Ken Norton Named Voice of Prophecy Bible School Director

Ken Norton, president of the Montana Conference in the United States, has accepted the Voice of Prophecy’s invitation to serve as the Discover Bible School director. He will begin his service at the ministry on March 2.

Norton will replace Bill Payne, who recently became the director for Sabbath School and Personal Ministries at the North American Division.

“I get very excited when I see God lining things up for His work. It was obvious—almost immediately—that He was answering our prayers by sending Ken to us,” said Shawn Boonstra, Voice of Prophecy speaker/director. “Ken has a soul winner’s heart and deep experience in using the Bible School to lead people to Christ.”

Prior to his time in Montana, Norton served as president of the Guam-Micronesia Mission (GMM) for five years. His professional background also includes pastoral ministry in the Florida Conference, Georgia-Cumberland Conference, and the GMM, as well as teaching and international missions. Throughout his career Norton has both utilized the Bible School’s resources and aided its global growth.

The Voice of Prophecy’s Discover Bible School is one of the largest Bible-lesson programs in the world, supporting more than 2,800 local branches across North America, with hundreds more around the world. It offers lessons in more than 100 languages—a feat made possible, in part, by Norton.

While serving as president of the GMM, Norton led efforts to translate the Bible School’s Discover Guides into local island languages. He also personally developed a website enabling the local islanders to study the Bible School’s lessons online.

“For a long time I’ve had this passion for equipping lay church members in evangelism, and of course, the foundation of that journey is studying the Bible with others,” Norton said. “In almost every district where I’ve been a pastor, I’ve started a Discover Bible School. I’m excited to help our churches as Bible School director by getting as many laypeople involved in soul winning as possible.”

Norton is especially looking forward to enriching the Bible School’s virtual outreach operations. In fact, Norton’s doctoral study focused on how video chat technology can help laypeople to organize effective small group Bible studies. His academic journey resulted in a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University and yet another connection to the Voice of Prophecy: his main adviser was Kurt Johnson, World Bible School director and associate director for the Discover Bible School.

“Ken’s passion for Bible study ministry, his humility, and his desire to live like Jesus are apparent,” said Johnson. “Both he and his wife, Julie, are devoted to missions—to walking in the footsteps of Jesus and doing everything in their power to help others make that same journey.”

Headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, the Voice of Prophecy has been engaged in evangelism and media ministry since 1929, making it one of the longest-running Christian media ministries in existence.