APF Statement on Freddie Gray and Baltimore

The APF Board has released the following statement on Freddie Gray and the subsequent events in Baltimore:

The Adventist Peace Fellowship is deeply troubled by recent events in the city of Baltimore. While all the facts are not yet known, it is beyond dispute that a young man's life was violently taken from him while in the custody of police officers—an event that falls within larger patterns of systemic racism, structural injustice, historical inequalities, and brutality targeting young Black men. It is also clear that many citizens—including the elderly poor—are now suffering severe hardships from the destruction of several days of violent riots.

It is our hope and prayer that Baltimore now experience not merely a return to the “peace” of the status quo but rather a true transformation of values and policy priorities that promote justice and equality for residents of the city’s neglected neighborhoods. We call on Seventh-day Adventists in Baltimore and throughout the country to follow the examples of the Hebrew prophets and to actively resist injustice and oppression wherever they encounter it, whether on their streets or in City Hall. We herald Adventist pastors Reginald Exum, David Franklin, and DuWayne Privette who have embodied these ideals on the streets of Baltimore. We continue to urge peacemakers to follow the principles and tactics of nonviolent resistance to oppression powerfully demonstrated by individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We also encourage pastors to promote a culture of nonviolence and a vision for peacemaking within their churches. History has taught us that violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred. As Christians we are called to seek justice precisely through tireless and active peacemaking.

Andrews University Holds Forum On Racially Divided Conferences

On March 7, 2015, the Andrews University APF Chapter, along with a number of other student organizations, sponsored an event which looked at the state and regional conference structure within the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. After a review of the NAD's organizational structure, panelists with ties to Andrews University answered a number of relevant questions. A video of the event can be viewed on YouTube--A Forum On State and Regional Conferences.

After the panel was completed, the student organizers read a statement that they are sending to NAD leaders. It reads:

A request from the Andrews University Adventist Peace Fellowship Chapter (AUAPF), in collaboration with the officers of the Andrews University Student Association (AUSA) and Black Student Christian Forum (BSCF);

To the Executive Committee of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists:

In light of the national conversations surrounding race and race relations over the past year, we have become increasingly concerned about the lack of clarity regarding the administrative separation of our church conferences along racial lines in the North American Division.

We understand that there are many strong and diverse opinions on this issue. Even within our own group, there are opinions as to whether restructuring should even be sought; and opinions regarding how restructuring could be appropriately accomplished.

However, one thing on which we all agree is that the present structure seems peculiar. Without explanation, we worry about how it looks to the outside world. We worry about how it looks to us.

Therefore, we request that the North American Division do one or both of the following:

1. Form a Commission tasked with developing a strategy that culminates in the restructuring of our conferences by the year 2020;

2. Release an official public statement, to be passed at the North American Division Year-end Meeting in the fall of 2015, clearly explaining why we maintain the current organizational structure.

This request is presented with the hope of reconciliation, in a spirit of deep regard for the sensitivity of this subject, profound respect for church order, and earnest desire for the advancement of God’s Kingdom through this unique Adventist movement.

The statement is also available online here.

Andrews University holds panel on social justice with Mark Finley

On Thursday, January 29, a panel discussion including Mark Finley, Nicholas Miller, and Sherine Brown-Fraser, was held in the lobby of the Howard Performing Arts Center at Andrews University. The panel answered questions centered on the topic: “The Role of Seventh-day Adventists in Social Justice.” Questions included: What social justice issues should the SDA church be or not be involved in? Are ethnically separate conferences a social justice issue? What social justice issues do you (directed at the panel) find pressing? Brown-Fraser, being the Chair of the Department of Public Health, Nutrition and Wellness, stressed food disparity. Miller, a professor of church history, noted that Adventists were once vocal on topics such as abolition and temperance, but lost their social gospel message and became silent on issues such as Civil Rights. Now, Miller mentioned, Adventists say little on race, torture, immigration, and sex trafficking. Finley, Assistant to the General Conference President with regard to global evangelism, pointed to creation as the basis for social justice. Finley pointed out organizations such as ADRA that do such works as digging wells. When a woman who walks three miles a day to get water sees a well gushing in her own village, “that’s social justice,” Finley said. Education seemed to be the preferred method of fixing social injustice, but the overall appeal of the panel to the Andrews University campus was that each person would find the issue that “gets their heart beating” and work towards justice.

By Łukasz Krzywon, AU APF student leader

Adventist Peace Church in Chattanooga works for racial and economic justice (by Lisa Diller)

(The Well in Chattanooga is one of five Adventist congregations currently working toward certification as an "Adventist Peace Church".  Lisa Clark Diller, a professor of history at Southern Adventist University and the APF coordinator for the The Well, shares this update of recent Well activities focused on racial and economic justice as well care for creation.) One of the Well’s (wellonthesouthside.org) core values is that it must strive to be an incarnational community. This means the Well is very intentional about being present in the physical space of our immediate neighborhood.

