News > North America

At 6:30 on October 18, 2018 Pastor Kevin Albright was ordained as a UBF pastor by Pastors Teddy Hembekides, Ron Ward, and Moses Yoon. About 25 members and leaders in the church attended the ceremony to pray for Pastor Kevin.

Pastor Teddy presided, giving thanks for the event. He said that in God’s sight this ordination was long overdue and was among the greatest events in the world today, like a general getting his stars. Teddy first met Kevin in 1985 when he lived in the Evanston Bible house. Kevin appeared to be a self-important, arrogant white North American, but as Teddy got to know Kevin he found it wasn’t true. When they went to Africa together, Kevin helped the conference messengers, showing deep love and respect for the word of God. This love of the word of God more than himself was a vital quality in the making of a pastor.

Pastor Teddy then shared the sacred responsibilities of a pastor according to the Bible. In the early church, the duties of the first pastors were defined. In Acts 6:4 the Twelve said, “…and will give attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” A pastor and the word of God cannot be separated. A pastor must pray to be faithful to the word of God. Paul gave a solemn charge to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20-28-30, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” A pastor must be vigilant to watch over the flock that God bought with his own blood. On the plaque given to Pastor there are two Bible verses: 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Pastor Kevin accepted the charge from Pastor Teddy’s message. He remembered the time he went to Africa with Teddy and learned from Teddy’s shepherd heart. Kevin expressed his thankfulness for everyone’s prayers and love for him and said that he loves the community in UBF. When he came to the church in 1983 during his freshman year at Northwestern, he was amazed of the love that everyone had for Jesus. He has since come to know the love of Christ as well as the meaning of his life. Kevin also expressed thanks to his wife, Dr. Maria Albright.

Pastor Kevin then shared a brief testimony. When he first came to Northwestern, he had a crisis when his father died of a heart attack. He also had a Mormon girlfriend and joined a fraternity at Northwestern which was involved in drinking and partying. At that time Kiyoshi (Daniel) Yoshiba invited him to Bible study. Kevin asked him what religion he was and Kiyoshi answered, “Christian.” Kevin had been raised as a Catholic, a Christian faith based on the Bible so he shared his contact information. Shortly thereafter, Kiyoshi and Mark Vucekovich visited Kevin at his dorm room. One Jewish student argued with them but Kevin noticed that they were calm, gracious and reasonable so he made an appointment to study Bible 1:1 and kept coming. Kevin was impressed that UBF honored the Bible and evangelism, while two Catholic leaders at a Catholic retreat he went to said that the Bible could not be fully trusted and downplayed evangelism. So he committed himself to Jesus in UBF to study the word of God and help others know Jesus, including his college friends.

Pastor Kevin said in spite of all of the great things Pastor Teddy said about him that he is a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus. He’s made many mistakes and has been wicked, depraved and godless at times. He said that he can only stand by the grace of God and that knowing he is a sinner has helped him to be less self-important and arrogant than he used to be. He remembered the first testimony he wrote: “From a holy sinner to a voice.” As a self-righteous Catholic, he was like a Pharisee but God gave him the vision to speak up for the grace of Jesus. He prayed to cling to the grace of Jesus.

Pastors Moses Yoon, Ron Ward, and Teddy Hembekides then prayed for Pastor Kevin. He was then given the plaque that officially certifies him as a pastor of the North American assembly of UBF. A benediction prayer was then given by Pastor Moses Yoon and the ceremony was concluded. Several people stayed for light snacks and fellowship afterward, congratulating Pastor Kevin.