E-Newsletter November 2009
Staff Honoured for Years of Service
On October 16, at the annual fall board meeting dinner that included members of the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and student leaders, Dr. Arthur W. Maxwell, on behalf of the Board, gave recognition to Ivan Graham, Mike MacNeil, and Clinton Branscombe for their distinguished years of service to the College. Congratulations and thank you to each one!
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Ivan R. Graham
In Recognition of
Thirty Years of Service |
In 1979, following one semester as a student at Bethany Bible College, Ivan Graham accepted the challenge to serve as Business Manager of the College. During the past thirty years, Ivan has carried several portfolios, but the role of Chief Financial Officer has always been his primary responsibility and his first love. His knowledge of and care over the financial operation of this institution is unsurpassed. To ever be challenged with the responsibility of working with limited resources is not an easy task, however, Mr. Graham has excelled in doing that very thing.
In addition to his CFO hat, Ivan has also carried the portfolios of Director of Plant Operations, Estate Planning Officer, and interim Executive Director of Institutional Advancement. He and his wife Debbie have served as Vision Tour hosts for many years. Ivan and Debbie are loved and respected by former Vision Tour participants across North America.
In every capacity of service, Ivan has been an ambassador for the College, cultivating friends and donors wherever he has travelled. His love for and faith in God is a source of inspiration for both students and staff.
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Mike MacNeil
In Recognition of
Twenty-six Years of Service |
Professor Mike MacNeil joined the Faculty of Bethany Bible College in 1983. Having earned a BA (1981) and an MA (1983) from the University of New Brunswick, his primary area of teaching was English and English Literature.
Mike had become a Christian not long before joining Bethany’s faculty. Like many new Christians, Mike had a real zeal to reach the lost and since there weren’t many of them in his classroom, he embarked on what has become a twenty-six year personal evangelism pilgrimage. This pilgrimage has taken Mike from the food banks of Saint John, to the prisons of New Brunswick, to youth camps and youth services across North America, to the soup kitchens and slums of New York City, and to several countries around the world. No matter where he has been, one thing has always been the same, ministry is the main thing.
For many years, Mike did teach English, Literature, and Oral Communication, but it was not long before the course Personal Evangelism was added to his teaching portfolio, a course he continues to teach with great enthusiasm. In 1999, Mike’s focus at the College took a dramatic shift. Mike was part of developing the one-year Extreme Discipleship Program of study, a program he would lead for the next ten years. Mike exposed students to areas of ministry that had become his passion. Students ministered in prisons, food banks, soup kitchens, on city streets, in malls, in churches, and in homes. And as always, ministry has been the main thing.
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Clinton Branscombe
In Recognition of
Twenty Years of Service |
Professor Clinton Branscombe graduated from Bethany Bible College in 1980, Acadia University in 1985 and Wycliffe College, in 1992. While working on his Masters thesis, Clinton joined Bethany’s Faculty in 1989 as Professor of Old Testament.
Although the Old Testament was and is his area of greatest expertise, Clinton has taught a wide variety of courses, including Philosophy, Ethics, History and Discipline of The Wesleyan Church, History of Western Civilization, and a few New Testament courses. Whether teaching in the major area of his academic preparation or not, Clinton has consistently armed himself well for the teaching assignment. Through continuing study, he has become a highly qualified faculty in several subject areas.
Students consistently rate Professor Branscombe as one of their toughest professors; however, they also rate him as eminently fair and always possessing a wealth of knowledge.
Because the exploration of new technologies is also a great love of his, Clinton has been able to lead faculty in the use of class attendance and grading software and, more recently, the use of Moodle, a course management software program that, among other things, will permit Bethany to enter the distance education market. Recognizing Clinton’s interest and expertise, the College has asked him to take on a leadership role in moving us forward in this pursuit. He has become a teacher of teachers.
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