When the community is celebrating, mourning, building, or dialoging, we at the Well want to be there alongside our neighbors. We host the local Jefferson Heights Neighborhood Association meetings at our facility. Our once-a-month Deep Well Sabbaths take our worship into the neighborhood through fellowship, education, service, or small group worship.

It is this commitment to being part of the Kingdom of God in the Southside of Chattanooga that leads us to connect with the mission of the Adventist Peace Fellowship. Becoming an Adventist Peace Church, when we discovered this network, was a very obvious move for us to make. The APF campaigns that we are most deeply involved with as a natural part of our life and ministry on the Southside are racial reconciliation, care for creation and economic justice.

We appreciate the vocabulary and the language of APF in helping us root our peacemaking activities in the theology and history of the Adventist Church and its local congregations around the world. Thinking intentionally about what we are doing helps give greater meaning to it. It is also true that being part of the network of Peace Churches helps us stay accountable to what we are doing.

For instance, in the months of November and December we helped the Cowart Place Neighborhood Association plant dozens of trees in the industrial landscape of the Southside as they turned an empty lot into a park. Our children/family group collected quarters and handed out Christmas greetings with rolls of quarters and small quantities of laundry detergent at local laundromats on the Southside. While this small activity does not go far towards achieving lasting economic justice, it does educate our children and families about the realities of many people in the urban core and the challenges they face in going about the most mundane elements of everyday life, such as doing laundry.

Finally, members from the Well joined several urban peace workers and the Chattanooga Police Department on a march for peace and reconciliation in one of the most challenged of our Southside Communities, Alton Park. This was a way of recognizing, in a peaceful way, the national conversation we are having in the U.S. about the police violence and racial reconciliation. The march consisted of a very diverse group of people, and it was an educational experience for the Well members who participated.

We look forward to more inspiration from our sister churches and for more ways to be part of the Kingdom of God and as we grow the followers of Jesus in Chattanooga.

Oakwood University Students and Adventists in Ohio Participate in Protests

We reported earlier that Andrews University students were active in demonstrations calling for racial justice. Also, the president of the Northeastern Conference made a public statement. These were not the only Adventists who joined the national conversation. Students at Oakwood University and Adventists in Ohio also participated, reports Spectrum. Here are a number of articles that reported on their involvement. Excerpts below:

Pastors: Prayer trumps protest (Lori Kurtzman, Columbus Dispatch, 7 Dec 2014)

Church leaders and members gathered outside the Statehouse yesterday to call for prayer in a time of social unrest. “You can’t meet anger with anger,” said John Boston, pastor at Central Seventh-day Adventist Church on the Near East Side. “We want to meet anger with calm, protest with prayer.”

March on Wynn Drive to University Blvd. (Oakwood University, 5 Dec 2014)

We understand that some of our Oakwood students along with other students have been involved in the organizing of a demonstration (#ShutItDownHSV) for December 5, at 4:30 p.m. We support the rights of our students to peacefully protest. However, we are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of our students and anyone else who has planned to participate.  We do not support the breaking of traffic laws and ask every Oakwood student, “If you choose to participate, to do so peacefully and lawfully, in accordance with the laws of the city of Huntsville.”

We also invite students who wish to express themselves, but do not wish to march to join us on Sunday, December 7, at 5:00 p.m. in Moran Hall to help assemble an action plan for how Oakwood students can support the mission of creating “One Huntsville.”

March on Wynn Drive to University Blvd: A message from Oakwood University president (Oakwood University, 5 Dec 2014)

Tonight I stood among our students as they made their voices heard. I marched with them. I felt their unrest. I could sense that they wanted change and equality. As I looked at their faces, I couldn't help but think how this experience would change them forever. Being able to protest for change is a beautiful thing. And we are proud of how they conducted themselves in the midst of their pain and anger.

Students from Oakwood University fill streets with peaceful protest (WAFF 48, 5 Dec 2014)

The protest started to block off Wynn Drive from Oakwood University all the way to University Drive Friday evening.

UPDATE: #ShutItDownHSV protest march remains peaceful along University Drive (Matt Kroschel, WHNT 19, 5 Dec 2014)

Oakwood University students and other local college students angered by high-profile cases in Missouri and New York gathered for a protest march Friday evening. Students used social media and the Twitter hashtag #ShutItDownHSV to get out the word.

