The weekly seminar is a core, common activity of the council. This seminar series runs each year from September to April. While a membership activity, guests are also welcome to attend seminars of interest. People who wish to attend regularly should consider becoming a member of the council.
FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY AND BIBLICAL SEMINARY
COUNCIL OF SENIOR PROFESSIONALS
FALL 2026 SEMINARS
The Twenty-Third Year of the Council
Wednesday, 2 p.m.–4 p.m.
(unless otherwise noted)
Pioneer-Johanson Conference Room, FPU Steinert Campus Center
SCC103
(unless otherwise noted)
- Paul Reimer: Tour of AIMS Maker Studio
Welcome back fellowship time. (BC Lounge)
Join us for a one-hour guided tour of the AIMS Maker Studio, a space that brings to life AIMS’ mission of expanding access to meaningful, hands-on learning experiences in mathematics, science, technology, engineering, and the arts. During the tour, you’ll learn how AIMS works alongside educators, schools, and community partners to inspire curiosity, creativity, and innovation throughout the Central Valley. You’ll explore the Maker Studio’s diverse learning environments and see how tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics, sewing and embroidery machines, and artistic tools are used to transform ideas into tangible creations. Along the way, we’ll share examples of student projects, educator learning experiences, and community programs that reflect our vision of empowering learners of all ages to become creators, problem-solvers, and contributors to their communities. The tour will conclude with a brief hands-on maker experience that offers an opportunity to engage in the same spirit of exploration, creativity, and joyful learning that is at the heart of AIMS’ work.
This will be followed by refreshments and “catching up with friends” in the BC Lounge.
Moderator: Pat Unruh
- Sam Estes: Building Collaborative Communities: The Community Task Force Model
Communities face increasingly complex challenges that no single organization can solve alone. Drawing from more than two decades of experience with the Sanger Community Task Force, Sam Estes shares how leaders from churches, nonprofits, education, business, public safety, and government can work together to address community needs through trusted relationships and cross-sector collaboration.
This presentation explores the core components of a healthy Community Task Force, the importance of a neutral convener, and the culture of trust that enables leaders to move beyond isolated efforts toward shared solutions. Through practical examples and lessons learned, participants will discover how communities can strengthen partnerships, align resources, and foster a culture of collaboration that contributes to the flourishing of the city.
At its heart, the Community Task Force model creates a trusted table where the right people build relationships, so the right solutions can emerge for the common good.
Moderator: Pat Unruh
- John Selph: Following God’s call and experiencing His blessings
I would like to tell how God has led me into each of my ministry opportunities and a story of blessing that came from following that call.
John Selph
- While attending Azusa Pacific College, John Selph started ministry with Youth For Christ. Over the years of his YFC career, he served local programs in Southern California, then San Jose, California, then Fresno, California, then later in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, John, along with his wife Karen, served as missionaries for 12 years with Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services in Montevideo, Uruguay, in South America. In the final 15 years of ministry, John and Karen served as the pastoral couple for Latin American nations with YFC ministries. Finally, John served the last 3 years of his career as the director of member care for Youth For Christ International before retiring in 2023, concluding a 55-year career. Since 2024, in his semi-retirement, John has served the Fresno/Madera YFC, providing staff care. John and Karen are active at the North Fresno MB church and have been married for 56 years. They also have 3 adult children and 7 grandchildren.
Moderator: Pat Unruh
- Richard Kriegbaum: Interactive Discussion Session: The Power of Effective Followership
Drawing from his 55 years of experience in organizational governance, executive leadership, writing, and 170+ consulting assignments, Dr. Richard Kriegbaum will lead an interactive discussion on the core concepts of effective followership that ultimately determines who leads and how well they lead. He will touch on topics like, “when the leader does not need to heed”. Sometimes a leader does not need to heed their followers’ counsel, concerns, cautions, suggestions, requests for accountability, or other forms of support. When it occurs, what can effective followers do to protect the organization’s reputation and resources, preserve its values, and advance its mission?
Participants in this session will analyze actual cases from four different contexts: religious/spiritual, political, relational, and celebrity/status. Participants then propose, describe, and consider other challenging situations and possible approaches, actions, risks, and cautions for various kinds, degrees, or types of followership and leadership in seeking a shared purpose.
