AIIAS welcomes Dr. Richard Gorden Doss, newly arrived to begin his work as an Assistant Professor in the Applied Theology Department.
Doss, an American citizen born to missionary parents, spent 10 out of his first 15 years in Malawi before attending high school at Maxwell Adventist Academy in Kenya. He graduated from Pacific Union College with a teaching credential and a bachelor’s degree in Theology, later earning his Master of Divinity degree and a Graduate Certificate in International Development at Andrews University. This year, 2023, Doss completed his PhD in Intercultural Studies degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. His dissertation was entitled “The Integration of Evangelism and Discipleship by Seventh-day Adventists in Malawi.”
Doss first pastored in the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists while his wife, Hadassah, served as the preschool director at Hinsdale Adventist Academy. They were called to Maxwell Adventist Academy, where he taught history and Bible while working as the boys’ dean. Hadassah served as the head teacher at the elementary school and taught high school geometry. After five years at Maxwell, the Dosses were called to serve at Nile Union Academy in Egypt, where he led the school as principal and Hadassah served as the head teacher. After spending four years in Egypt, Richard Doss was accepted to the PhD program in Intercultural Studies at E. Stanley Jones School of Mission and Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Doss has served the church for a total of 11 years, excluding his time spent in MDiv and PhD programs. He was ordained in 2016 while serving in Egypt. During the past four years he has served as an elder at the Bluegrass Connections Church in Lexington, Kentucky. He led house fellowships, small groups, and taught in Sabbath School. Meanwhile, Hadassah led out in children’s ministries.
Doss’ research interest is in the theology of evangelism and discipleship. He hopes to address the gap with clear theologizing on what it means to be a Christian disciple. “It is sometimes said that evangelists don’t theologize and theologians don’t evangelize. The desire to bring evangelism and discipleship together has led me unavoidably to recognize the centrality of the intimate Christian community as the means of holding both concepts together,” explains Doss. “Hadassah and I love the model of house fellowship as a central evangelistic and discipling tool. For many people, discipleship best happens in intimate groups of disciples gathering to live out their faith together.” Doss’ publications cover such topics as eschatology and mission, the phenomenon of ancestor cults, and insider movements among Muslims.
Hadassah Doss’s father is Puerto Rican and her mother Cuban. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Florida. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a teaching credential from Pacific Union College, and earned her Master’s in Reading Instruction from Walden University. With 18 years of classroom teaching experience, Hadassah’s interest is in the science of classroom instruction. While in Kentucky, she taught 8th grade math at the Woodford County Middle School. She will teach 4th and 5th grade math at AIIAS Academy while she pursues her PhD in Education at the AIIAS Graduate School.
The Dosses have two daughters, Zivah (13) and Zahra (11).
— Sharnie Love Zamora, AIIAS Assistant for Institutional Writing
