This is one of the most difficult news for me to share. My good friend and mentor, Dr. Bruce Campbell Moyer, passed away on Sabbath morning, May 11, and is resting in God’s hands until the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. Moyer was a significant part of the NAD ACS ministry, especially with the Nonprofit Leadership Certification Program initiative since 2003. He was also the instructor and advisor for the Urban Mission and Ministry modules. He provided substantial technical support and lectureship for numerous urban mission and ministry symposiums, ACS conventions, and ACS leadership development programs throughout NAD.
Dr. Moyer was not only an intellectual scholar but also a compassionate minister. He served as a teacher, pastor, and administrator. More importantly, he was my mentor for my personal and professional life, and also my spiritual guide on earth.
In March 1991, shortly after my baptism in January, my wife and I decided to pursue pastoral ministry by enrolling in the Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) Theology degree program. It was in my “Christian Church Ministry” class on the first day of school when Dr. Moyer walked into the classroom and said with a commanding voice like that of a soldier, “Who has the NRA sticker on their car?” When I heard the voice and saw the seriousness and imperial look of Dr. Moyer, I thought I was in big trouble and asked myself, “Why is this happening in my life on the first day of school and first encounter with my teacher?” Before I was converted, I was a cadet of the US Air Force ROTC program at the University of Maryland, hence had the NRA sticker on my car. After an agonizing mental struggle, I raised my hand slowly and cautiously; then an unbelievable thing happened. Dr. Moyer walked toward me and stretched out his hand and shook my hand and said, “I like you.” WOW – what just happened! I could not understand what was happening. Dr. Moyer had served as a Marine; not ex-Marine, but Marine. He said that, “there is no such thing as a ex-Marine; once you are a Marine, you are always a Marine.” He was proud of being a Marine.
Among many, Dr. Moyer taught homiletics, how to write and preach sermons. He infused in our minds that pastors should not preach from the head but from the heart; not transferring information from head to head but connecting heart to heart. He stressed the importance of a preacher’s responsibility of the spiritual aspect of life.
As the director for the Center for Global Urban Mission at CUC, Dr. Moyer hired me to work as an assistant. Mentoring under him on urban mission and ministry changed my life and besides God’s will, Dr. Moyer is the reason why I am who I am today. His teachings and love for God and His people influenced me to follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am eternally grateful for Dr. Moyer; for his love, friendship, and mentorship. We will miss him but will not forget him. We will meet him again in the new Jerusalem, and I can’t wait to say, “Dr. Moyer, I like you, Sir.”
Please keep Mrs. Moyer and family in your thoughts and prayers.
— Sung K. Kwon
Executive Director, NAD ACS
To read the obituary for Dr. Moyer, please click here.