Kenneth Manders
Dr. Kenneth Manders accepted Jesus as his personal Savior and was baptized in 1979 and served in the Bermuda Mission (now Conference) as a Literature Evangelist from 1980 -1984. At his last Literature Evangelism Retreat in Tampa Florida, he met Claudette, his wife. The Lord has blessed their union with three sons, Andre, Stephen, and Joseph.
Sensing the call to the gospel ministry, he attended Oakwood College (now University) from 1988-1992 and graduated with a B. A. in Theology. The Oakwood Religion and Theology Department awarded him the Mosley/Warren Homiletic and Preaching Award for the class of 1992. Upon graduation, the Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists sponsored him to Andrews Theological Seminary where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. While there, he distinguished himself as the Student Chapel Director.
Pastor Manders began his pastoral ministry in 1995 as the Assistant Pastor of the Southampton Seventh-day Adventist Church, while also serving as the Bermuda Conference Assistant Youth Director. In 1997, he became the Youth Director, and Pastor of the Somerset SDA Church, where the Lord blessed his soul-winning endeavors for five years.
In 2002, he became Senior Pastor of the Hamilton SDA Church, a post he held for 13 years. Under his leadership, the Lord blessed the Hamilton Church with the highest membership and tithe growth in the history of the Bermuda Conference. While serving as pastor of the Hamilton Church, Pastor Manders held various departmental positions and administrative posts. He has served as the Conference Personal Ministries Director; Conference Evangelism Coordinator; Conference Retention & Reclamation Director; Conference Coordinator of Bible Instructors; and Conference Ministerial Director. He has also served as an adjunct Bible teacher at the Bermuda Institute from 2000 to 2004; and as speaker/director of the Hamilton Church Friday morning radio program, “Reflections” for fourteen (14) years.
In 2005, while serving as senior Pastor of the Hamilton Church, he was elected to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, a post he held for two terms. On September 28th, 2014, Dr. Manders was elected to serve as the fifth president of the Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. On August 1, 2015, Pastor Manders graduated from the Andrews Theological Seminary with a Doctorate in Church Leadership.
He has preached at PELC (Pastoral Evangelism Leadership Conference); BAYDA Youth Congress, Camp Meetings, Weeks of Prayer, and Evangelistic Meetings in Bermuda, Canada, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and across the United States of America. Hundreds have been baptized into the Kingdom of God through his ministry. In the Spring 2017 Edition of Oakwood Magazine, Dr. Kenneth Manders was recognized as one of the 120 faces of Oakwood. He is the first Oakwood graduate to become President of the Bermuda Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and the only conference president in the North American Division who simultaneously pastors a church.
Dr. Manders loves the Lord and lives to introduce people to Him, as the Lord of His life.