The Board of the International Council for Evangelical Theological education or ICETE has unanimously elected Dr. Michael A. Ortiz to serve as ICETE International Director, succeeding Dr. Riad Kassis, who resigned at the close of ICETE C-18 in Panama last November after six years of highly effective and transformational leadership. Dr. Ortiz will assume the immediate designation of Director Designate and will gradually transition toward full assumption of his office in Fall 2019.

The Board’s election of Dr. Ortiz affirmed the recommendation of a special board-appointed Search/Transition Task Force (Drs. Ralph Enlow, Riad Kassis, Theresa Lua, Paul Sanders) that has been prayerfully engaged since last November in seeking ICETE’s new leader. Specifically, the Task Force mandate was to identify, assess, inquire of, review, and interview prospects and ultimately to recommend a candidate for Board ratification.

A lawyer by profession, Dr. Ortiz came to saving faith as a married adult and during the early years of his practice. His hunger for biblical and theological studies grew and that led him to pursue a ThM (New Testament) from Dallas Theological Seminary and further pursue a PhD (Theological Education) from Seminario Teologico Centroamericano (SETECA). Dr. Ortiz is of Cuban- American descent and has been married to Kathy for 33 years now. They have two adult children, Michael (29) and Alyssa (28) and serve actively at the Church of Incarnation in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Ortiz will be giving a devotional in ATA’s forthcoming General Assembly