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Who We Are |
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History
The Early
Years |
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The story
of ACEA began when several leaders in the Black Majority
Churches (BMCs) approached the Evangelical Alliance (EA)
to express their concern about the lack of representation,
recognition and support offered to Black churches. At
that time only one Black-led church was a member of the
Evangelical Alliance (EA) in its 138 years history. Under
the leadership of Clive Calver, the General Director of
the EA (1984 – 1996), the West Indian Evangelical
Alliance was created in April 1984. Bishop Selwyn Arnold,
National Overseer of the New Testament Church of God,
Bishop Melville Powell and Ronald Bernard of the New Testament
Assembly, Bishop Lovell Bent of the New Life Assembly,
Bishop Eunice Mclean of Light and Life Full Gospel Church,
Bishop Oswald Williams of the Church of God of Prophecy,
Rev Peter Burger and Philip Mohabir were among the key
members at the beginning.
This was an historic event not only for the West Indian
community but also for the British Christian Community
as a whole as up to this point the Black-led church was
an unrecognised dimension. Philip Mohabir was the first
Chairman. Though small in stature he has the longest arms
of embrace you are likely to find in a Christian leader.
He had a passion for building bridges between Black and
White Christians and became an ambassador for Black Christianity
to both the historic denominations and the new church
movements and was responsible for appointing Bishop Selwyn
or Melville Powell as the first general secretary of the
organisation in 1987. |
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