Exploring 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa & the Diaspora
Newbold College Celebrates African Christianity
Dr. Burton is author of The Blessing of Africa (InterVarsity Press, 2007) and a member of the Sabbath in Africa Study Group. In another presentation at Newbold, "Africa's Contribution to the Protestant Movement: Papal Hegemony and the Battle for the Sabbath in Ethiopia," Burton spoke on the history of Sabbath consciousness in Africa, especially in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the conflicts between African and European Christians between the fourth and nineteenth centuries.
An M.A. student from Ukraine commented that Dr. Burton's presentations "brought a new perception to my understanding of African history. I have been focused on European history and have heard very little about Christianity and Sabbath keeping on the African continent." Read more at the Newbold College web site.
"The Story Less Told" Broadcast Worldwide“The Story Less Told” – of the globalization of Adventism, the explosive growth of African Christianity, and how these intersect with Biblical prophecy – was broadcast live August 1 and 2 to the international potential audience of 500,000,000 reached by the signal of the Three Angels’ Broadcasting network (3ABN).
The broadcast of the Sabbath in Africa Study Group’s seminar, “Redrawing the Prophetic Map: The Global Footprint of Adventism and the Sabbath” originated from the splendid new sanctuary of the Mount Calvary Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tampa, Florida, pastored by Dr. Patrick Vincent.
Jim Gilley, president of 3ABN, and C.A. Murray, producer of 3ABN Today, welcomed and introduced Charles Bradford and the SIA team to the network’s worldwide viewing community at the opening of sessions on Friday evening, Sabbath morning and Sabbath afternoon.
The seminar was wonderfully enriched by music presented Christian artists from Tampa Bay and the surrounding vicinity and by recording artist Gale Jones Murphy, minister of music at Riverside Chapel in Nashville, TN.
Check the 3ABN program schedule for possible re-broadcasts.
Liberating Learning at Riverside Chapel in Nashville
“It was extremely liberating for an African-American congregation to learn that Christianity on the continent of Africa actually pre-dated the arrival of the European missionaries,” says Furman Fordham, pastor of the Riverside Chapel church in Nashville, Tennessee. The learning resulted from presentations by Dr. Charles Bradford and the Sabbath in Africa Study (SIA) Group on Sabbath, February 23. More in the March 2008 newsletter.
“It was extremely liberating for an African-American congregation to learn that Christianity on the continent of Africa actually pre-dated the arrival of the European missionaries,” says Furman Fordham, pastor of the Riverside Chapel church in Nashville, Tennessee. The learning resulted from presentations by Dr. Charles Bradford and the Sabbath in Africa Study (SIA) Group on Sabbath, February 23. More in the March 2008 newsletter.Above: Kofi Owusu-Mensa, Bertram Melbourne, and Charles Bradford (l to r) sign books in Nashville. Photo: Stephen Richardson
“Conversations” at Andrews
“We have been informed and inspired, enlightened and edified,” said Dr. R. Clifford Jones, associate dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at the conclusion of the “Conversations on 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora” at Andrews University, February 7-9. The Sabbath in Africa Study Group (SIA), Andrews’ faculty and students, and guest speaker Craig Keener, prolific biblical scholar and professor at Palmer Theological Seminary, joined for three days of presentations and discussions on the significance of African Christianity in history and for the future direction of the church. More in the February 2008 newsletter.
“We have been informed and inspired, enlightened and edified,” said Dr. R. Clifford Jones, associate dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at the conclusion of the “Conversations on 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora” at Andrews University, February 7-9. The Sabbath in Africa Study Group (SIA), Andrews’ faculty and students, and guest speaker Craig Keener, prolific biblical scholar and professor at Palmer Theological Seminary, joined for three days of presentations and discussions on the significance of African Christianity in history and for the future direction of the church. More in the February 2008 newsletter.
Diamouwah (above), comprised of African students at Andrews, rendered several soul-stirring numbers
The Atlanta Seminar
The latest “2000 Years of Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora” seminar took place in a setting where the spiritual vitality of that deeply-rooted heritage was very much in evidence as a living reality. Atlanta’s Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, into which 450 new members have been baptized in the past thirteen months, made the seminar part of its multi-faceted program on September 21-22, 2007. Tributes to an outstanding African American Christian leader, a new issue of Ministry magazine on Africa delivered in person by the editors, and the supporting presence of Oakwood College faculty and administrators were among the other distinctive highlights of this seminar.
The latest “2000 Years of Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora” seminar took place in a setting where the spiritual vitality of that deeply-rooted heritage was very much in evidence as a living reality. Atlanta’s Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, into which 450 new members have been baptized in the past thirteen months, made the seminar part of its multi-faceted program on September 21-22, 2007. Tributes to an outstanding African American Christian leader, a new issue of Ministry magazine on Africa delivered in person by the editors, and the supporting presence of Oakwood College faculty and administrators were among the other distinctive highlights of this seminar.
Above: On behalf of the 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa and the Diaspora Study Group, Dr. Harold Lee, Chair, presents a tribute to Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr., Dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr Chapel at Morehouse College, in recognition of his “untiring service to people of all faiths and unrelenting endeavors to bring peace to a troubled world.”
