Dear Friends of EuNC,
Life has been busy at EuNC! General Assembly provided a great opportunity to share about the mission, character and story of our school. Several Learning Centres were able to represent at conferences in their areas. In the meantime, the development of the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre is advancing. New faculty members are joining while others are making steps on their academic and professional journey. We are blessed to witness everything that God is doing and pray that we will continue to seek God's kingdom first (Matthew 6:33-34), including the preparation of our students for ministry. And we're already headed into a new academic year. Join us for our Fall Convocation!
On behalf of the entire EuNC Team
What a wonderful opportunity to meet many faces from the EuNC community and the global church family! EuNC is thankful for a great time at General Assembly.
Partnering with the Eurasia Region we were able to use some of their booth space in the Exhibit Hall to display EuNC material. Hundreds of post-it notes and countless flyers were handed out to visitors. The time at the booth was helpful to make further connections with anyone interested in the college, leading to deep conversations about supporting the college in many ways including prayer.
An Ice Cream Social event with up to 100 participants was a highlight as old and new friendships were fostered, information about the college was shared and people got to witness the multinational, transformational character of EuNC. Similar connections were made during the "Celebrate Eurasia" event, a gathering that allowed the participants to see, taste and experience the cultural diversity of the Eurasia Region.
We are thankful for a great group of volunteers, former and current faculty, who supported our presence at General Assembly.
In June, Dr. Olga Druzhinina and Aleksei Shipovalov took part in an international theological conference in Serbia. The theme and questions that were discussed at this conference helped them and other Christian leaders to reflect on their ministry: What is the Church? What is its mission? How can we equip the believer?
The main speakers came from Latvia. Therefore, they shared their own practical experience of church growth with the leading question: What can the Baltics teach the Balkans?
Aleksei and Olga moved from Latvia to the Balkans at the beginning of the year. In a sense, this conference was a confirmation of their call to Serbia. They serve as church planters in Belgrade, and they hope that their ministry will bring the fruit in the near future.
Dr. Olga Druzhinina
(EuNC - Bulgaria Learning Centre Coordinator & Administrator; Cluster Chair Theology, Tradition and Identity)
The Adria Connection (17-20 May, 2023), in Crikvenica, Croatia, was a gathering of Methodist pastors from primarily Central Europe (Slovakia, Germany, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Congo, Estonia), with the purpose of discussing the recent division within the United Methodist Church (UMC). Part of this discussion revolved around the need for educational resourcing for clergy and laity in the newly formed Global Methodist Church (GMC). I was invited by the event’s organizer from the Croatian Methodist Church in Zagreb, to give a presentation about what EuNC has to offer. The group was very receptive, and they were particularly excited about our distributed network of Learning Centers, because this would not only allow greater access to courses, but that they would be in the native language of the student. Combining this with our shared Wesleyan heritage, which is a big emphasis in the GMC, and a tailorable educational course of study, a relationship with EuNC seems like a mutually beneficial proposition. I am hopeful that the seeds planted during the Adria Connection will bear fruit in the coming days.
Rev. Stan Christopherson
(EuNC - Croatia Learning Centre Coordinator)
On the 1st of May, the annual event Conversas Teológicas (Theological Conversations) took place at the Igreja do Nazareno - Comunidade Restauração (Coimbra, Portugal).
The focus was on Christology, similar to the three previous events. The host of this event - the EuNC- Portugal Learning Centre and the Portugal District Ministerial Studies Board – had decided to invite Dr. Gift Mtukwa, Chair and Learning Facilitator in Biblical Studies and Greek at the Africa Nazarene University in Nairobi, Kenya. He presented his 2018 Global Theological Conference paper “Paul's Cruciform Mission in Thessalonica: The Shape of Incarnational Ministry”. The participants, leaders (including pastors), students and lay people from local churches, were encouraged to read the speaker's paper before the meeting so that they would be prepared to reflect on it, discuss the topic in groups and enjoy the speaker's presence.
