Barely fifteen years after the Seventh-day Adventist movement was founded in the United States, Dr. H. P. Ribton, a recent convert, briefly opened an Adventist school in Egypt in 1879. The denomination’s first sustained and organised presence in Africa took root in South Africa in 1887.
Africa is now emerging as a major centre of global Adventism. That weight is both an opportunity and a responsibility. The continent must contribute membership and mission energy, and also ideas, scholarship, leadership, innovation and constructive influence to the worldwide church.
For that influence to mature, African Adventists need to take part more intentionally in the public spaces where the church reflects on its faith, mission, culture, governance and future.
What this forum is for
This forum exists to cultivate an Africa-centred Adventist intellectual and communal space. It develops thought leadership, amplifies African voices in the worldwide church, strengthens solidarity across the continent and with the diaspora, and enables Africans to tell their own stories with confidence, depth and integrity.
We look for an Adventism that is both faithfully biblical and authentically African in its theology, scholarship, worship, music, storytelling and leadership. We want to move beyond identifying problems to developing ideas, sharing solutions, preserving memory and shaping a hopeful vision.
What we hope for
Africa should not be known in global Adventism only for the size and growth of its membership. It should also be recognised for the depth of its faith, the quality of its ideas, the richness of its cultural expression, the strength of its community and the wisdom of its contribution.
Leave a Reply