Following a formal search process, the Church Board of the UMC in Estonia confirmed the recommendation of the Seminary’s Board of Trustees to appoint Dr. Külli Tõniste as Seminary Rector. The new rector will begin her tenure on August 1, 2018. Outgoing rector Dr. Meeli Tankler is stepping back after 9 years in office but will continue in a teaching role. Dr. Külli Tõniste is a BMTS graduate who went on to complete a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in the USA. She completed the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Theology in 2010 at Brunel University for research undertaken at London School of Theology. Külli Tõniste served as an assistant professor in New Testament at Houghton College and adjunct professor at Northeastern Theological Seminary in the USA. Since 2015, Külli Tõniste, together with her husband, Douglas Childress have been in Estonia as missionaries with the UMC’s General Board of Global Ministries serving in the BMTS both in teaching and in working with Seminary development.
Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary announces a new Rector
