History

The Adventist English Association has had a long history of commitment to giving Adventist English teachers at all levels of instruction a sense of community and cooperation. From its conception in 1968, AEA has provided Adventist English educators a forum in which they could discuss their profession and collaborate with one another.
 

The Beginning

Before the AEA could focus on collaboration among English teaching professionals, the organization’s main concern was responding to controversies that arose due to disagreements about how English should be taught in Adventist schools. These controversies threatened English teachers’ positions within the Adventist educational system, potentially impeding their ability to adopt and to implement contemporary developments in the study of English. The AEA was instrumental in responding to critics and in developing a set of standards for teaching English within an Adventist atmosphere.

Discussions about the creation of an organization for Adventist English teachers began as early as World War II, when the General Conference suggested that teachers meet to discuss their professional concerns with one another. It wasn’t until 1965, however, that moves were made to make a viable organization for English teachers. The first step that the early founders took, was to appoint Verne Wehtje from Union College to manage the printing of a newsletter. The first issue of The Adventist English Newsletter was published in 1966 and it contained a piece written by Bruce Ronk, the coordinating editor, who called for an organization of English teachers. Ronk wished to combat the imagined hierarchy that seemed to exist between university and secondary teachers. Additionally, he wanted an effective way for English teachers to be able to respond to the criticisms that they faced from other educators and church officials.

In 1968, during meetings with Adventist Educational Superintendents, strong criticism from educational professionals was given to English teachers about how English was taught. These criticisms included accusations of teaching smut and corrupting the morality of students by assigning books with profanity and explicit passages. These accusations were unfounded: the books that English teachers were accused of assigning were in fact recent best-sellers that, as far as those investigating the situation could tell, were not taught in any English classes. The immediate response to these baseless criticisms was to create a committee of English teachers that would work to develop guidelines for teaching English in Adventist schools. While this measured approach adequately responded to the criticisms, it did not please all members, some of whom worried about how English teachers would respond to future controversies.

One of these individuals was Dr. Ottilie Stafford. She had misgivings about the committee approach to responding to controversy, and instead, like Bruce Ronk, advocated for creating an organization that would represent Adventist English teachers and give them a voice within Adventist Education. In 1968, Dr. Stafford was voted to act as chairperson for the creation of such an organization, and, in 1969, Dr. Verne Wehtje was appointed as president of the newly formed Adventist English Teachers’ Association.
 

Conferences

While the Adventist English Association began as an endeavor to give Adventist teachers the opportunity to form a united front, there were no large-scale meetings during its formative years.  It wasn’t until 1976 that AEA met, but this meeting was not of the organization’s own creation. Instead, the meeting was connected to other events organized by the General Conference at Andrews. This AEA meeting, however, was instrumental in validating the professional organization and resulted in the publication of Language Matters, a landmark book that set forth suggestions for how Adventist teachers could approach the teaching of English and create curricula that would reduce controversy.

After 1976 the General Conference ended their support of meetings for teachers to collaborate, which created a challenge for AEA to organize meetings of their own, with little experience or funds to do so. However, the Adventist English Association continued to pursue planning meetings and the first AEA general meeting was held at Atlantic Union College in 1981. The attendance at these meetings was surprisingly large, with nearly twice as many attendees as had attended the meetings previously organized by the General Conference. The meetings provided opportunities for Adventist English  educators to collaborate and present papers on topics that were uniquely Adventist. Due to the success of these meetings, it was agreed that a conference would be held every three years. The AEA Conference continues to be a highlight for those who wish to share and to collaborate their English research and pedagogy.

Delmer Davis, from “Herding Cats or English Teachers: The Early Years of the Adventist English Association, 1965-1981,,” an essay that preserves the history of the AEA. Edited and adapted by Scott Walker (SAU BA English 2019).