MIRIAM ADENEY joined the Seattle Pacific faculty in a unique job share in 1977.
She and SPU Chaplain Steven Hoke were considered “continuing part-time” faculty members and comprised the Cross-Cultural Ministry program in what was then the School of Religion. Their mission? Train graduate and undergraduate students to work in the United States or overseas while
also living out Christ’s love through words, as well as economic and social action.
Adeney brought a wealth of experience to the position. In addition to a master’s degree in journalism and a doctorate in anthropology, she had directed the publishing program of the Philippines InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and taught communications, sociology, and anthropology at Asian Theological Seminary and two colleges in the Philippines.
At Seattle Pacific, Adeney not only taught students, she also lectured on six continents and wrote six books, including Refugee Diaspora: Missions Amid the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Times. Adeney received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Christians for Biblical Equity and was
honored with a Lifetime Training Award from Media Associates International.
Adeney served as president of the American Society of Missiology and was active on the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission and the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization Diaspora Task Force.
Christianity Today turned to the associate professor of world Christian studies for an editorial after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center. She delivered an editorial titled, “Think Globally, Love Globally.”
“From mentoring majority-world Christian writers to equipping students on our campus for participation in the world Christian movement, Dr. Adeney’s writing, teaching, and presence has been a gift to SPU and the global church for decades,” said Associate Professor of Missiology David Leong.
After 46 years of teaching, Adeney continues to make an impact with speaking engagements across the country on topics from short-term missions’ impact on local culture to community development. She is training Spanish-speaking church leaders from Central America and elsewhere to write for publication, and Adeney and SPU Assistant Professor of Global Development Mohammad Shah are co-authoring a book on a Christian perspective on Afghanistan.
In addition to speaking, consulting, and writing in her retirement, Adeney spends time with her three adult sons and nine grandchildren.
