Bradford appointed as general secretary

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 - 8:23 AM CST

This morning, in a special meeting in the Assemblies of God headquarters chapel, General Superintendent George O. Wood announced Dr. James Bradford, pastor of Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, has been appointed as the new general secretary.

Bradford

Bradford, 56, who was unanimously appointed by the Executive Presbytery, will assume the duties of the General Secretary's office effective immediately. However, he will also continue as pastor of Central Assembly through Easter.

Wood says the search was one bathed in prayer and conducted with a list of qualities in mind. Included in the list were godly character, respect among ministers and constituency, competency for the office, preaching and communication skills, chemistry with the current executive leadership, ability to connect with young people and leadership skills, among other things - all qualities that were carefully and prayerfully evaluated.

"I have known Jim for many years," Wood says, "and find him a stellar Christian leader in every way."

Bradford, who holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota, grew a small Chi Alpha campus Bible study at the university into a university church. Upon graduation in 1979, he went into full-time ministry with that campus outreach. In 1982, he was ordained by the Minnesota District. He and his family moved to Southern California in 1988 where he pastored Newport-Mesa Christian Center in Orange County.

In 2000, the Bradfords moved to Vancouver, B.C., to pastor Broadway Church. It was in 2003 that he came to Springfield to pastor Central Assembly.

"He is a popular speaker both in the States and abroad," Wood adds.  "[He] works with university student ministries, missionaries and pastoral leadership training. We pray God's wisdom and presence on Jim and the family."

Bradford and his wife Sandi have two daughters, Meredith and Angeline - both students at Evangel University in Springfield.  A news video of the chapel introduction of Dr. Bradford as general secretary will be available at http://ag.org on Friday.