The W. R. and B. B. Beach Lectureship was initiated and endowed by Dr Bert and Mrs Eliane Beach to commemorate Bert’s father, Walter R. Beach (1902-93) and the work of both Walter R. and Bert B. Beach in education, church leadership and inter-church relations.

Walter R. Beach’s valued career in the Seventh-day Adventist Church included the leadership of the Belgian Conference, Franco-Belgian Union, and Southern European Division. For approximately twenty years he served first as Secretary and then as General Vice-President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Walter was also an inspiring preacher and author of several books in both French and English.

Both before and since his retirement, Bert Beach’s career has always been dedicated to education and public affairs, serving both the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Christian Church more generally. He served the church as a teacher and school principal; as Director of Education and Secretary of the Northern Europe-West Africa Division (today the Trans-European Division) of Seventh-day Adventists; and as Director of the General Conference’s Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty. In addition, he has had a distinguished career as an ecumenist and advocate for religious toleration, serving as President of the International Religious Liberty Association, and as Secretary of the Conference of Christian World Communions. Widely respected in international ecumenical circles, he has published many books and articles in several languages, including Ecumenism: Boon or Bane? (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing, 1974).