Washington Adventist University Students and Staff Joined Area Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Praying for Peace and Unity
Takoma Park, Md. (July 13, 2016) On Saturday, July 9, Washington Adventist University (WAU) students, faculty and staff joined members of local area churches in praying about the recent shootings and deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Dallas Police officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Smith, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarripa and DART Police Officer Brent Thompson.
A large group of more than 1,000 Seventh-day Adventists gathered at the Lincoln Memorial where the national anthem was performed by Anika Sampson-Anderson, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was performed by Monique Steele-Griffiths, a 1999 graduate of WAU. From there, participants walked to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, where they stopped to pray and listen to keynote speakers.
According to many of those present, this initiative was a first in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was organized by Debra Anderson, Denise Crarey and April Williams, and sponsored by the Allegheny East Conference (AEC) Washington Metro Ministerium. Anderson said that as she was praying, God put it in her spirit to provide a venue for those voicing their opinions on social media, asking what they could do. She said she also wanted to pray for all of the victims’ families and for the church and nation as a whole.
Present were several church leaders, including Daniel R. Jackson, President of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD); Alex Bryant, Executive Secretary of the NAD; Elder Marcus Harris, President of AEC Washington Metro Ministerium; local church pastors and many WAU students, alumni, faculty and staff.
“As a black woman born and raised in this body of faith, I had to be there,” said Melissa Henley, director of field education for the WAU Department of Social Work. “I was proud and inspired to see so many WAU alums at the rally because I know they will continue to advocate for social justice.”
“I never thought that more than fifty years after the civil rights movement, I would be standing with a group at the MLK memorial singing “We Shall Overcome,” but I am so impressed that this group was guided by the leader of the SDA church in North America,” said WAU Professor of Religion Olive Hemmings, Ph.D. “As I understand it, the church was not present in this way for the civil rights movement. The SDA church in North America is coming of age, and the millennial generation is depending on that. I am proud to be part of this movement that has its own challenges regarding social justice. With God, we will overcome our own attachment to the flesh.”
“To me, this rally was of great significance and it was a very powerful thing to see the President of the NAD, Dan Jackson, and the Vice President of Communication, Alvin Kibble, lead out and speak. This was about all the violence that had taken place, and the sentiment that something should be done went across racial lines,” said WAU Professor of History & Political Studies William Ellis, Ph.D.
Debra Anderson and many who were present at the gathering expressed a common sentiment; that Seventh-day Adventists, as a collective body of Christ, begin an open and honest dialogue regarding the social issues that plague society and the church. “This sentiment was demonstrated over the weekend, when many area churches crossed cultural lines, reaching out to each other in brotherly love,” said Anderson.
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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s eight graduate and 42 undergraduate programs. The 2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.
Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-891-4134, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wau.edu