Dr. Timothy C. Tennent has served as President since July 2009. Prior to his coming to Asbury Theological Seminary, Dr. Tennent was the Professor of World Missions and Indian Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary where he served since 1998. Ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1984, he has pastored churches in Georgia, and in several of the largest churches in New England. Since 1989, he has taught annually as an adjunct professor at the New Theological College in Dehra Dun, India. He is a frequent conference speaker around the country and throughout the world, including numerous countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Dr. Tennent received his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell, a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is also a 2008 graduate of a three year mentor project in Academic Leadership sponsored by the Lilly endowment.
Dr. Tennent is the author of numerous books and articles. His books include, Building Christianity on Indian Foundations (ISPCK), Christianity at the Religious Roundtable (Baker Academic), Theology in the Context of World Christianity (Zondervan) and Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the 21st Century (Kregel Academic).
Dr. Tennent’s wife, Julie, is also a graduate of Gordon-Conwell and has led numerous Bible Studies and is active in Friendship International in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a church organist and pianist, having produced several CDs and a cantata known as All the Glory. The Tennents have two children, Jonathan (26) and Bethany (24). Jonathan is currently a graduate student at the University of Kentucky and Bethany is a missionary serving with AIM in Tanzania.
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
Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services
Kevin Bish has most recently been the vice president of development for The Advancement Group, a for-profit consulting group that specializes in working with not-for-profit organizations in implementing sustainability and strategic planning initiatives. Kevin has over fourteen years of experience in working inside educational institutions and other not-for-profit organizations. Prior to joining The Advancement Group, Kevin held positions in advancement, administration, and enrollment management.
He obtained a B.A. in 1993, and graduated with a Master of Education Administration degree in 2002 from Oral Roberts University. Bish and his wife, Nicole, have three children, Sadie, Sophie and Spencer.
Vice President for Finance and Administration
Mr. Bryan Blankenship is a graduate of Greenville College (BA, 1989) and the University of Kentucky (MBA 1995). He was also a student at Asbury Seminary, and graduated 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.
Vice President for Seminary Advancement and Communications
Mansur has most recently been vice president for advancement/president of the Spring Arbor University Foundation at Spring Arbor, Michigan, a position he has held for the past seven years. He has had responsibility over the annual fund, major donors, alumni, planned giving, external relations (corporate, community and government relations) and advancement operations. He has grown total giving, secured many new donor relationships and directed a successful fundraising campaign at Spring Arbor University among other achievements in his area of responsibility. From 1996 to 2002, he was executive vice president for estate and gift planning at the Free Methodist Foundation/ King Trust Company in Spring Arbor. Prior to that, he was owner and practitioner of Mansur Asset Planning in Janesville, Wisconsin. Mansur has education and training as a certified financial planner and certified fund specialist. He and his wife, Penny, have seven children and four grandchildren. They are members of the Free Methodist Church.
Vice President for Community Formation
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.
Vice President of Florida Dunnam Campus
Dr. Silvernail served as the President of the Melanesia Nazarene Bible College in Papua New Guinea before coming to Asbury Theological Seminary in 2010. Dr. Silvernail has given her life to theological education throughout the world, having held teaching and administrative posts in Guam, South Africa, United States, Trinidad, West Indies, Philippines and the Caribbean, including St. Croix, Santo Domingo and Dominican Republic.
Dr. Silvernail obtained a Ph.D. in Education from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2001, a M.A. in Administration from Olivet Nazarene University in 1975 and a B.S. in Science from Western Michigan University in 1968. She is an ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene in the Michigan District. Dr. Silvernail is the author and contributing writer of several publications.
