MISSION : ACCOMPLISHED
DR . MARLOW D . McGUIRE , SR . ( DMIN ) / DIRECTOR / THE BLACK CHURCH STUDIES INSTITUTE / ROCKBRIDGE SEMINARY
Looking backward , moving forward
Black Church studies takes center stage with a new emphasis offering at Rockbridge Seminary
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Among this group , a need was mutually acknowledged early on : that seminarians should be familiar with the history of the Black Church .
“ Black history has always been this oral tradition passed down ,” McGuire explains . “ I guess you could say we saw the need for more books , more materials , more education in that sense .” At one point , Daryl R . Eldridge , Ph . D . — President Emeritus and Cofounder of Rockbridge Seminary and a doctoral graduate of the same seminary as the alumni group ( Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ) — joined one of the sessions . He shared about Rockbridge , and McGuire and his cohorts shared their passion for the creation of a formal training initiative on Black Church history . “ I told him , ‘ Man , it would be really good if we could partner ,’ so we started talking about what that would look like ,” McGuire recalls . “ This emphasis came out of that .”
Getting the right people in the right seats When Tommy Hilliker , MDiv , came onboard as president of Rockbridge in 2020 , the framework of the Black Church Studies Institute was still in its infancy , but it was clearly a priority . He became much more acquainted with it at his initial meeting with Dr . Eldridge and a group assembled to design the curriculum — including Marlow McGuire . “ As I ' ve listened to Marlow , the idea of this emphasis was birthed out of a clear need to elevate and preserve the significant role of Black Church history and promote a better understanding of the meaningful impact of the African Diaspora and Black Communities on Christendom ,” Hilliker says . “ As we developed the courses , these needs and the commitment to equip men and women to effectively serve within Black Church contexts and communities locally and globally were center in our curriculum focus .” It is also birthed from a need to train men and women to be servant leaders , to impact their communities positively for the gospel .” Through this conversation and others like it , Hilliker says McGuire emerged as the clear choice to become Director of the Black Church Studies Institute . “ For us , identifying the right leader really came down to three things : we were looking for a person with conviction , a person of character , a person of competency ,” Hilliker says . “ Beyond that , we knew the emphasis required a person with experiences that can translate into real-world ministry application . A person who is passionate and believes in what they ’ re teaching — and who believes in the local church itself .” Last but not least , Rockbridge was looking for a person with the kind of integrity required of a pastor training pastors . “ As we were collaborating with different people and building the courses , Marlow continually rose to the top of the list ,” Hilliker says . “ His character , experience and longevity in ministry , knowledge of the African American Church , and heart to train pastors made him the best choice for the Director of the Black Church Studies Institute role .” Indeed , McGuire has 30 years of experience growing up in the Black Church environment ; his father was a pastor in New York for 40 years . Now , McGuire has served in ministry for 22 years in various-size churches — from 30 to 10,000 — as a youth pastor , an associate pastor , an executive pastor , and senior pastor . He has also planted churches for more than a decade . “ Serving in such different-sized churches has exposed me to a lot of variables in the Black Church ,” he says . Educationally , Marlow has completed extensive studies on cultural ministry related to his dissertation work since 2010 , and he currently connects with African American churches doing work for a local Association engaging more than 200 churches as a consultant .
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