Albert Nejib Handal was formally installed as Walla Walla University Church lead pastor on March 14, 2026 during a service that included David Jamieson, Upper Columbia Conference president; Eric Brown, UCC vice president for administration; and Alex Bryan, Walla Walla University president.
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 Handal accepted the invitation to become our senior pastor,” said Stephanie Mays, search committee chair. “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 in 2004, followed by a Master of Divinity from Andrews University 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 in Georgia at Calhoun Adventist Church and Texas at Stonehill Adventist Church and Keene University Church. In 2017, he joined WWU as lead chaplain, where he mentored associate chaplains and student leaders, oversaw spiritual programming and provided grief and emergency support to students, faculty and staff. In August 2025, he was appointed WWU Church pastor for administration, 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, 2026 by Darold Bigger, WWU Church interim pastor, who said the selection followed a months-long process that considered nearly 50 candidates.
“Working with Handal 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 Handal’s leadership.”
For Handal, accepting the role felt both new and deeply personal. “Taking the role as senior pastor at WWU Church is a thrilling 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 WWU runs deeper than his own tenure. His grandfather, Bert Elkins, met his grandmother, Louise Anderson, on campus. Elkins served as ASWWU 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 WWU 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 is 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 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 WWU Church.
“With his academic qualifications and significant pastoral and campus chaplaincy experience, Handal is well qualified and has the 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 Handal and his team, WWU Church can continue to reach out to the Walla Walla community and Serve One More.”
Established in 1891, WWU Church is a congregation of more than 2,500 college students, faculty, staff and community members who worship together on the campus of WWU in College Place, Washington. The church is one of more than 130 Adventist churches in UCC, which is part of the worldwide Adventist Church based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
