Posts Tagged ‘Graduation’

Graduation celebrates study and service

Friday, December 2, 2011

Avondale confers first PhD

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Rebekah Bamford fits Katrina Rowe’s regalia. The graduands are co-leaders of One Mission, which is returning for a third consecutive year to the Philippines and the Solomon Islands and sending its first team to Brazil this month—it has already sent teams to the Philippines and Nepal this year. The student club will feature during Sabbath school over the graduation weekend. Credit: Colin Chuang.

It is a record René Gehring did not seek, but he will become the first student to graduate with a PhD from Avondale College of Higher Education.

The 30-year-old Seventh-day Adventist minister from Korbach, Germany, is one of an expected 266 graduands eligible to march over graduation weekend (December 9-11) this year. He will be the first on stage during the presentation of awards in the Chan Shun Auditorium on Sunday, where president Dr Ray Roennfeldt and council chair Dr Barry Oliver will fit his cap and hood.

René’s thesis—“The biblical ‘one flesh’ theology of marriage as constituted in Genesis 2:24: an exegetical study of this human–divine covenant pattern, its New Testament echoes and its reception history throughout Scripture”—describes a harmonious teaching of marriage throughout Scripture, based on the principles of Genesis 2:24 being at least subliminally present in most marriage texts. It also notes the spiritual and practical characteristics of the “leave,” “be joined” and “become one flesh” (NKJV) pattern of the covenant and the privileges and responsibilities of this “Edenic ideal.”

René Gehring, a 30-year-old Seventh-day Adventist minister from Germany, is Avondale’s first PhD graduate.

The PhD is René’s second doctorate. He received his first, for which he studied ancient Jewish history, from the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Avondale’s “close connection” with 19th century Adventist history played a part in René’s decision to study at the college. “I would not be an Adventist had I not, by chance, found as a 17-year-old some of Ellen White’s books on a shelf. They changed my life and gave me a strong, firm belief. I’ve been interested in her life ever since.” He notes Ellen’s formative role in Avondale’s history—she helped establish the institution. “Now I have my own little part in its history.”

Vice-president (administration and research) Dr Vivienne Watts describes René’s place in history as an achievement for Avondale. “Few private higher education providers offer PhDs,” she says. “Those that do offer them in mostly one discipline. We offer them in four.” Vivienne implemented the PhD program at Avondale, so reading René’s name during the presentation of awards will be “satisfying.” What is also satisfying: the five-year reaccreditation of the program this past year. “The panel saw progress,” says Vivienne. “That’s what we’re aiming for.” She also notes how the external examination of higher degree by research theses enhances Avondale’s credibility. “Each of these students we graduate adds to the evidence of the quality of our education.”

This aspect of the Avondale experience appears with another—preparing students for lives of service—in the corporate statement of mission. Graduands recognised this in the giving of the graduation class gift, which class co-president Kate Beaden will announce during the consecration service on the Lake Macquarie campus. The class will donate at least one computer to the Riverside Seventh-day Adventist Primary School in Cape Town, South Africa, to help it digitise its records. Graduand Rhianon Bougaardt identified the need while teaching at the school earlier in the year.

Service will also feature during the Saturday morning Sabbath school as Avondale honours: the student club One Mission, which is returning for a third consecutive year to the Philippines and the Solomon Islands and sending its first team to Brazil this month—it has already sent teams to the Philippines and Nepal this year; and the students who served with their lecturer at Atoifi Adventist Hospital in the Solomon Islands.

Dr Ella Simmons, a general vice-president of the worldwide Adventist Church, will use the class’s Micah 6:8-based motto, “Be,” as the focus of the graduation service address. Her challenge: “To be or not to be?”

Dr Lyell Heise will launch the fourth in the Play Today praise and worship series during the close of Sabbath on Saturday. The senior lecturer in the School of Ministry and Theology coordinated the production of the book in his role as director of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific’s Institute of Worship. His assistant, piano teacher Valmai Hill, arranged each of the 12 songs, including those by Adventist songwriters Peter Dixon and Coralie Fraser. The institute publishes the books to give young piano players the confidence and motivation to participate in the praise and worship at their local church.

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Graduation service address: “To be or not to be?”, Dr Ella Simmons, general vice-president, worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Graduation a focus for students who serve

Monday, December 6, 2010

Living generously the theme for yearend celebrations

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Jessica Parsons and Reuben Ennor are among the 284 graduands who were eligible to march during the graduation service at Avondale College. Credit: Ann Stafford.

They studied, they served and now they plan to marry. Reuben Ennor and fiancée Jessica Parsons are among the 284 graduands, including the first from the Bachelor of Theology (Honours), who were eligible to march during the graduation service at Avondale College, December 5.

The two graduated with similar degrees—Reuben a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business and Jessica a Bachelor of Arts. They have also shared similar experiences, volunteering with the Transformational Development Agency in Rwanda to work with those orphaned because of the genocide and with sex workers and their children.

Some 284 graduands were eligible to march during the graduation service. Credit: Ann Stafford.

The former included a project called Photo Voice, for which Reuben and Jessica offered young adults training in photography to encourage them to visually tell their stories. The aim: to raise awareness of how these people view their world and to bring positive social action. The latter saw Reuben and Jessica ministering to a sex worker called Valentina. She is HIV positive and has seven children, five of who have died from AIDS. Valentina is now a Christian. Reuben and Jessica helped her establish her own business to provide a self-supporting income, which means she no longer works in the sex industry. The business is growing and Valentina’s children are now attending school.

Reuben and Jessica’s classmates also recognised the importance of service in the giving of the graduation class gift. The gift is an interactive white board, which co-president Shona Clarke presented to a representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern New South Wales’ new Currawah Adventist Aboriginal College during the consecration service on the Lake Macquarie campus. Speaker Anton Selvaratnam, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, used the class’s Matthew 10:8-based motto, “Treated generously . . . live generously,” as the focus of his address. The concept of infinity in mathematics exemplifies our God and His unconditional love, said Anton.

Barry Oliver, Ray Roennfeldt and Bernard and Murray Brandstater at the opening of the Brandstater Amphitheatre. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Lecturer Katherine Cooper spoke to graduands during the consecration service on the Sydney campus, noting how compassion “significantly aids holistic care provision.” Listen to your patients, not just their spoken but also their unspoken words, she said. Provide care that meets obvious but also obscure needs. Serve as an advocate, ensuring your patients receive the best care. “Above all, pray that God will give you the grace to provide compassionate care and that nothing will stop you from providing this.”

Avondale announced the third recipient of its most prestigious prize, the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Prize of Excellence, during the service. Jewells Kiviranta, also the graduation class co-president, joins Hannah Rowe and Chris Starrett as winners of the $1500 prize.

Service also featured during the Saturday morning Sabbath school as Avondale honoured: the students who gave up their holidays to serve in regional New South Wales as part of a ministry called Storm Co (Service To Other Really Matters); the student club One Mission, which returns to the Philippines on the Tuesday after the graduation service; and the students who served with their lecturer at Atoifi Adventist Hospital in the Solomon Islands.

Professor Trevor Cairney presented the graduation service address. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Avondale president Dr Ray Roennfeldt preached the Sabbath sermon, which he called “Cinderellas and princes.” “How will you live now you have been transported from poverty to the palace?” he asked. The answer: look to the Hero of the Bible. Scripture does not give a complete roadmap for living the generous life, he said, “but it does give us a model—Jesus Christ—and it challenges us to live as He would.”

Dr Bernard Brandstater on behalf of the family joined Ray, Shona and Avondale College Council chair Dr Barry Oliver that afternoon in opening the new Brandstater Amphitheatre on the site of the former baptismal font opposite the Chan Shun Auditorium. The venue proved fitting for live music, with senior lecturer in theology Dr Rick Ferret leading a male quartet and those attending in singing the hymn “Sweet, Sweet Spirit.”

Professor Trevor Cairney, master of New College at The University of New South Wales, described education as a “great privilege” during his graduation service address. “When you graduate today, you join a community of scholars who stretch back even to great institutions like the Abbey of St Gall [the Swiss-based home of one of the world’s oldest medieval libraries]. You join a community of scholars who have used the minds God gave them to learn, to teach and to make a difference in their world.”

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“Rip it up”

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

An Aboriginal Seventh-day Adventist minister is not only the Avondale College Alumni Association’s new face but also its Young Alumni of the Year.

Friend Garth Bainbridge accepts the Young Alumni of the Year award on behalf of Johnny Murison. Credit: Ann Stafford.

Pr Johnny Murison was announced as the winner of the award during an alumni and graduation forum on the Lake Macquarie campus this past Wednesday (May 19). Johnny could not attend the forum, so friend Pr Garth Bainbridge, Ministerial Association secretary for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sydney, accepted on his behalf.

In a written message, Johnny challenged students to take risks for God. He recalled moving to Sydney after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Theology) in 2004. “I’m a bushman and I was hoping I would get sent to the bush,” he said. Instead, the church sent him to the urban jungle. “I knew I had to get out of my comfort zone” because, said Johnny, living a fulfilling life with Jesus is about “taking it up a notch and ripping it up on the side of good.”

Johnny would serve as sole minister at Mt Druitt Seventh-day Adventist Church and director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries for the church in Sydney over the next five years. He would grow Mt Druitt and establish a church plant called The Way in Redfern. He became an ordained minister on the Saturday before the forum and is now an associate minister at Parramatta Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventist Media Network has appointed Johnny as a support presenter for a new evangelistic DVD series called Beyond Search, and he features as the new face of Avondale alumni in a video clip appearing on the association’s homepage.

“When you take a risk, you grow and your faith deepens,” said Johnny in his message. “When you use your gifts and talents for God . . . He will take you places you have never been before.”

Johnny wrote glowingly of his ministry in Sydney, describing it as “helping people taste and see the Lord is good.” “I get to do this on a full-time, professional basis and I get paid!”

He ended his message with this statement: “God doesn’t want us to make a living, He wants us to make a difference.”

Avondale College president Dr Ray Roennfeldt prayed earlier in the forum for the thousands of alumni “who have turned their backs on the comforts of life to serve in difficult places.” The president of the alumni association, Pr Des Hills, challenged members of the 2010 graduation class to dedicate themselves to service, describing them as “strong ambassadors for the kingdom of heaven.”

The Young Alumni of the Year honours: outstanding professional achievement and excellence; innovative or inspirational leadership; or notable contribution to a humanitarian cause or commitment to service. Alumni aged 30 and under and who graduated five years ago are eligible for the award.

Earlier, Ray announced the graduation class officers. They are:

  • Shona Clarke, co-president (Lake Macquarie campus)
  • Jewells Kiviranta, co-president (Sydney campus)
  • Ray Moaga, chaplain
  • Reuben Enor, treasurer
  • Rebekah Behan, graduation banquet coordinator
  • Neil Bustos, Chantal Heise and Wendy Saluni, undergraduate representatives
  • Tristin Lever, vocational education and training representative
  • Bev Christian, staff adviser

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