Whitworth University presents Distinguished Leadership Awards to Outstanding Community Members
October 13, 2016
Whitworth University will present Distinguished Ministry Leadership Awards this fall on behalf of the Whitworth University Board of Trustees to Rev. Lorraine Stuart and Rev. Chester “Chet” Andrews for their decades of excellence in ministry. Stuart will receive her award on Sunday, Nov. 27, at the First Presbyterian Church in Bend, Ore., and Andrews will be presented with his award on Thursday, Oct. 27, during The Gospel and Racism Conference at 7 p.m. in the HUB Crow’s Nest. For more information, please call (509) 777-4452.
Rev. Lorraine (Robertson) Stuart
Lorraine Stuart, pictured right, has devoted her life to young people, service and outreach. She has a broad and distinguished, decades-long record of ministry, domestically and internationally with local congregations and Young Life. In the midst of service opportunities, she earned her M.A. in theology from Fuller and an M.Div. in theology from San Francisco Theological Seminary, before being ordained in 1982.
Stuart also had a notable and respected ministry as Whitworth’s associate chaplain from 1976-84. She was the second woman ordained in the Seely Mudd Chapel (the first female pastor was Rev. Mimi Dixon), and during her time of service she worked with chaplains Rev. Dr. Ronald C. White and Rev. Dr. Ronald Frase. She was involved in all aspects of campus ministry: preaching, leading worship, coordinating small-group Bible studies and more. She also served on the Core 150 team (a Whitworth distinctive, taught by an interdisciplinary team of professors), taught classes in ministry (youth ministry, foundations of ministry) and led Jan Term urban ministry trips to San Francisco. She says of her time serving at Whitworth that it was “great to see young people stretch in their Christian faith.”
Stuart left her position at Whitworth in 1984 and then moved to Bend, Ore., after marrying David Stuart. They lived nearly four years in Costa Rica to serve with a Young Life related ministry there (1988-1991), and also lived in China (1992-1993, summer 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (2000-2001) as teachers of conversational English.
While at home in Bend, she has served at First Presbyterian Church in various capacities including as a parish associate. She received a diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1996. Now retired, she is a volunteer at Bend Presbyterian Church in the areas of grief counseling and spiritual direction.
30 years later, Stuart has remained a participant in the Whitworth community (she and her husband, Dave, have attended the Whitworth Institute of Ministry), and the Stuarts have been generous supporters of numerous Whitworth initiatives.
Rev. Chester “Chet” Andrews
Chet Andrews, pictured right with his wife, Doris (photo via The Fig Tree), has spent most of his career serving both the Spokane and Whitworth communities. His ministry and life exemplify the mission of Whitworth to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.
Andrews grew up near Selma, Ala., the youngest of 17 children of Jesse and Edna Andrews, who were sharecroppers. He says, “Sharecropping was not for me, so after I graduated I went to Yakima (Wash.) in 1959 to visit my brother and work. I found different jobs and worked hard.”
He served seven years in the U.S. Army and embarked on a career with Western Electric before becoming the assistant pastor at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, in Yakima, in 1963. The senior pastor there mentored him, and most of his learning to be a pastor was on-the-job training while he also studied at Yakima’s Selah Bible College.
He later moved with his family to Spokane in 1971. They began attending Morning Star Baptist, and he worked with the Rev. Freeman Simmons until he came to Calvary Baptist, in 1974, as interim minister. After seven months, he became the senior pastor there.
Andrews has served in many capacities in Spokane and throughout the Northwest, including for the Spokane Human Services Department, the Spokane Police Department and the North Pacific Baptist Convention.
He began studying at Whitworth in the 1990s, and in 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity from Whitworth University in recognition not only his lifetime of distinguished pastoral leadership, but also to mark his more than two decades on the Whitworth staff as assistant chaplain and co-teacher with Whitworth Professor Ron Pyle in a class, African-American Preaching. Currently, he leads the congregation as pastor at Calvary Baptist Church.
When asked about Andrews, Ron Pyle said, “Rev. Andrews’ ministry is holistic. He is a trusted and valued part of the Spokane community. From his service on community boards, to his development of food banks, to his role as an agent of reconciliation, Rev. Andrews labors to unify a community that knows divisions related to race, economic realities, police and civilian strife, and injustice.”
