May 2024

Last week, at their annual in-person meetings, WCIU's Board of Directors honored Dr. Greg Parsons for over 30 years of service to the University. President, Dr. Paul Cornelius thanked Greg for his faithfulness and expressed gratitude for his rich history with WCIU and Frontier Ventures , stating that it is this history that continues to “help us understand who we are… and the trajectory we are taking without losing sight of why WCIU was founded.” Board Chair, Dr. Monica B. Mitchell esteemed Greg as “a life giving force” that has blessed the University for decades. She continued by reading the following Scripture over Greg as a proclamation:

The righteous person will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courtyards of our God.
They will still yield fruit in advanced age;
They will be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the Lord is just;
He is my rock, and there is no malice in Him.
Psalm 92:12-15

Fellow Board Member Dr. Richard Gunasekera celebrated Greg’s leadership on the WCIU board emphasizing that he is someone others can “lean on.” That being said, the WCIU board is not the only place where Greg is consulted and recognized as a leader. Greg is well known as a leader of leaders and a champion of many NGO’s and missions groups. Gunasekera went on to say, “We are very grateful for Greg and his ministry, not just to us but to Frontier Ventures and the missions world- Greg is a leader in this Dr. Winter era of missions history.”

Long time colleague, Rick Hivner expressed thankfulness for his friendship with Greg and reminded us that Greg “put us all in his debt with his doctoral work” on the early life and core missiology of our founder Dr. Ralph D. Winter and has richly contributed to preserving our history with his work at the Ralph D. Winter Research Center, a joint effort with WCIU and Frontier Ventures.

Friend of the University, Richard Rasmussen honored Greg for his humility, passion for continual learning and the unique perspective he brings to the table. He also praised Kathleen for the role she plays in Greg’s life and ministry.

Greg truly has been WCIU’s resident historian, networking aficionado, and our longest standing board member. Greg is one of the faithful few whose labor, sweat and tears are literally mixed into the foundation of WCIU. Greg was born for a life of missions and to tell the stories of Jesus’ followers all over the globe. Greg, thank you for your service and dedication to world evangelism and to the mission of WCIU to see communities flourish across the earth!