Forward
Annabelle L. Lyne and Sydney Freeman, Jr. could not have found a better historical example than Owen Troy, Sr. in support of their case for a major investment in support of Black Adventists earning advanced degrees in theological studies. Troy’s career defied numerous stereotypes often associated with Seventh-day Adventism, including anti-intellectualism, cultural isolationism, and passivity about social injustice. Or, perhaps better, he demonstrated, that such patterns represent a distortion, even degradation, of an Adventism faithful to the Bible and the best in its own history.
As the following pages demonstrate, Troy was a path-breaker for the denomination as a whole in pursuing a doctorate in theology. Rather than fear or denounce critical scholarship from a distance, Troy engaged it—not to tear down his faith heritage but to understand it more deeply and make its distinctive contributions better known.
As a pastor, Troy did not keep aloof from “outsiders” in order to avoid contamination from “worldly” influences. Quite the opposite, he took the initiative in reaching across denominational and racial lines in order to find creative ways to bring the resources of Adventism into alliance with others to meet human need in the wider community. His evangelistic ministry with Shiloh Church in Chicago during the Great Depression—providing free health care to an underserved community in tandem with gospel proclamation—is an especially impressive example of drawing on the Adventist ideal of ministry to the whole person—spirit, mind, and body.
In recent decades it has become somewhat more common, even acceptable in some circles, to speak of social justice in conjunction with Adventist faith. But in Troy’s era (1920s-1950s), the pressures against associating the church with the Black freedom struggle in America were formidable. Yet Troy, in a circular letter to fellow pastors and church workers in 1948, emphatically and courageously rejected the notions that Adventist ministers must “refrain from entering programs for social and economic reforms” or speaking out “against racial segregation.”
Relentless in opposing racial injustice both in society and the church, Troy was likewise relentless in loyalty to his church and confident that it would eventually come around to the right position when conflicts arose. Rather than whither in cynicism and attrition, the church’s he pastored following his model of confidently engaging intellectual, cultural, and socio-economic concerns with a holistic gospel grew and thrived.
Here’s hoping that Adventist decision makers will see in Lyne and Freeman’s profile of Owen Troy, Sr., the value and urgency of supporting Black Adventists in attaining doctorates in theology and religion—not merely for prestige or respectability, but for the sake of a more faithful and effective witness to Christ’s present and coming Kingdom.
By Douglas Morgan, Ph.D.
Assistant Editor of the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists