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Jaime Warfield, assistant director of gift planning, institutional advancement, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4452 or jwarfield@whitworth.edu.
Lauren Clark, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or lclark@whitworth.edu.
Rev. Lorraine (Robertson) Stuart
Lorraine Stuart, pictured right, has devoted her life to young people, service and outreach. She has a broad and distinguished, decades-long record of ministry, domestically and internationally with local congregations and Young Life. In the midst of service opportunities, she earned her M.A. in theology from Fuller and an M.Div. in theology from San Francisco Theological Seminary, before being ordained in 1982.Stuart also had a notable and respected ministry as Whitworth’s associate chaplain from 1976-84. She was the second woman ordained in the Seely Mudd Chapel (the first female pastor was Rev. Mimi Dixon), and during her time of service she worked with chaplains Rev. Dr. Ronald C. White and Rev. Dr. Ronald Frase. She was involved in all aspects of campus ministry: preaching, leading worship, coordinating small-group Bible studies and more. She also served on the Core 150 team (a Whitworth distinctive, taught by an interdisciplinary team of professors), taught classes in ministry (youth ministry, foundations of ministry) and led Jan Term urban ministry trips to San Francisco. She says of her time serving at Whitworth that it was “great to see young people stretch in their Christian faith.”
Stuart left her position at Whitworth in 1984 and then moved to Bend, Ore., after marrying David Stuart. They lived nearly four years in Costa Rica to serve with a Young Life related ministry there (1988-1991), and also lived in China (1992-1993, summer 1995) and Kyrgyzstan (2000-2001) as teachers of conversational English.
While at home in Bend, she has served at First Presbyterian Church in various capacities including as a parish associate. She received a diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1996. Now retired, she is a volunteer at Bend Presbyterian Church in the areas of grief counseling and spiritual direction.
30 years later, Stuart has remained a participant in the Whitworth community (she and her husband, Dave, have attended the Whitworth Institute of Ministry), and the Stuarts have been generous supporters of numerous Whitworth initiatives.
Rev. Chester “Chet” Andrews
Chet Andrews, pictured right with his wife, Doris (photo via The Fig Tree), has spent most of his career serving both the Spokane and Whitworth communities. His ministry and life exemplify the mission of Whitworth to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity.Andrews grew up near Selma, Ala., the youngest of 17 children of Jesse and Edna Andrews, who were sharecroppers. He says, “Sharecropping was not for me, so after I graduated I went to Yakima (Wash.) in 1959 to visit my brother and work. I found different jobs and worked hard.”
He served seven years in the U.S. Army and embarked on a career with Western Electric before becoming the assistant pastor at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, in Yakima, in 1963. The senior pastor there mentored him, and most of his learning to be a pastor was on-the-job training while he also studied at Yakima’s Selah Bible College.
He later moved with his family to Spokane in 1971. They began attending Morning Star Baptist, and he worked with the Rev. Freeman Simmons until he came to Calvary Baptist, in 1974, as interim minister. After seven months, he became the senior pastor there.
Andrews has served in many capacities in Spokane and throughout the Northwest, including for the Spokane Human Services Department, the Spokane Police Department and the North Pacific Baptist Convention.
He began studying at Whitworth in the 1990s, and in 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity from Whitworth University in recognition not only his lifetime of distinguished pastoral leadership, but also to mark his more than two decades on the Whitworth staff as assistant chaplain and co-teacher with Whitworth Professor Ron Pyle in a class, African-American Preaching. Currently, he leads the congregation as pastor at Calvary Baptist Church.
When asked about Andrews, Ron Pyle said, “Rev. Andrews’ ministry is holistic. He is a trusted and valued part of the Spokane community. From his service on community boards, to his development of food banks, to his role as an agent of reconciliation, Rev. Andrews labors to unify a community that knows divisions related to race, economic realities, police and civilian strife, and injustice.”
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Jaime Warfield, assistant director of gift planning, institutional advancement, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4452 or jwarfield@whitworth.edu.
Lauren Clark, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or lclark@whitworth.edu.
