Vice-president refocusing church’s commitment
Ansel Oliver
Assistant director
Adventist News Network
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
A worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church vice-president is refocusing the denomination’s commitment to education over the next five years.
Dr Ella Simmons. Credit: Robert East.
Dr Ella Simmons is leading the church’s International Board of Education in developing a master plan and establishing a research agenda to assess needs and evaluate outcomes. Doing so could create a better model for Adventist education and a renewed focus on Jesus and the integration of His life and teachings in every unit of study.
Ella has served as provost of the church’s La Sierra University (Riverside, California, USA), vice president of the church’s Oakwood University (Huntsville, Alabama, USA) and associate dean of the School of Education at the University of Louisville (Kentucky, USA). She serves as advisor to the church’s Education Department in her current role.
You’ve said the church hasn’t “seamlessly integrated” faith into every unit. Why not?
Maybe we’ve been focusing on individual elements of our faith as opposed to focusing on Jesus and allowing our faith to be defined and directed by His life and teachings. We need to rediscover the core elements that make us Adventist as opposed to simply Christian or Protestant and then apply those to Adventist education.
Will the church have to shift some of its resources?
The resources we have are finite, but yes, we would need to increase them, or we would have to make decisions about our priorities. Perhaps we could do with fewer institutions and put more money into the remaining institutions.
It’s a sensitive issue.
If we’re talking about Revival and Reformation—[worldwide church president Dr Ted Wilson’s strategic plan to spur a renewal of members’ commitment to the church’s mission]—we need to realise how this also applies to organisations as well as to people. It’s human nature to not want to lose ground where we have made ground.
Could you see the church in North America moving toward the Mormon model of just a few institutions of higher learning?
No. I don’t think enough people would be able to give up enough to make that happen.
So, you’re not opposed to it?
It could be a desirable option, and I hasten to say, I wouldn’t expect just a few institutions—I could see four or five. Educational leaders are beginning to see this more clearly.
What about exposing students to evidence and ideas that might conflict with Adventist beliefs?
That’s biblical, but our responsibility is to keep students focused on God’s word. When the two lines of thought are not congruent, my position has been that evidence might indicate a certain line of thought, but when the Bible indicates something different, we must continue to grow through more research and exploration in search of this truth. As we continue to grow in our understanding of the Bible, we will grow in our understanding of science, history and all else.