Malaysian partner: quiet advocate will attend synod.JUDY BERINAI, the only woman among the three international partners invited to General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Church of England In the Church of England, General Synod was instituted in 1970 and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had in July, is a mix of contradictions: a Malaysian, trilingual indigenous theology teacher and advocate for female leadership in the church from one of the communion's most conservative provinces, Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. . (International partners are invited to each General Synod to provide outside perspective and commentary.) Ms. Berinai, 39, graduated from Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto Research at the University of Toronto has been responsible for the world's first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant, artificial pancreas, chemical laser, G-suit, the first practical electron microscope, the first cloning of T-cells, in 1997 with a M.Th. after earning a B. Div. at Trinity Theological College, Singapore in 1991. Between the two degrees she taught in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia for six years. Dr. Andrea Mann, regional mission coordinator for Asia and the Pacific for General Synod, described her as a "quiet advocate for women's leadership in the church." Ms. Berinai teaches at the Sabah Theological Seminary Sabah Theological Seminary (STS) is an interdenominational Protestant seminary located in the town of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Established in 1988, STS is accredited by the Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA) and a participating school of the in the north of Borneo. The Anglican province of Southeast Asia does not ordain ORDAIN. To ordain is to make an ordinance, to enact a law. 2. In the constitution of the United States, the preamble. declares that the people "do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. women, and made headlines in March last year when Moses Tay, the province's then-bishop, along with Emmanuel Kolini, archbishop of Rwanda, consecrated con·se·crate tr.v. con·se·crat·ed, con·se·crat·ing, con·se·crates 1. To declare or set apart as sacred: consecrate a church. 2. Christianity a. two U.S. priests in Singapore for service in the United States. The move was justified as an attempt to halt the continuing exodus of unhappy conservatives from what they perceive as an overly-liberal U.S. Episcopal Church. Ms. Berinai is the only Anglican and the only (and expert) Malaysia speaker at the Sabah seminary. She teaches New Testament studies, pastoral counseling and Christian education. Women in the province of Southeast Asia are excluded from Seats of power. Ms. Mann said Ms. Berinai's understanding of the need for healing and reconciliation with indigenous people has increased through her three-year involvement as a member of the Partners in Mission Standing Committee of General Synod. |
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