Welcome Back to the New Year!
PhD Scholarship Winners
(Left to Right: Mr Anthony Olaxayo Fawole, Rev Berther Marcelin Lainirina & Rev Xolani Abednigo Nkosi)
We are excited to announce the 2022 SATS PhD Scholarship winner in Systematic Theology in African Perspective. The winner is Mr Anthony Oladayo Fawole. Anthony’s topic is: Problems and Prospects of Christological Insecurity in Contemporary African Evangelical Christianity: The Need for an Ecumenical-Ecclesiological Response.
The runners-up are:
Rev Berthier Marcelin Lainirina. His topic is: African religious philosophy and the problem of the Hiddenness of God.
Rev Xolani Abednigo Nkosi. His topic is: Applying Biblical Christian Ethics to address Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Community and Christian Homes in the uMsunduzi Municipality in Pietermaritzburg.
The runners-up will receive Phase 1 for free (20% discount on the PhD programme fees).
Upcoming E-Conference
You are welcome to register for this conference by clicking on the following link: Live Events Registration
Meet our Programme Delivery Team
To assure the continuance of our online learning experience SATS have the privilege to introduce the SATS Programme Delivery Team. The main task of this incredible team is to ensure excellence in online teaching and learning, through social presence, teaching presence and cognitive presence. Creating an excellent online learning and teaching environment is CDT’s work. This team includes:
(Left to right, top row)
Dr Jesse Kipimo (PhD): Head of Programme Delivery; Master of Divinity Programme Coordinator
Mrs Candida Millar (PhDc): Counselling Programme Coordinator
Rev Louie Naidoo (BTh Hons): BTh Programme Coordinator
(Left to right, bottom row)
Rev Pelham Lessing (PhDc): BTh Honours Programme Coordinator
Dr Wilna Grey (MMed-FamMed, BTh Hons): Higher Certificate in Christian Life Programme Coordinator
Meet our new staff
SATS has also been blessed with additions to the Academic, Lecturing, and Administration teams.
(Left to right, top row)
Academic Staff
Rev Dr Isaac Boaheng, an ordained minister of the Methodist Church Ghana, has completed his doctorate in Theology at the University of the Free State, South Africa (awaiting graduation in December, 2021).
Lecturing Staff
Mrs Kgomotlokoa Grace Sepota has an MA in Clinical Psychology, which she obtained at UNISA. “I have a huge passion for children, especially the youth.” She is a part-time Lecturer in the HCCC programme.
(Left to right, bottom row)
Mrs Kayle Pelletier has always had a desire for missions since her teenage years. She got her MDiv at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Masters in Theology in the Old Testament with the aim of teaching overseas.
Mrs Jenny Curry is a passionate lover of God’s word, she has a BTh and is busy with her Honours. Jenny is married to Mark, and they have a daughter, Erin. Jenny will be assisting with Biblical Greek.
Administrative Staff
Mrs Mpho Magwaza has completed a BTh degree and is planning on pursuing her BTh-Honours here at SATS.
In Loving Memory of Prof. Mervin van der Spuy
With a mixture of sadness and gratitude, SATS bids farewell to Prof. Mervin van der Spuy, whose pilgrimage through this life ended in early January when he lost his battle against cancer and went to be with his Lord and Saviour.
Mervin’s journey with SATS began in 2001. He had been teaching his Paraklesis Counselling Programme in Johannesburg, but he had accepted a post at the School of Counselling Psychology at Providence Theological Seminary in Canada. He believed in the Paraklesis model and wanted to see it continue to help Christian counsellors in South Africa. At the time, SATS was a fledgling distance education seminary without a counselling offering. By God’s grace, SATS and Mervin met and discovered their shared DNA, and a wonderful partnership was born that has seen Christian counsellors trained through SATS for more than 20 years.
Although Mervin was both a pastor and a theologian, his life’s work and passion was in the field of Christian counselling. He founded the Association of Christian Counsellors in South Africa and served as the Vice-President of the International Network of Christian Counsellors. As a Professor of Counselling Psychology, he spent his best years training professional Christian counsellors. However, he also remained in private practice as a therapist until 2020. For the past 20 years, he also served as an adjunct senior academic at SATS, leading the Higher Certificate in Christian Counselling and the Bachelor of Theology (Counselling Concentration).
Mervin’s love for his subject and his students was contagious. Until he became too ill, he continued reading the latest literature and developing courses and training materials. Christian counselling was more than a job—it was his life’s mission and a labour of love. As much as Mervin loved his subject, just so much did he love his students. He exuded a passion for learning and teaching that made a deep impact on his students. He loved them, and they loved him. We heard story after story of students who testified to the profound influence Mervin had on their lives.
SATS owes Mervin a great debt of gratitude for his pioneering role in establishing counselling as an important part of our offerings. When he was forced to retire from SATS due to his illness, we had more than 500 students registered in the counselling programmes. SATS will continue to teach the Paraklesis model as the basis of the undergraduate programmes, so Mervin’s legacy lives on.
We bid our partner in the gospel a sad but temporary farewell. His labours were not in vain, and his impact will continue to grow for years to come through the Paraklesis courses. Mervin leaves behind his beloved wife Hildegard, son Mervin-Dave, daughter Lindie, and two beautiful grandchildren. He will be fondly remembered by the many lives he enriched during his sojourn in this world.
Mervin, our friend, we will see you again… but not yet!
All our love in Christ, the SATS family.
For a tribute on Dr van Der Spuy from his colleagues you can click on the following link: Tribute