September 18, 2008 – Havana, Cuba…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
The Seventh-day Adventist church in Cuba recently celebrated the accreditation of the Adventist Theological Seminary in Havanah during this year's graduation ceremony. This was the first time in 38 years the seminary graduated theology students with independent accreditation. In previous years, the seminary had functioned as an extension of Montemorelos University in Mexico.
The seminary was granted full accreditation by the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA) late last year, marking an important milestone in the history of the Adventist education in Cuba.
“The Adventist church in Cuba feels that now, with the accreditation, our seminary can better accomplish its function, since we already have our own study program according to the needs of our country and our churches,” said Esther Diaz de Guerrero, president of Adventist Theological Seminary in Cuba. “We are joyful and grateful in our hearts.”
After the Seventh-day Adventist Antillean College in Cuba was closed in 1967, a small seminary was established in the offices of the Cuban Union in Havanah in 1970. Due to the work of Maranatha Volunteers International, the seminary moved into its own facility in 1997. From 1987 to 2006 it operated as an extension of Mexico's Montemorelos University. Antillean College is now located in Puerto Rico.
“This has been the institution that has taken the longest to receive accreditation in our territory,” said Dr. Moises Velazquez, director of the Office of Education for the church in Inter-America. “They worked hard for years towards accreditation due to the limitations of physical facilities, faculty staff, library and computer lab specifications, and other requirements needed for full accreditation,” he said.
Dr. Luis Schulz, associate director for Education for the Advenitst World Church attended the graduation and handed the certificate of accreditation to Mrs. Guerrero and Pastor Daniel Fontaine, president of the church in Cuba.
With a growing church in Cuba with more than 29,000 church members, the seminary, which grants bachelor's degrees in theology to men and women every year, provides a much needed work force of pastors and Bible workers who are committed to spreading the gospel on the island.
