Albert Nejib Handal was formally installed as lead pastor of the Walla Walla University Church on March 14 during a service that included David Jamieson, president of Upper Columbia Conference; Eric Brown, vice president for administration of the Upper Columbia Conference; and Alex Bryan, president of Walla Walla University.
Handal brings more than two decades of pastoral and chaplaincy experience to the role, along with deep personal roots at the university.
“We are so pleased that Pastor Handal accepted the invitation to become our senior pastor,” said Stephanie Mays, chair of the search committee that recommended him. “He is engaging, compelling, deeply spiritual and committed to our congregation. His relevant and powerful sermons invite each of us to step more deeply into what it means to be a child of God. We also appreciate his validation of student-led worship, and his vision of being a pastor, preacher, teacher, and shepherd for our entire congregation.”
Handal earned a bachelor of arts in ministerial theology from Southern Adventist University (Collegedale, Tenn.) in 2004, followed by a master of divinity from Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.) in 2009. In 2023, he completed a doctor of ministry in practical theology from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, with a dissertation titled, “Preaching as Conversation: The Development of a Dialogical Homiletic in a University Setting.”
His pastoral career has included serving congregations at Calhoun Adventist Church (Calhoun, Ga.), Stonehill Seventh-day Adventist Church (Austin, Texas), and Keene University Church (Keene, Texas). In 2017, he joined Walla Walla University as lead chaplain, where he oversaw spiritual programming, mentored associate chaplains and student leaders; and provided grief and emergency support to students, faculty, and staff. In August 2025, he was appointed pastor for administration at Walla Walla University Church, where he managed financial, facility, and operational logistics while deepening the church’s unique focus on Adventist education at the university, secondary, and primary levels.
His appointment as lead pastor was announced March 3 by Interim Pastor Darold Bigger, who said the selection followed a monthslong process that considered nearly 50 candidates.
“Working with Albert for the past seven months has been my personal pleasure,” Bigger said. “I have found him to be creative, considerate, transparent, discreet, honest, gentle, and very other-centered. I anticipate a very good future for us all under Pastor Albert’s leadership.”
For Handal, accepting the role felt both new and deeply personal.
“Taking the role as senior pastor at the University Church is a thrilling, and yet familiar, experience,” he said. “This place has befriended, supported, and welcomed my family with so much love. It’s a privilege to build on the warmth we’ve already experienced for years while serving in other roles."
Handal’s connection to Walla Walla runs deeper than his own tenure. His grandfather, Bert Elkins, met his grandmother, Louise Anderson, on campus. Elkins served as ASWWC president, the couple married in Village Hall, and both graduated 80 years ago this spring. They went on to serve as full-time missionaries in South America.
“I feel a sense of God’s leading that is incredibly urgent on my heart when I walk through our campus,” Handal said. “Lives formed here impact the world. I’m excited to find my place in a sacred Walla Walla tradition of world changers and gospel proclaimers that is much bigger, and much older, than me.”
Born in Louisiana, Handal describes himself as a “third-culture kid” — his father is from Honduras, his mother from Argentina, and he grew up in a small Tennessee town near the Kentucky border with Spanish as his first language. During high school, he worked as a colporteur and Bible worker, an experience he credits with shaping his approach to building trust and rapport with others. He was ordained by the Georgia-Cumberland Conference in May 2011.
Handal and his wife, Allison, a trained hospital chaplain and pastor, have three children: Edward, Rosa, and Dalia.
Conference leaders say Handal’s background makes him ideally suited for the mix of university students and community members who make up the Walla Walla University Church.
“With his academic qualifications and significant pastoral and campus chaplaincy experience, Pastor Albert is well qualified and has ability to connect with both groups in a personable way that we believe will engage members of all ages,” Jamieson said. "It is our prayer that through Pastor Albert and his team, Walla Walla University Church can continue to reach out to the Walla Walla community and Serve One More.”
Established in 1891, Walla Walla University Church is a congregation of more than 2,500 college students, faculty, staff, and community members who worship together on the campus of Walla Walla University in College Place, Wash. The church is one of more than 130 Adventist churches in the Upper Columbia Conference, which is part of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Posted March 16, 2026
