Frumentius and King Ezana: how Christianity came to the kingdom of Aksum
In the fourth century, a young Syrian Christian named Frumentius was captured and brought to the court of Aksum in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea.…
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Feature Articles
Jarena Lee: the first woman to preach with Richard Allen’s blessing in the AME Church
Jarena Lee, a free Black woman born in New Jersey in 1783, felt called to preach but was first turned away by Richard Allen. In 1819…
Apolo Kivebulaya: the Ugandan missionary who carried the gospel into the Congo forest
Apolo Kivebulaya, a Muganda soldier turned evangelist, spent decades as a missionary in Toro and then at Mboga in the Congo, working among forest peoples. Known…
The East African Revival: the Balokole movement that swept Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya
Beginning in the late 1920s and 1930s at Gahini in Rwanda and spreading through Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, the East African Revival transformed churches in the…
Absalom Jones: the first Black priest of the Episcopal Church in America
Absalom Jones, born into slavery in Delaware, bought his freedom and became a leader of Philadelphia's free Black community. He founded the African Episcopal Church of…
Cyprian of Carthage: the African bishop who led the church through persecution and plague
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage in North Africa in the third century, guided his church through persecution and a deadly plague before being martyred in 258. His…
George Whitefield: the open-air preacher of the Great Awakening
George Whitefield, an English preacher, crossed the Atlantic many times in the eighteenth century and preached to vast outdoor crowds in Britain and the American colonies.…
Athanasius of Alexandria: the African bishop who stood “against the world”
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in Egypt in the fourth century, defended the belief that Jesus is fully God against the teachings of Arius. Exiled five times,…
Richard Allen and the African Methodist Episcopal Church: the walkout that built a denomination
Richard Allen was born into slavery, bought his freedom and became a Methodist preacher in Philadelphia. After Black worshippers were mistreated at St. George's Church, he…
Perpetua and Felicity: the young mothers martyred in Carthage in 203
In 203, a young noblewoman named Perpetua and an enslaved woman named Felicity were executed in the arena at Carthage, in today's Tunisia, for refusing to…