Melashenko to Leave Voice of Prophecy

Will become vice president at Ohio-based Kettering Health Network

Lonnie Melashenko, a veteran Seventh-day Adventist pastor and broadcaster, announced June 16 that he will leave the Voice of Prophecy as speaker/director on July 31, officials of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists said. Melashenko will become vice president of Spiritual Services and Missions for the Kettering Health Network in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. No replacement has been named.

“I am truly grateful for the 17 years of service that Pastor Melashenko provided and pray that the Lord will continue to use him in his new role,” said Don Schneider, North American Division president, in a statement.

MOVES TO KETTERING: Lonnie Melashenko, VOP speaker/director for the past 17 years, will become a vice president of Kettering Health Network. [Photo: M. Kellner/Adventist Review]

Schneider added, “many people are aware of the dynamic ways the Holy Spirit has used Lonnie to ‘lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring.’ … Pastor Melashenko will continue to be heard by thousands of people on the broadcasts; He has offered to represent the Voice of Prophecy at various speaking appointments already scheduled and for the evangelistic outreach in Hong Kong this fall.”

Looking ahead, Schneider, who also chairs the VOP Board of Trustees, said, “I believe this is a time to consider how to make the ‘voice’ of prophecy an even more vibrant call to follow the Word of God. In the last few years more has changed in the arena of electronic and broadcast media than we have seen for decades.”

The son of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and evangelist, Lonnie Melashenko began working with the radio ministry in January 1989, serving as announcer while continuing as senior pastor of the 1,400-member Paradise, California, Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was associate director-speaker from May 1991 through December 1992, and upon the retirement of H. M. S. Richards Jr. became director-speaker on January 1, 1993.

Melashenko was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and was only a year old when he first came to the VOP. His father, Joe, was bass in the King's Heralds quartet and an instructor in the Bible School from 1948 to 1950. Lonnie graduated from Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in theology from La Sierra University, subsequently earning a master of divinity degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University.

He has spoken at churches, schools, and camp meetings across the United States and Canada. His appointments have also taken him to Mexico, Bermuda, Brazil, Cuba, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Italy, England, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.

The Kettering Health Network covers the Dayton, Ohio, area and features 50 state-of-the-art facilities and services, including two major medical center hospitals, three other hospitals, and a college of medical arts. It has almost 7,000 employees, 1200 physicians, and 900 volunteers. Kettering Memorial Hospital opened in 1964 as a tribute to Charles F. Kettering, the world - renowned American inventor, scientist, and humanitarian.

AR Staff with material from the Voice of Prophecy