Lena Toews teaches New Testament and Greek at Union Adventist University and currently serves as the president of the Adventist Society for Religious Studies (ASRS). The Adventist Society for Religious Studies fosters intellectual and social fellowship among its members while promoting scholarly pursuits across all religious disciplines.
Lena holds a master's degree in Education and Linguistics, as well as a PhD in New Testament interpretation, which allow her to bring a broad range of expertise to her work, passionately equipping young people for service in God?s kingdom. She is the senior editor of the forthcoming book Cosmic Conflict: Up-to-Date or Out-of-Date? and is currently authoring a textbook that teaches Biblical Greek through the gospel of John, using a second language acquisition approach. In addition, she is writing a Women?s Bible Study designed to guide readers deeper into the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts and highlighting the role of women in these scriptures. Lena also serves as an elder and Youth Sabbath School teacher at her local church.
A frequent speaker at various venues, including local churches, Lena has been married to her husband, Tom, for twenty-seven years. Together, they have embraced pastoral ministry and taught religion classes at several Seventh-day Adventist colleges. They reside in Lincoln, Nebraska, with their two teenage sons. In her free time, Lena enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, and spending time with her family.

EDUCATION/ACADEMIC DEGREES

Ph.D. Andrews University 2019 Religion: New Testament and Dead Sea Scrolls

MA Andrews University 2000 Religion: New Testament

BA Zaokski Theological Seminary 1995 Theology/Biblical Languages

MAED Pedagogical University 1993 Linguistics/Eduction/Foreign Languages



PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2014 - Present Adjunct Professor of New Testament Interpretations and Biblical Languages
Union College

2023 - Present President, Adventist Society for Religious Studies

2023 ? Present Senior Editor, ?Cosmic Conflict: Out-of-Date or Up-to-Date?

2022 Lecturer ? Summer MA Intensive
Avondale University, Australia

2022-2023 President-Elect, Adventist Society for Religious Studies

2021-2022 Vice President of the Adventist Society for Religious Studies

2008-2011 Women?s and children?s ministries leader/pastor (locally supported), Adventure and pathfinder leader, VBS leader, prayer meeting leader, children?s Sabbath school teacher, outreach coordinator ---Cheyenne SDA Church

2003 ? 2008 Adjunct Professor
Andrews University Theological Seminary

1993 ? 1998 Associate Professor
Zaokski Theological Seminary



VOLUNTEER AND CHURCH MINISTRIES

2011 ? Present Guest speaker in most of the Lincoln area churches

2022-- Present Church Elder at Piedmont Park SDA church

2022 -- Present Adult Sabbath School teacher at College View Church

2017 -- Present Pathfinder Bible Experience Leader for College View Trailblazers Club

2011-- Present Early Teens and Youth Sabbath school teacher

2011-- Present Outreach and Literature Evangelism organizer and supporter

May 2023 KS/NE conference Camporee speaker



PRESENTATIONS, PAPERS, ARTICLES, BOOKS

ASRS paper presentation ?Cosmic Eschatology in Acts 2 and its Implications on the Community of Believers,? ? Annual Meetings, San Antonio, TX, November 2024

NAD Women in History Conference paper ?Women in SDA history: Beatrice Neall? ? Washington DC, October 2024

?Learning Biblical Greek through Scripture? ? A textbook for Theology students, Glossa House Publishing House, Forthcoming (2024/2025)

?God is Power? podcast presentation in ?Life with God,? season 3, March 2023

?Errors in the Bible? podcast presentation, Union College, 2023

?Easter Story? presentation, Northside SDA church, April 2023

?Spirit and Power? presentation/sermon, Piedmont Park SDA church, 2023

Sermons in different churches in Lincoln -ongoing

Morning Devotional Speaker at Texaco Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Meetings, Angel Fire, New Mexico, July 29?August 1, 2019

Women?s Ministries Retreat presentations, ?Cultural Backgrounds and Women in the New Testament.? Rocky Mountain Conference, Colorado Springs, CO. 2011.

Wyoming Elders? Training, ?The skill of preaching from the original texts?- Rocky Mountain Conference, Casper, WY. 2010.

Bible Studies on the Gospels -Forthcoming (2025)