Chapel)
Janine Martins is a medical doctor, Oxford scientist, and international medical journalist. Raised in six different countries, she was left to care for her siblings at a young age due to her father’s illness. Without finances or family support, her dreams of becoming a doctor seemed impossible. But with God’s help and the support of caring people, Martins recently completed her MD/PhD at Oxford University. “My journey is a reminder of how powerful God’s intervention is. If He opens a door, don’t let anyone convince you of the impossibilities.”
Mar. 04 | Lauren Winner (Univesity Forum)
Lauren F. Winner is the author of three books, Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. She has appeared on PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today. Winner has degrees from Duke, Columbia, and Cambridge universities, and holds a Ph.D. in history. Lauren teaches at Duke Divinity School, and lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Mar. 11 | Fredrick Russell (Chapel)
Fredrick Russell is currently the president of the Allegheny West Conference, and was previously Senior Pastor of the Miracle Temple church in Baltimore, Maryland. Russell has a passion for developing leaders in all types of settings and has started a company called the True North Leadership Group. He also serves as a columnist for the Adventist Review. Pastor Russell has a B.A. in Theology and an M.A. in Management. Pastor Russell is happily married to his wife Brenda, the proud father of two young adults, Ashley and Andy, and most recently a new grandfather.
Mar. 25 | Music and Worship Conference Speaker (PowerPac)
April 01 | International (Chapel)
International Chapel is part of International Student Week. Andrews University is a “home away from home” for 700 international students from 100 countries around the world, making it one of the most diverse universities in the nation. This week, which begins with the ever-popular International Food Fair, celebrates Andrews’ multi-cultural student body and the contributions that each student brings to understanding and enriching the world.
April 08 | Laurence Turner (Chapel)
Laurence Turner was born in England and graduated from Newbold College (BA),The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (MDiv), Princeton Theological Seminary (ThM), and the University of Sheffield (PhD). He worked as a pastor in the South England Conference before going to lecture at Avondale College. He is currently Principal Lecturer in Old Testament and Director of Research Degrees at Newbold College. His main interest is Genesis on which he has published three books. He is married with two children and seven grandchildren.
April 15 | University Awards (University Forum)
University Awards Forum is a time for recognizing the achievements of students and faculty in the past year, as well as the efforts of Andrews University’s many student leaders. Each year, academic and athletic awards are bestowed by various departments, along with the Spiritual Life Award, Teacher of the Year Award, Environmental Stewardship Award, and Spirit of Andrews Award.
April 22 | Niels-Erik Andreasen (Chapel)
Niels-Erik Andreasen, Ph.D. is president of Andrews University. He is Danish born, with graduate degrees from Andrews and Vanderbilt and teaching experience in the United States and Australia before beginning twenty years of educational administration. He is married to Demetra Lougani of Athens, Greece. Their family includes a son who is also working in higher education, a daughter in law, and two young grandchildren.