Preface

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is in a state of emergency – and the time to act is now!

Today, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a flourishing community with worldwide influence, boasting over 23 million members and considered the United States’ most racially diverse religious body.[1] The church prides itself on its inclusivity towards all peoples, especially African Americans. Having been one of the earliest advocates for emancipation in the United States, the church has a historically close relationship to the Black community since the efforts of key leaders in the White family in the South during Reconstruction. In response, a sophisticated and vibrant Black Adventist community has developed within the twentieth century, contributing a number of important figures, including William Foy, Charles M. Kinney, Lewis C. Sheafe, and Anna Knight, and impacting the church’s direction particularly in areas of health and urban community programs.

One might think, observing that since 1918 African Americans have led the church’s Colored Department, that congregations desegregated nationwide from the 1960s, and given the abundance of Black ministers, that as Seventh-day Adventists we can feel satisfied in having fulfilled Ellen G. White’s calling for the greatest backing for the Black community.[2] Yet, there exists an underlying current of racial inequality within the church that has echoed throughout the ages. Granted, the issues today are not as open or severe as, for example, in 1943 when fifteen Black Adventists in Washington D.C. formed the church’s own “NAACP-like” committee to fight discrimination and demand racial justice, but today’s situation is no less significant.[3] In fact, many of the same concerns expressed by Black Adventists fifty years ago have yet to be solved today. The time to act is now.

We currently have 300,000 African American Adventist members, yet how many African American theologians can you name? There are currently less than ten African American (American Descendants of Enslaved Africans) Adventist theologians who are professionally trained, and none are under the age of fifty.[4] Next, look to the past: with over half the current 23 million members residing in African states, or descendants of those from there, how many key Black figures in the Church’s history are you familiar with? Surely, as a member of the “most racially diverse religious body” in the United States your choices should be abundant.

These two issues are linked. With a lack of trained African American theologians specializing in content theological areas (including New Testament, Old Testament, philosophical, systematic, and Biblical, etc.), the church has an immediate need to better reflect its diversity amongst the highest academic ranks. Local pastors have reported talented students pursuing theology degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels, but few continue to pastorship or pursue further theological training that prepares them to serve as academic scholars.[5]

It has been observed time and time again that it is God’s plan for African Americans to be an integral part of the church: a place “inclusive of all kindreds, tongues, and peoples,” many identify the corresponding historical events of the SDA’s founding and the abolition of slavery as essential for understanding the gospel’s true direction for church followers.[6] However, due to the historical trend of the world church and North American Division encouraging and supporting African Americans to pursue ministerial positions and service while providing little incentive to pursue theological at the doctoral level, the church has a disproportionate count of African American practical theologians. It has been observed that the number of African American SDAs that have earned Doctorates of Philosophy (Ph.D.’s) or Doctorates of Theology (Th.D.’s) with expertise to teach in areas such as biblical languages, systematic theology, New Testament or Old Testament studies is shockingly low. We believe that Black Adventist thought and theological insights are essential to the advancement of the church both academically and missiologically, and this should be reflected within the representation of faculty within the Seventh-day Adventist seminary and North American Division colleges’ and universities’ schools and departments of religion. Having more African Americans with such academic preparation will enable the world church to benefit from the scholarly gifts, perspectives, and experiences of descendants of enslaved Americans.

The current state of affairs is unacceptable. It is essential for the church to remediate this by recognizing the achievements of its African American members/contingent and incentivizing  its members to pursue careers in Theology. In order to  encourage African American Adventists to pursue academic theological research training at the doctoral level, the church must recognize gifted students from the African American community early on and provide greater financial support to their theological training. In parallel to this, prominent African American theologians in the church’s history must be recognized for their vital contributions because this will inspire future Black Adventist theologians and equally recognize the contributions of people of color to the church. An increase in African American theologians will enable greater empowerment for this ethnic group within church leadership, an effort which Owen Troy Sr. dedicated himself to, as well as enriching our current biblical understanding by incorporating their unique interpretations  and applications of scripture and doctrine.[7]

As such, this book will focus on the life and contribution of Dr. Owen A. Troy Sr. (1899–1962). Troy was a forerunner in the African American access to higher education, the first known SDA member to earn a Th.D. in Theology , the first African American to receive a Th.D. from the University of California, and the second to receive a master’s in religious education from the University of Chicago. The lack of biographies available on key African American members, such as Troy, is shockingly insufficient.[8] Troy worked tirelessly to overcome many of the same issues faced by Black Adventists today. He led community outreach programs in urban areas, focusing on healthcare, music, and evangelism, coupled with efforts to overcome discrimination within church schools and the administration.

Growing up in turbulent times in the United States, as a child of former slaves, and working for racial equality prior to the midcentury Civil Rights Movement, Troy’s unique perspectives and challenges influenced his teachings and helped spread church doctrines to marginalized communities. His success in education, social justice, and urban community needs provided invaluable lessons that can help empower colored Adventist communities today. Benjamin Baker, founder of BlackSDA.org, an extensive archive of Black contributions to the church, argued “Black Adventist history is the clearest mirror that the Adventist Church has ever looked into.” Observing the Black Adventist’s tendency to multitask, “engaged in their communities while looking for better land,” such stories of struggle, enablement, empowerment, and community development in urban areas, are vital for all Adventists to embrace “as their very own.”[9]

Through historical analysis, archival research from Oakwood University, Pacific Union College, Chicago History Museum, and the SDA General Conference, and oral interviews, this text offers a biography framed around the current need of African American theologians. This study contributes to the little-known history of the contributions of Blacks to the theological direction of the Adventist church in the early and mid-20th century. It is hope that this book helps to inspire a new generation of African Americans to pursue academic theological research training at the doctoral level.

It is our hope that this study of Dr. Owen A. Troy Sr. will therefore be vital in inspiring the next generation of African American Adventists to pursue academic theological research training at the doctoral level  and we hope the church will offer greater support for prospective theologians. Testimonies from Troy’s colleagues, descendants, and fellow scholars, alongside an archive of photographs, letters and documentation, are drawn upon in this article to provide the first substantial biography of his life. Research for this article was conducted through oral interviews and research in the archives of the Chicago Historical Society, Oakwood University, General Conference of SDA, Andrews University, Pacific Union College and the personal collection of Carmelita Troy (granddaughter). We would also like to acknowledge and thank the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians for the original grant (McAdams Adventist History Research grant) that allowed us to pursue this project.