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History
Our
Name & Our Identity |
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From its inception to 1996 the West Indian Evangelical
Alliance had evolved to the Afro-Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA)
to better reflect the identity of its constituent and to reflect the
changes in ethnic classification in the rest of society. It then became
the African-Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) to reflect the arrival
of new churches and Christians from the African continent in the late
1980’s and the early 1990’s. However this name did not offer
the clarity needed to identify the two distinctive communities and
continents our work encompassed. This was because Black Caribbeans
were once again being redefined this time as African-Caribbeans, along
the same lines of African-Americans. A settled name was achieved when
the organisation became the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance.
Since 1996 our strapline has been "At the heart of Black Christian
Faith". This was adopted to ensure that everyone understands
where ACEA’s identity lay and who it represents. This re-branding
exercise saw the introduction of Patrons, in the form of Presidents
and vice presidents, to ACEA in 1998. Beginning with:
| President |
Dr.
Paul Jinadu |
| 1st
Vice president |
Philip
Mohabir, Connections |
| Vice
President |
Bishop Ron
Brown , National Overseer New Testament Church of God |
| Vice
President |
Bishop Lesman
Graham, National Overseer Church of God of Prophecy |
| Vice
President |
Angela
Sarkis – Chief Executive, Church Urban Fund |
| Vice
President |
Bishop John
Sentamu, Bishop of Stephney |
These prominent leaders became ambassadors
for ACEA and assisted in clarifying the constituency ACEA had committed
itself to serve.
At the same time ACEA built a representative Council, who were also
the trustees, and reflected the view of a wide spectrum of African
and Caribbean denominations and strategic independent churches.
The focus on representation still remains an essential and dynamic
part of ACEA’s work. |
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