Oakwood University Students are Joined in Protest by the Huntsville Community on a March to Shut Down University Drive (Jonathan Bratton, Vimeo, Dec 2014)

Oakwood University Students are Joined in Protest by the Huntsville Community on a March to Shut Down University Drive

Following Ferguson protests, Oakwood University students start seeking solutions; want police body cameras ( Paul Huggins, AL.com, 7 Dec 2014)

Two days after 300 Oakwood University students marched in protest against African American deaths by police, they began working on "tangible solutions," such as requiring police body cameras, that they intend to deliver to city officials.

Oakwood students have ‘What’s next’ meeting after protests (Shevaun Bryan, WHNT 19, 7 Dec 2014)

A quiet Sunday meeting was filled with ideas from the same minds that brought a massive demonstration to the Rocket City.

FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Leslie Pollard, @LesPollard. "Black Lives Matter--at the Oakwood demonstration for justice in Huntsville!" (6:14 PM - 5 Dec 2014)

Northeastern Conference President Calls for Racial Justice

Dr. Daniel Honoré, president of the Northeastern Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, read the following statement at the worship service this past Sabbath (Dec. 6, 2014) at the Ephesus SDA Church in Harlem, NY: The original document can be accessed online here.

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Hundreds of Students at Andrews University March for Racial Justice (by Shenika McDonald)

An original report by Shenika McDonald On Saturday, December 6, approximately 250 Andrews University students, faculty, staff, and Berrien Springs community members participated in a justice march to the Berrien Springs Police Department.  It was the first public protest in the school’s history. For many students this was a chance to lend their voice to a worthy cause. The march was held in memory of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, Jr. – two Black, unarmed men killed by the police. Shastri Lloyd, a senior theology major and coordinator of the posters used in the event, said that “the march helped to engage Oronoko County Police in real conversation about them being proactive about race issues, and how they affect their approach to law enforcement.”

Aside from starting a conversation, the protesters chanted several phrases such as “black lives matters,” “hands up, don’t shoot,” “I can’t breathe,” and “no justice, no peace.” Once at the police department the protesters walked around the building following the model of Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho.  They prayed for both the protection of officers who put their lives on the line for the safety of Oronok County, and for individuals in the future to never feel oppressed by the officers’ power. There was a moment of silence that lasted 4.5 minutes to represent the 4.5 hours Michael Brown Jr.’s dead body was left in the street before he was finally attended to.

The protest was led by Andrews students, including, Tanya Loveday, Ndubuisi Nwade, Jameel Daniels, Karyle Barnes, Dwayne Wescom, Nephtali Eugene, Shastri Lloyd, and Persephanie Chiddick, as well as Chaplain Michael Polite. The event was covered by South Bend news station WSBT22 and made their website’s top news for the day. (WSBT’s coverage can be found at: http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/hundreds-rally-for-justice-inberrien-springs/30100712)

The movement does not end here. Students have many plans for the future, including projects in Benton Harbor and boycotts. This peaceful protest in the small town of Berrien Springs is part of a massive national movement, and the students of Andrews University are doing their part help the oppressed and share justice as is commanded by God.  More information, photos, and videos of the march can be found on Facebook using the hashtag: #breakthewalls

The Story of Lucille Lewis Byard

I failed to post the following story on September 22, when Benjamin Baker of the Ellen White Estate shared it with me. I included a minimalist telling of this story in a writing project earlier this year. Adventist Archives - - -

On this day (September 22) in 1877, Lucille Lewis Byard was born in Petersburg, Virginia. She accepted the Adventist message in 1902 in New York City, and was an active member in the Jamaica Long Island Church for the rest of her life, serving as a Bible worker and church musician, renowned for her gracious hospitality and vegetarian cooking.

In October 1943 while visiting the Washington, D.C., area, Byard contracted a severe case of pneumonia. She checked into the Washington Sanitarium and Hospital, and since she had a very light complexion, it was assumed she was Caucasian. However, after she was admitted, hospital staff discovered from a patient form Byard had filled out that she was African American. Despite her pleading, Byard was discharged from the hospital. Her family took her to the Freedman’s Hospital (now Howard University Hospital) across town, but she died shortly after on October 20, 1943.

“The Byard Incident,” as it became known, sparked a grassroots protest among black Adventists, who saw the event as a reflection of the unfortunate state of race relations in the church. Several groups were formed, demanding church leaders to act to redress the situation. It was pointed out that African Americans robustly supported the Adventist church with tithes and offerings, yet were unable to be treated in church hospitals, attend certain churches and church schools, and were regularly and systematically discriminated against. Through a series of events, regional (black) conferences were organized in 1945-1946. Byard’s death was a key catalyst of their establishment.