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Alumni News
OCTOBER
Youngae Na Inaugurated President of Queens Classis
Youngae Na (M.Div. 1989, D.Min. 2002), pastor of Forest Park Reformed Church, was inaugurated in October 2016 as the president of the Queens Classis. In her new role, she has actively sought out churches in conflict and provided mediation support. Na, who has served as an English ministry pastor in the New York Synod of the RCA for the past 27 years, plans to open a chapter of reconciliation as the first Korean and female president of the Queens classis. Na graduated from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1989 and was ordained in the RCA in September of 1999.
Rev. Anthony Maimone Joins First Presbyterian Church, Tuckerton
The Rev. Anthony Maimone (M.Div. 2015) joined the First Presbyterian Church of Tuckerton this fall with his installation and ordination on Sunday, October 2, by the Monmouth Presbytery. Maimone grew up in northern New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. He currently serves as chief compliance officer with International School Services and lives in Manasquan with his wife and two sons.
Kelly Kotch: "Being at synod is a blessing."
Kelly Kotch (NBTS student) first attended General Synod in 2015. She has now attended twice, first as an elder delegate and most recently as a seminarian. She says, "Being at Synod is a blessing. New friendships can bloom. New opportunities present themselves. And even a barely lit fire can be reignited! If you find yourself with the opportunity to be part of General Synod, take it from me: don't let it pass you by." Kelly Kotch attends New Brunswick Theological Seminary and serves as an elder and vice president of consistory for Reformed Church at Finderne in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
SEPTEMBER
Rev. Lester Shelley Appointed to NJ Veterans Memorial Home
The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park appointed Reverend Lester S. Shelley (M.Div. 2016)to serve as pastor-chaplain at the NJ Veterans Memorial Home of Menlo Park. The nursing home provides health care to 312 veterans and their spouses. Three NBTS alumni joined Reverend Shelley to celebrate his installation including the Rev. Sharon Chamberlayne, Rev. Dr. Julia Presley and Rev. Charles Chamberlayne. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Rev. Lester Shelley resides in Somerset, New Jersey and serves as an associate minister at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens. Rev. Shelley served his country honorably in the United States Army. He received a Master of Divinity Degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing the Doctor of Ministry.
RCA Presents first Samuel Zwemer Award to King of Bahrain
This September, RCA General Secretary Tom De Vries (NBTS Ex-Officio Board Member) presented the inaugural Samuel Zwemer Award to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
of Bahrain in a special ceremony at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Bahrain's minister of foreign affairs, accepted the award on the king's behalf. The award recognizes more than a century of support from the Bahraini royal family for the American Mission Hospital in Bahrain. The leaders of Bahrain
have supported the RCA's medical work in Bahrain since Samuel Zwemer first started his medical ministry in 1892. Zwemer was one of the RCA's first missionaries; the hospital still has close ties to the RCA and its mission work.
JULY
NBTS Alum Delivers Invocation at the DNC!
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero (M.Div. 2001) represented NBTS on a national stage, delivering an invocation during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July. Rev. Salguero and his wife, Rev. Jeanette Salguero, co-lead the multicultural Lamb's Church of the Nazarene in New York City. Rev. Salguero founded the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC), which offers an important leadership voice for the close to 8 million Latino evangelicals in the US. Salguero is a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). He previously served as the director of the Institute of Faith and Public Life and Hispanic Leadership Programs at Princeton Theological Seminary. Salguero is a graduate of Rutgers University with an M.Div (magna cum laude) from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and has completed Ph.D. work in Christian Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Salguero also received a Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) from Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts.
JUNE
Rev. Carole Paynter (M.Div. 2013)
Ordained to the Ministry of Elder
Congratulations to Rev. Carole Paynter who was ordained in the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church on Saturday June 11, 2016 at Hofstra University.
Rev. Kelvin Spooner (M.Div.
2015)
Ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament
Congratulations to Rev. Kelvin Spooner who was ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament on June 26, 2016 at Elmendorf Reformed Church, New York, NY
NBTS Alumnae Offers New Ministry in Freehold
Minister Ruth Scott (M.A. 2006), along with her husband Rev. Hosie L. Scott, is pleased to announce the opening of Foundational Truth Bible Study Ministries located at 40 Broad Street, Freehold, NJ. Services are held Sundays 10-11:30 AM with Systematic Bible Study offered Thursday from 7-8:15 PM. The Ministries can be reached at ;732-580-8299.
APRIL
Dr. Alex O. Ellis Featured Speaker at Claflin University Symposium
Dr. Allex O. Ellis (M.A. 2007, D.Min. 2013), award-winning author, speaker and activist, was a featured plenary speaker at Claflin University's Sixth Annual Black Male Symposium, "Promoting and Preserving our Legacy: Building the Next Generation of Leaders." The event held on April 22 provided strategies and techniques to enhance the lives of black men with a focus on economic, educational and spiritual empowerment. The audience included high school and college students from across the state.
MARCH
"
Alzheimer's is my new ministry!"
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Huling Hummel (M.Div. 1996)
left full-time parish ministry in 2011 due to an Alzheimer's pre-cursor condition. Moving from Waverly to Elmira, New York, she started a new phase in her ministerial journey. Rev. Hummel now actively volunteers for the Alzheimer's Association and serves on the 2015-2016 National Alzheimer's Early-Stage Advisory Group. The 12-person committee, made up of those with pre-cursor symptoms or early-stage disease, advocates for funding of research, programs and services. Hummel serves on the Alzheimer's Association Speakers' Bureau, leads a Persons with Dementia support group and chairs the Southern Tier Connections program to share her experience, raise awareness and support individuals and families living with a diagnosis. Hummel lost both her mother and only brother to Alzheimer's. She promises, "I am doing what I can for as long as I can to make a difference." Cynthia graduated from Rutgers College in 1976 in the first class of women. She received her Masters in Divinity at New Brunswick Theological Seminary and her Doctorate in Ministry in Preaching from McCormick Seminary in 2003.
BELATED CONGRATULATIONS...
DECEMBER 2015
Anne Kansfield First Female Chaplain of the New York Fire Department
Congratulations to Rev. Ann Kansfield (M.Div. 2004), who ministers at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. Around this time last year, Ms. Kansfield, 39, was sworn in as the first female chaplain of the New York Fire Department. At that time, she was also the first openly gay chaplain in a department that is now working to more actively diversify its ranks. We wish her a happy first anniversary!
Congratulations as well to
Tom Schwanda (M.Div. 1975)
for his election as a fellow in the Royal Historical Society of England in the fall 2015.
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