December 17, 2013

Alex Bryan to Return to WWU Church

Dr. Alex Bryan accepted an invitation by Upper Columbia Conference to serve as senior pastor of the Walla Walla University Church. Bryan will return to fill the same position he previously held.Bryan

Dave Thomas, chair of the church’s search committee and dean of the Walla Walla University School of Theology said, “I happily recall the joyous and uplifting church ethos that was so strong when Pastor Alex was here and anticipate it will become very evident again upon his return.”

For the past six months Bryan has been serving as president of Kettering College in Kettering, Ohio. In a letter to his college staff Bryan said, “Over the past many weeks I have sensed an ever-growing and ever-clearer prompting from God that I should return to pastoral and pulpit ministry.”

Bryan served as senior pastor of the University Church from 2009 to June 2013. During his tenure, he expanded ministry programs and led renewal projects to commemorate the church’s fiftieth anniversary. He also taught university classes and also served as an advisor to the president for vision and strategy.

"I am delighted Dr. Bryan accepted the invitation to return to serve as the senior pastor of our Walla Walla University Church,” said Paul Hoover, president of the Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. “God has obviously been doing something special with and in Dr. Bryan clarifying his calling to pastoral ministry."

Bryan, and his wife, Nicole, have two children, Audrey and William. Nicole, a WWU alumna, has taught for WWU’s School of Social Work and Sociology. She has also served as a mentor in the Freshman Success Program.

Bryan graduated from Southern Adventist University in 1993 with majors in history and religion. He then earned his Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1996, and his doctoral degree in ministry from George Fox University in 2009. He is also the author of “The Green Cord Dream,” which explores the purpose and possibility for Adventist Christianity in the twenty-first century.

Bryan’s date of return to the University Church pulpit is yet to be determined.

-- Reported by Jay Wintermeyer, Upper Columbia Conference

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