THE CENTER FOR EARLY AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY

[Ed Pettibone]

THE CENTER FOR EARLY AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY MOVES TO EASTERN UNIVERSITY

Receives Philadelphia News Coverage

St. Davids, PA, August 24, 2009: Beginning September 2009, Eastern University's St. Davids campus will house The Center for Early African Christianity (CEAC). This new center is devoted to the study of early African exegesis and culture and will devote much of its attention to key early African leaders such as Athanasius, Cyprian and Tertullian. The CEAC's mission is to provide resources for African Christians as they face the unique challenges of the 21st century, and to develop links with the African American community, whose members share a rich heritage with their African ancestors.

For more info go to; http://www.eastern.edu/news/releases/2009/ceac.html

& the Center for Early African Christianity, visit: http://www.earlyafricanchristianity.com

[pastormikejordan]

Hi Ed--not a big deal, but Joel Elowsky (who works with Thomas Oden on this) just finished his PhD in the same class as me at Drew University. Not sure exactly why, but Drew was reluctant to host this very worthwhile project and I'm glad to see Eastern is picking it up. Joel mentioned to me that this was a possibility. Joel and I didn't know each other but we sat next to each other at our 2008 master's graduation and chatted it up during the interminably long list of names and lengthy lineup of speakers. He's a good man and this seems like a great project.

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Mike when you say "Not sure exactly why, but Drew was reluctant to host this very worthwhile project and I'm glad to see Eastern is picking it up."

Do you know for certain that it was even offered to Drew? I have a notion that Tony C. may have had a hand in it going to Eastern, given the nature of the church he attends when he is in town on Sunday, and in which he is an"Associate" pastor.

[pastormikejordan]

Hi Ed--while Joel stopped short of saying, "We offered it to Drew and they declined," he did indicate that Drew for some reason didn't consider itself a good home for the project. He mentioned they had been in discussions with Eastern as one of their options at that time (May '08). Thomas Oden who heads the project is a Drew faculty member who had a well-publicized break with the rest of the faculty at Drew, so I'm guessing that's part of the reason why. Check this link for more info if you're curious:




Anyway, kudos to Eastern for taking this on, which was really my point anyway.

Mike