ADVISORY BOARD

The Society has been established by an Advisory Board of people and this group is making initial arrangements for the Society. The Advisory Board will, in future, administer the workings of the Society and endeavour to make contacts around the world to further the objectives of the Society.

The Advisory Board consists of the following members:

The Revd. Rod Botsis

Colleague Minister of the Bellville Presbyterian Church in the Presbytery of Cape Town.

Past Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.

Rod has been an avid reader of Nouwen's work since the late seventies and was the organiser of a Centenary Conference for Presbyterians in South Africa at which Nouwen was supposed to have spoken in September 1997. Henri died in 1996, just a few months before the Conference. Rod met Henri in 1995 and kept correspondence with Henri for a while.

Prof. Pieter de Villiers

Professor of New Testament Studies at Rhodes university in Grahamstown.

Pieter became interested in Spirituality and the Bible several years ago and has been presenting papers on that theme in the last few years. His discovery of Nouwen came when he was given the book, The return of the Prodigal Son. Pieter has offered Post Graduate courses in The New Testament and Spirituality at Rhodes University and has included papers on Nouwen's use of the New Testament.

The Revd. Dion Forster

Colleague Minister of the Coronation Avenue Methodist Church in Somerset West.

Dion has had an interest in Spirituality since his student years. His interests range from the spirituality of the Desert fathers through the works of Thomas Merton to the role of Spirituality in the Hindu Christian interface. Dion's interest in Nouwen is but a part of his wider interest in the discipline but also because Nouwen's Spirituality is first and foremost a Spirituality for the minister, the parish priest. Dion is of tremendous assistance to the Society because of his great interest in cyberspace and the workings of the Internet. Email: dion@spirituality.org.za

George Marchinkowski

Minister of the Margate United Church (Presbyterian & Congregational) in the Presbytery of Durban, Kwazulu Natal.

George's interest in Nouwen really only began with the death of his mother in 1996. A copy of Nouwen's In Memoriumwas sent to him and it was here that his passion for Nouwen's writings was formed. George wrote a Masters Thesis on Henri Nouwen's spirituality of Compassion in 1998 and is currently researching Nouwen's use of the New Testament and Hermeneutics with the view to registering for a PhD. George is founder and coordinator of the society.

Email: george@nouwen.org.za