Ottawa University

South African Minister to Speak at OU

OTTAWA, Kansas - On Thursday, March 29, 2007, Ottawa and surrounding communities will have two opportunities to hear the Reverend Desmond Hoffmeister of South Africa speak at Ottawa University. Hoffmeister will speak during chapel services at 11:00 a.m. on "Faith That Makes a Difference or Maintains the Status Quo."  That evening at 7:00 p.m., he will speak again as part of the Norwood L. Jones lecture series.  The topic will be "Truth, Reconciliation and Justice: A Critical Reflection on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Process and an Examination of its Global Implications."  Both appearances are free and open to the public and will take place in the OU Chapel, 1001 S. Cedar, Ottawa, Kansas. 

Rev. Hoffmeister is a native of Cape Town, South Africa, who has played a noteworthy role in the country's liberation.  That role was made possible largely through two life-changing experiences that Rev. Hoffmeister had as a boy:  a dramatic conversion to Jesus Christ, and a clear call to ministry.  Like many of his peers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hoffmeister delayed his education for the cause of freedom in South Africa.  However, he did go on to earn a Licentiate in Theology from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa in 1988, and served as pastor of two vibrant congregations in or near Johannesburg.  Through his pastorates, he was an advocate for those living in poverty and oppression, as well as a haven for immigrants merging into the new South African framework. 

In 1994, Rev. Hoffmeister was elected General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa where Vision Jubilee 2010 was adopted.  It was in this position that he forged partnerships with American Baptist Churches, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Lott Carey Foreign Baptist Convention, British Missionary Society, European Baptist Mission, Swedish Baptist Union, and the Baptist World Alliance in reaching the growth goals of the Convention. 

Rev. Hoffmeister moved to the United States with his family in 1999 and served as a New Life missionary with the National Ministries of the American Baptist Churches.  He also attended the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California, where he was honored as the Drexler Scholar in Residence.  He received a Masters of Divinity in 2001.

Currently, Rev. Hoffmeister is the Transitional Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains, which is comprised of 100 churches and 26,000 members in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Northern Utah.  The Reverend is an international Christian leader who is committed to a message and ministry of racial reconciliation, globalization, and international missions.

Rev. Hoffmeister's appearance is made possible through the Norwood L. Jones Convocation Fund established in 1973 by Mr. and Mrs. Norwood L. Jones, Carolyn Jones Fletcher, and Anne Jones Compton to enable Ottawa University to invite distinguished individuals to campus to stimulate and inspire the students in their religious life and involvements. 

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

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