For over sixty-four years, Rev. Poppen has been living a legacy through his model of service. Al served the RCA significantly as a missionary, in parish ministry, and as a denominational administrator. He encouraged and mentored many people in various forms and fields of ministry along the way.

Al loved to study and learn.  He graduated from NBTS with a Bachelor in Divinity degree in 1957.  He served in many roles within the RCA including associate pastor at the Community Church of Glen Rock, NJ, a missionary to Hong Kong, a teacher at Tainan Theological College in Taiwan, pastor of Clover Hill Reformed Church, then coordinator for Human Resources and later director of Ministry and Personnel Services for the Reformed Church in America from 1969-93 and 1993 to 1999 respectively. During that time, he was responsible for the placement of almost every minister in the denomination. Additionally, he and the late John R. Young share a scholarship and lecture, aimed at supporting research in Reformed worship.  A faculty office, room 220, is dedicated in Al Poppen’s honor at NBTS.

Rev. Poppen earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Union Seminary in NYC, before studying at Hong Kong University, Princeton Seminary, and Columbia University.  He and his wife have two children and three grandchildren.

Rev. Kanard-Dwyer fell in love with chaplaincy at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, N J, while completing the seminary field education requirement. Before completing 4 CPE units under ACPE, she created and was hired as the RWJUH Trauma Community Chaplain. In this position, she provided continuity of care from the Emergency Room to community support resources. Under the direction of Dr. John de Velder (NBTS graduate of 1965), Clinical Pastoral Educator and Director of the Pastoral Care, at the hospital, Martisha supervised and engaged in educating new chaplain interns.

In this supervisory role, Martisha expanded the number of African- American, Hispanic, and global student participants in the CPE program.  She encouraged hospital staff members and leaders from local congregations to take a CPE unit. She developed a community extension of chaplaincy, which placed CPE students in local community-based programs to support the spiritual needs of those with mental illness. She connected community leadership and hospital staff to improve patient and family care during a crisis.

Martisha has been active impacting the life of others.   She has worked with NBTS faculty in developing the DMin program in Pastoral Care and Counseling. For two years, she served as the Eastern Region Representative for REM (Racial Ethnic Multicultural Network) of ACPE again seeking to increase the diversity within chaplaincy and the organization. She worked as a chaplain for Matheny Medical and Educational Center with individuals with complex physical and neurological disabilities. And, as a member of a working group of New Brunswick leaders and houses of worship, with various agencies to mitigate homelessness in Middlesex County.

Rev. Kanard- Dwyer continues to help communities by serving on several board. She proudly undergirds the ministry of HOPE Church in Bound Brook, NJ. As a licensed MSW, she works with vulnerable individuals integrating spirituality into treatment models. She and her husband have three adult children and one teenager.

Dr. Hubers served the Arabian mission of the RCA prior to attending NBTS, then again after graduation for many years.  For forty-five years, he has been working to shine the light of Christ both home and abroad.

John is presently the RCA Global Mission partner with the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to that role, he was a religion professor at Northwestern College for nine years, focusing on intercultural studies and Christian mission.

From 2001 – 2006 he was the Supervisor of Reformed Church in America’s Mission Programs in the Middle East and South Asia as well as the Stewardship Coordinator for the Synod of the Heartland. From 1996 to 2001 he served as the New Start mission pastor with the University Reformed Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From 1991 to 1996 served as Missionary Pastor of the National Evangelical Church in Manama, Bahrain. From 1989 to 1991 he was the Missionary Pastor and Co-chaplain of the Protestant Church in Oman in Muscat, Oman. Between 1986 and 1989 he was the Missionary Pastor of the English Language Congregation of the Salalah Christian Center in Salalah, Oman. Between 1982 and 1986 he was Pastor of the Hawthorne Reformed Church in Hawthorne, New York. And between 1976 and 1978 he was the English Language tutor at the American Mission School in Manama, Bahrain.

Dr. Hubers is the author of several articles and essays on missions. He is also the author of, I Am a Pilgrim, a Traveler, a Stranger: Exploring the Life and Mind of the First American Missionary to the Middle East, the Rev. Pliny Fisk (1792-1825), published in 2016.

After graduating from Northwestern College, with a degree in history, he earned an MDiv from NBTS. Dr. Hubers received his Master of Theology and Ph.D. in World Christianity and Global Mission from Lutheran School of Theology. He and his wife have two children and two grandchildren.