Passages

Deaths, promotions, and other tidbits from the religion world.

Appointed Jeffrey E. Greenway has been named the sixth president of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Greenway, a district superintendent in the United Methodist Church, assumes his duties on July 1. Greenway succeeds Maxie Dunham.

Died Nora Lam, an evangelist and founder of Nora Lam Chinese Ministries International, died on February 2 in San Jose, California, at age 71. Author of China Cry, the Shanghai native fled the mainland in 1958 and traveled the world speaking on behalf of persecuted churches and needy children in China.

Died Festo Olang, first African archbishop of the Anglican Church in Kenya, died on February 3. Olang, who had suffered from heart problems, was 95.

Resigned Dick Staub, talk show host at radio station KGNW in Seattle, resigned in January. Staub, 55, said he wants to write and speak more about the interaction of faith and culture. Staub founded the Center for Faith and Culture in 1997.

Resigning Rodney J. Sawatsky, president of Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, for the last 10 years, said he will resign on June 30. Sawatsky, diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 2003, said personal health concerns and a desire to spend more time with his family prompted the decision.

Appointed Luis E. Lugo has been named the new director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, effective July 1. Lugo most recently was director of the religion program at the Pew Charitable Trusts. The forum is expanding to become the trusts’ primary vehicle for examining religion and its influence in the United States and abroad. Lugo succeeds Melissa Rogers in the position.

Disciplined Parker T. Williamson, CEO of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee and executive editor of The Presbyterian Layman, saw his ministry invalidated on January 31 by the Western North Carolina Presbytery (CT, February, p. 17) because of the Lay Committee’s “character and conduct.” Rather than placing Williamson on inactive status, which would have banned him from presbytery meetings, the presbytery designated him a “member at large,” which Williamson called an “oily compromise.” Williamson said he would file a complaint in church courts.