Distinguished Service Award

BERRIEN SPRINGS, MICH. – On July 20, 2019, Claudio and Pamela Consuegra (pictured right), the directors for family ministries of the North American Division (NAD), presented the 2019 North American Division Family Ministries Distinguished Service Award to Buford and Carmen Griffith (pictured left). The award was presented on the campus of Andrews University at the annual conference on Family Research and Practice.

The Griffiths have been actively involved in family ministries for over 30 years. Their passion and primary focus have been on marriage and parenting, the foundational areas of Family Ministries.

Buford Griffith is a graduate of Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala., with an undergraduate degree in natural sciences. He is a board-certified medical technologist. His graduate work in marriage and family counseling was completed at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and the Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Ind., where he earned a master’s degree in biblical counseling. Currently, he serves as executive secretary and family ministries director of the Southwestern Union in Burleson, Tex.

Carmen Griffith is also a graduate of Oakwood University with an undergraduate degree in elementary education. She has earned two masters’ degrees, one in counseling from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a second in reading from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She was inducted into the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society while completing her graduate studies at Ohio State. Currently, she serves the Southwestern Union as director of women’s ministries and ministerial spouses.

The award that was presented contains figures known as “Inukshuk.” The Inukshuk figures hold great symbolism in our NAD territory of Canada.

They were stone man-like figures, traditionally used by the Inuits and constructed along the Canadian shores with the purpose of pointing the wayward traveler back home. If lost, one would only need to look along the shoreline for this familiar figure and follow it in the way it was pointing. The path always led back home.

Buford and Carmen Griffith have dedicated their life’s ministry to strengthening families. Just as the Inukshuk point wayward travelers back home, the ministry provided by them as a husband and wife team have consistently pointed countless families towards their heavenly home.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we honor and congratulate them for being the recipients of the 2019 North American Division Family Ministries Distinguished Service Award.

By Pamela Consuegra, North American Division Family Ministries Associate Director