Dewald wins campus ministry award

Dewald received the Dana Walling Award for Excellence in Campus Ministry, an award established by the CCCU to honor the late Dana Walling, former campus pastor at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, who was known for exhibiting gentleness, wisdom and humility.

Dewald joined Northwestern’s campus ministry staff in 1995. She has directed nearly all the college’s campus ministry efforts, including Bible studies and ministry teams meeting on campus and serving throughout the region, as well as Spring Service Project teams traveling over spring break and individual students serving overseas each summer.

 “One of Barb’s greatest contributions to campus ministry has been her work with the Fellowship of Short-Term Ministry Leaders (FSTML),” said Rod Reed, campus pastor at Fresno Pacific University and chair of the CCCU’s Campus Minister’s Commission. “She and others in the organization strive to train, equip and empower students as short-term missionaries around the world.”

As a member of the FSTML, Dewald co-authored the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission, a common set of standards that ensure individuals or teams sent as missionaries by U.S. organizations receive excellent training so they can be as effective as possible.

In the five years the Dana Walling Award has been presented, Northwestern campus ministry staff members have won it twice. Dr. Keith Anderson, former dean of spiritual formation and vocation, won the award when it was first presented in 2004. Dewald is the first woman to win the award.