TODAY Paper – Sat. July 17

Glenward Alexander (“Alex”) Bryant, DMin, serves as the president of the North American Division and vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Dr. Bryant earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in theology and business administration from Oakwood College in 1981. In 1982, he began his ministry in Springfield, Missouri and in Coffeyville and Independence, Kansas. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1986 and earned his Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University in 1988. In December 2011, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Dr. Bryant also served as a student missionary to Japan for a year. In college, his gift of administration flourished, and he started to serve as director of Adventist Youth at Oakwood College and as president of the Black Students Association of the Seminary (BSAS) at Andrews University.

The General Conference Executive Committee also recognized that God had given Dr. Bryant the special gift of leadership and elected him to serve as executive secretary of the North American Division in October 2008, in Manila, Philippines. He was re-elected in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2010 General Conference Session as executive secretary of the North American Division.

Dr. Bryant is married to the former Desiree Wimbish, current associate director of the NAD Ministerial Association. She formerly served as assistant director of the NAD Education Department, superintendent of Education of the Central States Conference, and principal of the V. Lindsay Seventh-day Adventist School in Kansas City, Kansas. Dr. and Mrs. Bryant are the proud parents of Travis, Traven, and Terrence.

Pastor Damian Chandler was born in Toronto, Canada, and raised on the island of Barbados by his parents, Michael and Grace Chandler. His ministry journey started in a small church housed in the basement of his home. With only nine members, the burden of the ministry fell equally on the shoulders of all, including this 16-year-old teen. At night, he could hear the prayers of these humble people rising through the vents into his room. That small church made a large deposit into his spiritual hunger and stands as a turning point in his life and a foundation for his call to ministry.

Realizing the need to add education to this passion, he began training for ministry in 1996 at Oakwood College, in Huntsville, AL where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. He later furthered his preparation by pursuing and attaining a Master of Divinity degree from the Adventist Theological Seminary of Andrews University, in Berrien Springs. Michigan.

In 2001, he was appointed as the youth pastor of Emerald City Seventh-day Adventist Church in Seattle, Washington, where he founded Impact Youth Ministries, an urban youth ministry focused on developing teens with a contagious and fearless faith. He returned to Seattle in 2008 and was honored to take leadership at both the Maranatha and Love of Life churches. In 2011, he received and accepted a call to return to Alabama, where he has been humbled to serve as the associate pastor of the Madison Mission SDA Church. On January 10, 2015, Damian was installed as the lead pastor of the Capitol City Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California.

Pastor Chandler is passionate about ministry but even more passionate about family. After years of dedicated pursuit, God gave him the desire of his heart and a partner in life, his wife, Tanzy Chandler. They later expanded their partnership with the addition of their daughter, Zoe, son, Salem, and the most recent addition, Levi.

Together, they invite you to a life of transformation—a life that allows you to experience real community: communing with God and connecting with people. It is as we experience this kind of community that we become passionate champions for Christ and dare to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. One of Pastor Chandler’s undeniable gifts is in the area of worship, where God has used him as choir director, composer, and worship leader. He served as lead director of both the Voices of Triumph (Huntsville, AL) and Deliverance Mass choirs (Berrien Springs, MI). Songs like “Lord We’ve Come” have received national acclaim while encouraging worshipers everywhere. He continues to give vision and voice to the importance of intentional worship on a national stage.

At the age of 16, Mathew Feeley was on a journey to find God. He wasn’t sure exactly for what he was looking, but he knew he wasn’t happy with the way his young life had unfolded. Drugs, alcohol, and a life of crime left Mathew feeling emptier than ever before. He began reading the Bible and speaking with older friends about spiritual matters, but still he was confused and conflicted. In early 1998, a close friend of Mathew’s was tragically killed by a drunk driver in a car accident. The loss of his friend left Mathew facing his own mortality and recognizing the frailty of life. A few weeks later, in April 1999, Mathew attended a youth week of prayer at the Scarborough Seventh-day Adventist Church. During those meetings, Mathew and Kristy were deeply touched by the preaching of Evangelist Claudius Morgan. Through his messages, they came to understand and accept the Bible’s message of salvation and were baptized.

Seeing his pastoral potential, Garnett, Scarborough’s pastor, encouraged Mathew to pursue ministry. Under his leadership and later under the leadership of Pastor Winston Hurlock, Mathew served as an elder in training and eventually pursued a BA in Religious Studies at Canadian University College. Upon his graduation in 2006, he began his ministry as the assistant pastor of the Kingsview Village in Toronto Church. Mathew worked with Pastor Nembhard and later Pastor Hazelwood and experienced a fruitful ministry at Kingsview Village.

Evangelism has been a large part of Mathew’s ministry. During his summers off from CUC, he worked for the Ontario Conference as a Bible worker at the Toronto North Church, among the Filipino churches in the Greater Toronto Area and in Northern Ontario at the Elliot Lake and North Shore churches. After his graduation from CUC, he spent much of his time as a pastor, conducting evangelistic series throughout Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil. He also assisted It Is Written Canada in several of their evangelistic efforts.

The Kids Program – Rescued- Safe In Jesus, is being hosted by Janeth Vasquez, and is available at 9:00 AM daily.

The final Sabbath program will be a review of the week with a presentation by special guest Rich Aguilera

Join us for at 9:45 AM for a focus on Adventist Education in the Alberta Conference, followed by a LIVE Sabbath School lesson study on the lesson “The Roots of Restlessness.

Featuring: Brent van Rensburg, Gail Wilton, Holly Kay, Leidemae Muse, Heidi Garcia-Orozco, and Paul Antunes.

Join us at 3:00 PM for a virtual musical concert featuring musical talent from around the Alberta Conference.

This promises to be spiritually uplifting musical experience. Click Here to join us.

Watch this ordination service and celebrate as 4 pastors are ordained to the gospel ministry. Ordination is a recognition by the church body of a candidate’s calling to pastoral ministry.

Ordination Candidates are:
– Samuel & Norma Cadiz
– David & Marlene Benjamin
– Anthony & Cassandra Kern
– Daniel & Iesha Madden

Sponsors:
– Paul & Raquel Antunes
– Jeff & Nancy Potts
– John & Marilyn Murley
– Oneil & Ann-Marie Madden

Join us at 4:00 PM – Click Here

Join Debbie Schwarz daily at 6:30 PM for Conference Happenings as she speaks with various people from the Alberta Conference.

If you have not checked out any of the Stories of Strength, be sure to check them out Here.