It was a day of much sharing and reflection on the Church being called to be shaped by the cruciform mission of Jesus Himself and on the challenges that this call brings to the individual and collective lives of Christians. Difficult questions were asked, and it is the prayer of the sponsoring entities that this reflection can be taken to the local churches for further deepening.
Rev. Priscila Guevara
(LC Administrator)
March 2023 represents the achievement of a new milestone in the development of the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre. The leaders representing the Boards of Ministry, District Superintendents and the Field Strategy Coordinator met for two days with EuNC representatives from General and Learning Centre Administrations to discuss the shape and form of the new Course of Study for Ordination which will be delivered for the Middle East countries.
During this time, EuNC was able to lay some foundational work regarding the level of cooperation that is expected to happen between Districts and the Educational Provider. This way, leaders can grow so that the Arabic speaking church is enquipped to fulfil its mission. Furthermore, there was time to note some elements that need EuNC's close attention regarding deeper changes in the curriculum and in the training of new faculty for the Learning Centre. These were very appreciated contributions that will be helpful to develop as an organisation now serving this new world area.
The key outcome of these meetings was the agreement on the Course of Study for Ordination that will be delivered for training of church leaders in the Middle East. The districts and EuNC have agreed on the need to offer a curriculum for 121 ECTS, and noted some courses that need particular attention to make them relevant to the context of these nations.
A major highlight of the whole event was the good spirit of engagement and collaboration between all the participants, where all had the opportunity to make good contributions to address the educational challenges of the church. As the new Educational Provider for the Church in the Middle East, EuNC is thankful for the warmth and level of engagement that was received from the church in the Middle East. It is exciting to look ahead at strengthening this partnership as classes begin in September of 2023.
Rev. Dr. Fernando Almeida
(Director of Curriculum Development and Quality Assurance)
We are thankful for new leadership among our EuNC Learning Centres. We welcome...
Dr. Olga Druzhinina as the new Learning Centre Coordinator and Administrator for our EuNC - Bulgaria Learning Centre.
We would like to welcome our latest faculty members:
- Mawiyah Alhalas as Visiting Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Rev. Waleed Al-Madanat as Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Jorge Cádiz-Arroyo as Instructor for the EuNC - Spain Learning Centre
- Elena Paula Creely as Assistant Lecturer for the EuNC - Romania Learning Centre
- Gaston Echeguia as Lecturer for the EuNC - Spain Learning Centre
- Lo'ay Jawabreh as Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Rami Jwainat as Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Dr. Ibtissam Kawar as Visiting Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Joanna Nasrallah as Instructor for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Caroline Salame as Lecturer for the EuNC - Arabic Learning Centre
- Rev. Gabor Veres as Lecturer for the EuNC - Hungary Learning Centre
Congratulations to...
Dr. Colleen Weaver for defending her doctoral dissertation at the University of Manchester/Nazarene Theological College for the PhD in the area of practical theology (with the title: " Contextualised Theological Education: Designs and Practices of Protestant Evangelical Seminaries in Madrid, Spain").
EuNC mourns the death of one student and two former faculty members. We give thanks for their lives. Their families are in our prayers as we trust the promise and we have the hope that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.
Vyacheslav
EuNC mourns the loss of ENF student Vyacheslav who passed away in April after a long illness. Let us keep his family and friends in prayer.
Helen Hill
Helen Hill, former faculty member and wife of Double E Hill, passed away at the end of 2022. EuNC is grateful for the impact her ministry has made over many years in the life of many students and colleagues.
John Mann Nielson
On 28 April John M. Nielson went to be with the Lord at the age of 79. He has served EuNC as Academic Dean from 2002 to 2004. He was no stranger to Europe and the school. His father was the first rector of ENBC as it was then called, from 1966 to 1967 he was a pastor in Germany, and later from 1975 to 1980 he and his wife Janice were missionaries to Denmark. From my childhood on, the paths of the Nielson and Holleman families have crossed at various times. As we served together at the school it brought back good memories of the early years, and gave us an opportunity to rejoice about the growth of the school and the church in Europe.
Antonie Holleman, Vice-Chairman of the EuNC Board of Trustees