Richard Kriegbaum
- Dr. Richard Kriegbaum is the author of Leadership Prayers (Tyndale House, 100,000 copies in four languages), and Heads and Tails: Following and Leading in Kingdom-Formed Organizations (Invite Press, 2023). He has been a speaker or consultant on leadership, followership, planning, and governance for more than 170 organizations. After 16 years in faculty and administrative roles at Wheaton College, he was President of Fresno Pacific University twice, for 15 years total, and President of United Way of Fresno County for 8 years. He earned a BA from Wheaton with High Honors (1963), an MA in Spanish from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from State University of New York at Buffalo (1976).
Moderator: Emily Muñoz
- Tim Geddert: Treasure Hunting in Mark’s Gospel
That is the title of my newest book. When I was invited to present the Edmund Janzen Lectureship in Bible Studies (March 21–23, 2024), I chose the title “The Most Misunderstood Gospel.” Preparing for those lectures rekindled my long-standing fascination for the Gospel of Mark. So I decided to write another book on Mark (Kindred Press, 2026). Mark is often considered the “simplest” Gospel, where everything is supposedly “on the surface.” I am convinced that nothing could be further from the truth. My newest book proved to be the most fun writing project I’ve worked on in a long time. I look forward to sharing with you some of my “discoveries” and encouraging those who still think of Mark as a “simple Gospel” to take another look!
Tim Geddert
- Tim Geddert retired in 2023 after 37 years as professor of New Testament at Fresno Pacific University Biblical Seminary. He continues to be active in roles such as Vice-Chair of the FPU Board of Trustees and as Chair of the Faith and Life Commission of Mennonite World Conference. Tim has been a member of the Council of Senior Professionals since his retirement.
Moderator: Pauline Kliewer
(Tuesday) - 5 p.m.–6 p.m. - Believer’s Church Common Meal
- Andrew Purves: Thoughts on Hope and Death
Andrew Purves
- After 33 years as a Professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, with nine books published, Andrew Purves has retired and settled in Fresno, where he and his wife Cathy, both ordained Presbyterian ministers, are now active residents at the Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens. His theological studies at New College at the University of Edinburgh, where he was deeply influenced by renowned Scottish theologian Thomas Torrance, prepared him for a long career as a leader in the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church in the United States. He will share with us some of his reminiscences of his career in the Church of Scotland, and his recent reflections on “Hope and Death.”
Moderator: Alan Peters
- Steve Varvis: The Trinity, 1700th Anniversary
The formation of the doctrine of the Trinity began at Nicaea in 325 AD, 1700 years ago. We will run through what led to that formation, why, how it was related to Scripture and worship, and what was finally concluded, and why it took about 60 (and then another 70) years to complete the formation. Along the way we will take a moment to consider a few of the personalities (theologians, teachers, bishops), the interests and powers involved (emperors, bishops, councils). We will try to understand what the doctrine of the Trinity has meant to Christians for 1700 years.
Steve Varvis
- Steve Varvis is now retired from FPU after 38 years of teaching and administrating. He ended his administrative career as Provost and considers it a great privilege to have taught history, literature, history of philosophy, church history and business ethics. He and his wife Teri now lead the Fresno Pacific Alumni and Friends Tours, and he is an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Fresno. Their son, Nathan, is a graduate of both FPU’s traditional undergraduate program and seminary.
Moderator: Pauline Kliewer
- Dr. Pamela Johnston & Adam Ghali: “AI, Faith, and Wise Teaching and Learning”
Dr. Johnston’s presentation will focus on the educational use and context of AI as it applies to Christian teaching and learning in Higher Education, exploring issues such as the challenges and anxieties inherent in teaching and learning in the age of AI, how to equip students to use AI effectively and ethically, and how educators themselves should model responsible use of AI in their daily lives, both in and out of the classroom, to promote virtue, human flourishing, and Shalom. Content draws on a “Wisdom in the Age of AI” conference at Calvin University.
Dr. Ghali will talk about how he’s been learning to use AI as a kind of thinking partner in his work as a faculty member and assessment director, including both its surprising usefulness and its real limitations. He’ll show a few concrete use cases—such as tightening course materials, generating practice examples, and getting iterative feedback on problems he’s already working on—to illustrate how it fits into his workflow. Along the way, he’ll reflect on what it means to engage these tools faithfully, thoughtfully, and with discernment in a Christian educational context.
