[Edited extract from public address]
Dr. Robert Sellers to Chair the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World's Religions |
Three years ago, under a ten year old burden of debt, the Parliament was falling apart. We were consulting bankruptcy attorneys. In those depressing days, looking for some light, I asked the trustees to think what they would like the Parliament to do if money were no object. The trustee who, in my view, came up with the best ideas for the future of the Parliament was a certain Texan named Rob Sellers. As chair of the board of the Parliament it is my distinct pleasure to announce that Robert Preston Sellers has been elected by our board of trustees to be the next chair of the Parliament. He will take charge January 1st as I retire at the end of my term limit this year. Rob is an amazing person with a variety of experiences. But most of all, he literally brings a missionary zeal to the interfaith movement. He has been a lifelong missionary, having spent 25 years in Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim country in the world. Currently, Rob is a professor of theology and Connally Professor of Missions at Hardin–Simmons University, a private Baptist university located in Abilene, Texas. During his five years as a trustee, he has served as vice chair of the Parliament board and as chair of its nominating committee. I hope Rob will be able to implement some of his great ideas about the Parliament and the interfaith movement. I pray for his success. One thing is sure--he will not be asked on the first day on the job to go raise salaries of the staff, as I had to do. We are leaving a full year's budget at his disposal along with an endowment fund. Rob and the next board, I am sure, will take the Parliament from strength to strength. As hate, fear, and anger are rising in the US and around the world, a world traveler who knows languages and the cultures of the world will be uniquely in place as the head of the Parliament board to develop loving relationships between people of faith to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world. His mission now is the interfaith movement. Peace,  Abdul Malik Mujahid p.s. No. it is not my goodbye letter :) I will write that later this year. |
