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.