Pamela Johnston
- Dr. Pamela Johnston is Professor of Ancient History and Classics at Fresno Pacific University, where she has taught for the past twenty years. She received B.A.s in Classics and Latin from the University of Washington, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Latin from Bryn Mawr College. Her research interests include Roman Republican politics, Classical rhetoric, and Latin and Greek language pedagogy. Among her publications are a volume on the advisory councils of Roman military commanders during the Roman Republic, and a translation and commentary of the Hagiography of St. Abercius of Herapolis with co-author Ken Tully. Recently, she was selected to serve as AI Fellow on the Teaching and Learning Committee. She lives in Fresno with her husband, Dr. W. Marshall Johnston, who is Director of the Honors Program at FPU, and their three dogs. She loves traveling, cooking, and pugs.
Adam Ghali
- Adam A. Ghali, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, mentoring students and teaching a wide range of courses since 2013. In 2025, he added the role of FPU Director of Assessment, supporting programs and departments to gather student performance data and organizational information to promote continuous improvement and effective operations across the university. He is a licensed psychologist with experience in traditional psychotherapy modalities in a variety of settings. He also has interests in ecopsychology and ecotherapy. His scholarship also includes the integration of theology and psychology, and theoretical and philosophical analyses of psychology in the twenty-first century. Adam completed his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary under the mentorship of Dr. Al Dueck. Adam was introduced to the Mennonite Brethren tradition in college and has been a part of many churches from within and outside the Anabaptist tradition over the years. He is married to Dr. Rachel Langford, also a psychologist, and together they have two young children.
Moderator: Laura Roberts, Alison Noble
- Phil Bergen: The Real Men. Or, Why I’m homesick for the heart of West Africa. The real-life adventures of a tactical educator.
The Objectives:
- Give you an opportunity to share the adventure of discovering a different world.
- Take you “dangerously” close to the edge of the Nanerige world view.
- Refresh your determination to follow the Christ of the Bible without compromise—in community.
Phil will present a series of real-life situations where he lived. In each case, he’ll stop along the story arc to ask, “If you were there like that, what would you do?”
The culture at the heart of West Africa, and the cultures the Bible came from, have more in common with each other than with “us” where “us” is individualistic, materialistic, and mass-education oriented. The way they transfer their values to the next generation is outstanding. Once you see what I mean, you just might share my homesickness.
Phil Bergen
- A farm labor kid from Kern County, key influences were a vision for the joy and freedom of following Christ without compromise absorbed from the Baptists I grew up with, and a life devoted to competence and comedy that I absorbed from the Mennonite Brethren community that my family joined when I was in high school. I went with my MB friends to Fresno Pacific, graduating in 1980, and remained in the Pacific College community even through attending Fresno State for three more years. At Fresno State: studied philosophy, three new languages, and linguistics, and earned a teaching credential. I paid for my seven years of university through a combination of scholarships and sprinkler-pipe-moving, earning the title of the longest career ever in that (muddy) field. Served in MCC in post-war Zimbabwe for three years where I jump-started a college prep science program at Wanezi Secondary School. He came home from that and taught science, social studies and reading, bilingually, at Richland Junior High in Shafter. Summers were spent at the University of Oregon in Eugene studying with SIL/Wycliffe, in preparation for frontier mission work to unreached, pre-literate people. Attended MBBS for 12 months before taking the plunge and joining the AIMM (Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission) team in Burkina Faso, where I watched a culture meet the living Christ. In total, I gained some semblance of working competence in five languages other than English, and a deep joy in sharing both why the Word of God, itself, is miraculous, and how it “works” to save the world.
Moderator: Al Dueck
- An Open Discussion of the “Critical Race Theory” and Racism in American History and Public Policy
American history is filled with examples of racism and prejudice, both within individuals and public policies established by government. Slavery and its consequences still show their after-effects, and many other examples of inequities within the law can be documented. “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) was originally identified in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and ’70s. Our session, with preparatory materials to be distributed beforehand, will focus on our own experiences of racial and other minority inequities, and our ideas and concerns about how individuals, churches, and government should respond to incidences of racism in our own life experiences.
Moderator and Discussion Leader: Alan Peters
- Guest speaker to be determined
- Thanksgiving Break
- End of Semester Social
As we approach the Christmas season, you are invited to celebrate with your friends in the Council of Senior Professionals. Please bring your favorite holiday goodies to share with the group. Beverages will be provided. Members of the FPU Music Department will be sharing with us the music of the season.
Moderator: Pat Unruh
2026–2027 Senior Professionals Steering Committee:
- Emily Muñoz
- Al Dueck
- Pauline Kliewer
- Alan Peters
- Steven Redekop
- Morgan Schlesselman
- Pat Unruh