ABHMS Calls National Coordinator for Asian Ministries
VALLEY FORGE, PA (1/16/23)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) has called the Reverend Michele Turek to serve as National Coordinator for Asian Ministries, effective January 2023. In this vital role, she will connect partners and cultivate leaders within the Asian community, with a focus on building relationships, sharing resources, and coordinating training, organizational and professional development, education, and advocacy. Rev. Turek will be based in California.
In making the announcement, Dr. Jeffrey Haggray, ABHMS Executive Director, said, “Rev. Turek profoundly understands and sincerely honors the diversity of the Asian American Baptist family. She brings a bridge-builder approach to her leadership as she seeks to cultivate leaders of all ages and connect with our mission partners.” Director of Intercultural Ministries, the Reverend Dr. Marie Onwubuariri, added, “Rev. Turek’s heart for mission and ministry is coupled with her proven effectiveness in ministry on the local church, denominational, and parachurch levels.”
In accepting her new commitment, Rev. Turek said, “I am humbled and honored that God would lead me to fulfill the role of National Coordinator for Asian Ministries. The Asian American Baptist family has poured much into me over the years, and I am grateful for the opportunity to pour back into our Asian and Asian American ministers and churches.”
Rev. Turek is uniquely qualified for this position at ABHMS. She served as a leadership volunteer in the Alliance of Asian American Baptist churches for more than a decade and worked on special initiatives against racism directed at Asians and in support of Asian American women in ministry. Further, she managed Graduate and Faculty Ministries (GFM) in the Pacific Area and Western Region for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and was an interim minister for the Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle, WA. Rev. Turek also was the program Administrator on the Ministers Council of ABC USA in 2022.
Rev. Turek, an ordained American Baptist minister since 2017, received her Master of Divinity in 2012 from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies in 2008 from California State University, Fresno.
For more information about Intercultural Ministries, please visit Intercultural Ministries online.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.
