President's Cabinet
Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas
President
Dr. Ellsworth Kalas began his term as president in Oct. 2006. Kalas came to Asbury in 1993 with the
opening of the Beeson program, to teach preaching and to serve as mentor
to the Beeson pastors. He joined Asbury’s School of Theology
preaching faculty in July 2000. He also served as the interim dean of
the Beeson International Center.
Dr. Leslie Andrews
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Dr.
Andrews came to Asbury Seminary in 1990 after serving Alliance
Theological Seminary as Associate Dean of the Faculty and Professor of
Spiritual Formation and Discipleship. Before entering higher education,
Dr. Andrews served two churches in Georgia and New York for 14 years.
She also has served at Canadian Theological Seminary (Associate
Professor of Christian Education and Director of the Doctor of Ministry
Program), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Visiting Assistant
Professor), Nyack College (Instructor in Christian Education), and
Toccoa Falls College (Instructor in Christian Education). In addition to
her responsibilities at Asbury, Dr. Andrews is a licensed minister in
the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In 1993, she became just the
fourth woman this century to be elected to the C&MA Board of
Managers-the church's highest administrative board. She has also
served on numerous administrative boards and task forces in both Canada
and the United States. Dr. Andrews has written several books, including
Church and Membership Awareness Leader's Guide and Church and
Mission Alive Leader's Guide. Since 1987, Dr. Andrews has chaired
and coordinated the activities of MK-CART/CORE, a consortium of 12
missions and six researchers. Together mission leaders and researchers
identify and carry out research projects of mutual interest to the
participating missions. Dr. Andrews has published numerous articles
reporting this research in such places as the Journal of Psychology and
Theology and Evangelical Missions Quarterly.
Mr. Bryan P. Blankenship
Interim Vice President of Finance and Administration
Mr.
Bryan Blankenship is a graduate of Greenville College (BA, 1989) and the
University of Kentucky (MBA 1995). He is also a student at Asbury
Seminary, expecting to graduate with a master's degree in Christian
leadership in December 2007. He is interested in pursuing a doctorate.
in organizational leadership. He has extensive experience in higher
education, having served as an operations manager at the University of
Kentucky Transportation Center and as a development officer and network
administrator at Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan. Bryan was
a faculty member in and served as the chair of the business department
at Central Christian College before becoming director of finance there,
a position he held from 2000-2004, before coming to Asbury Seminary.
Most recently he has been executive director of finance at Asbury, with
responsibility for supervising all auxiliary services. Bryan is a member
of the Free Methodist Church. He and his wife, Carol, have three
children, Caleb, Sarah and Anna Grace. He enjoys assisting in the
coaching of his son’s high school basketball team, coaching and
working with the young people in the Free Methodist Bible Quiz program
and working on small construction and repair jobs around the house. He
serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of Oakdale
Christian Academy, a Free Methodist boarding middle school and high
school in eastern Kentucky (near Jackson, KY).
Dr. J. Steven Harper
Vice President, Florida Campus
Dr. Steven
Harper rejoined the Asbury Seminary faculty in 1998. Before returning to
the Seminary to serve as the vice president/dean of the Florida campus,
Dr. Harper was the director of The Pathways Initiative and dean of The
Upper Room chapel. As director of The Pathways Initiative, Dr. Harper
headed this new venture at The Upper Room to resource and support
spiritual leaders and promote spiritual formation in the congregation.
From 1980-93, Dr. Harper taught at Asbury as a professor of spiritual
formation and Wesley studies. In 1993 Dr. Harper and his wife, Jeannie,
founded “Shepherd’s Care,” an organization developed
to minister to ministers. He has also served as executive director of A
Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE). Dr. Harper, an elder in The
United Methodist Church’s Northwest Texas Conference, is the
author of numerous magazine articles and has written 12 books, including
John Wesley’s Message for Today (Zondervan, 1983), Devotional Life
in the Wesleyan Tradition (Upper Room, 1983), Praying through the
Lord’s Prayer (Upper Room, 1992) and Devotional Life in the
Wesleyan Tradition: A Workbook (Upper Room, 1995). Dr. Harper and
Jeannie are the parents of two grown children, John and Katrina, and two
grandchildren, Zoe and Isaac.
Mr. Ronnie Jones
Executive Director of Advancement
Ronnie Jones
is the executive director and the senior regional representative for the
advancement department. His primary responsibility is to develop and
maintain relationships with current and potential donors, alumni and
churches throughout the southeastern states. In addition, he trains and
mentors new regional representatives and assists our current regional
team as needed. He and his wife Brenda have been married for 39 years
and have three children and seven grandchildren. He is a 2000 graduate
of the seminary with a master’s degree in Biblical studies. Ronnie
is also an ordained elder in the Evangelical Methodist Church. In
addition, he has completed approximately 50% of a doctorate in religious
studies at Trinity Theological Seminary. Ronnie spent over 30 years in
the carpet manufacturing industry after having graduated from Georgia
Institute of Technology (GA TECH) with a bachelor’s degree in
textiles in 1970. For most of his career, he was involved in the
manufacturing, marketing and management of his own company which
produced various raw materials for carpet and rugs. Ronnie feels that
his position at Asbury is a Kingdom Call requiring a Kingdom Commitment
and defines his role according to this verse from Proverbs 22:29,
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before
kings; He will not stand before obscure men.”
Dr. Tapiwa Mucherera
Interim Assistant Provost
Dr.
Tapiwa N. Mucherera joined Asbury Seminary in 1999 after graduating from
the joint Ph.D. program in Religion and Theological Studies from the
University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. He has previously
worked as an individual and family therapist in a residential treatment
center and in a family counseling center in Denver, Colorado. He also
served as crisis counselor (debriefing) to families and students in
Littleton Colorado following the Columbine High School shootings.
Mucherera, a native of Zimbabwe, Africa is an ordained United Methodist
minister. In 1986, he served 26 rural churches (at the same time) for a
year, in Zimbabwe. In the United States he has served churches in
Chicago, Iowa and Denver. He is married to Bertha and they have three
children Shamiso, Anesu and Ruvimbo.
Rev. John David Walt
Vice President of Community Life
Rev. Walt joined the Asbury Seminary administration in
the fall of 2000. Prior to this, he was a Teaching and Preaching Pastor
at The Woodlands United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. Rev. Walt
serves as the Vice President for Community Life and the Dean of the
Chapel, giving broad leadership to the areas of Worship, Prayer and
Spiritual Formation on campus as well as ministries to Spouses, Families
and International Student constituencies. As part of Rev. Walt’s
work at Asbury, he is giving direction to Seminarius, a
creative and innovative project funded by the Lily Foundation, designed
to connect students with the full range of prayer and spiritual
formation resources available through the Seminary community and beyond.
In addition to his experience at The Woodlands, Rev. Walt served as the
minister of students at Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville,
Ark., from 1992-94. As a licensed attorney, during that same time
period, he was an associate at the law firm of Burke and Eldridge in
Fayetteville. He also served brief tours as an associate with Wright,
Lindsey & Jennings Law Firm in Little Rock, Ark., and as a
Legislative Aid for United States Senator David Pryor. Rev. Walt is an
ordained elder in the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist
Church.
He and his wife, Tiffani, also an Asbury Seminary graduate and ordained Deacon in the UMC, have four children: John David III, Mary Kathryn, Lily and Samuel.