Jeffery Tribble is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E. Zion Church) and a professor of ministry with research interests in Practical Theology, Congregational Studies and Leadership, Ethnography, Evangelism and Church Planting, Black Church Studies, and Urban Church Ministry. Academics and professionals in these fields consider him a renowned thought leader. Tribble's experience in pastoral ministry allows for his work to bridge the gap between academic research and practical church leadership.
Tribble received a B.S. from Howard University (1981), a Black Minister's Program Certificate from Hartford Seminary (1985), a M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1990), and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University (2002). [1] He began his work in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church as a minister of membership development at Martin Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Chicago, Illinois (1990–1991). Tribble was ordained as an elder in 1992, when he then served as the pastor at St. Andrew A.M.E. Zion Church in Gary, Indiana (1991–1997). He has also served in the A.M.E. Zion Church as a pastor at St. Mark church in Chicago, Illinois (1997–2000), co-pastor at New vision Church in Suwanee, Georgia (2007–2008), Associate pastor at Greater Walters church in Chicago, Illinois (2006–2007), the minister of evangelism and men's ministry and founding Dean of the Life Development Institute at Martin Temple Church in Chicago, Illinois (2000–2006), and as the presiding elder for the A.M.E. Zion Church for the Augusta District (2008–2013) and the Atlanta District (2013–present).
He began his career as an academic at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary where he served as adjunct faculty (1999–2000, 2008 and 2009), Instructor of Congregational Ministries and Director of Teaching Parishes and Congregational Research (July 2000 – June 2003) and assistant professor of Congregational Leadership and Director of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience (July 2003 – June 2007). He has been a lecturer at Apex School of Theology in Durham, NC (2009). He joined the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary as assistant professor of Ministry (2007–2012).
He currently still serves at Columbia Theological Seminary where he is now the associate professor of Ministry. He is also Presiding Elder for the Atlanta District, Georgia Annual Conference and Candidate for Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church for 2016.
Tribble is a strong proponent of the transformative leadership idea. [2] He has written extensively about how leaders, especially those who work in the church, should be open to transformation themselves as they transform the community they are leading. He writes about this specifically from the perspective of the Black Church in two of his books, Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church and Joining Jesus: A Class Manual for initiation into Christian Discipleship and Welcome into the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. From this point of view he emphasizes his research on how the Black Church "must continue its historic mission of being an instrument of survival, elevation, and liberation for its people." [3] He however does not limit his research just to the Black Church, he pushes for transformative leadership between various religious traditions as well. [4] He has published numerous books, articles, and chapters that are used in this context by people and institutions across the world and across denominational lines.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist bodies through the World Methodist Council and Wesleyan Holiness Connection.
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.C.) is a Methodist denomination that is based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. Though historically a part of the black church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal today has a church membership of people from all racial backgrounds.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church (AMEZ) is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.
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Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary (Garrett) is a private seminary and graduate school of theology related to the United Methodist Church and is ecumenical in spirit. It is located in Evanston, Illinois, on the campus of Northwestern University. The seminary offers master's- and doctoral-level degrees, as well as certificate, micro-credentialing, and lifelong learning programs. It has thousands of alumni serving in ministry, education, organizational leadership, and public service throughout the world.
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Daniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. A major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Payne stressed education and preparation of ministers and introduced more order in the church, becoming its sixth bishop and serving for more than four decades (1852–1893) as well as becoming one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1856. In 1863, the AME Church bought the college and chose Payne to lead it; he became the first African-American president of a college in the United States and served in that position until 1877.
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Bryan P. Stone is an American theologian who is the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Boston University School of Theology, and a Co-director of the Center for Practical Theology. Stone writes on topics related to both systematic theology and practical theology. He is associated with both postliberalism and Christian pacifism, having been influenced by thinkers such as John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre, and John Wesley, and in his earliest work with liberation theology and process theology.
Religion of Black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of Black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life". Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among Black people in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until their membership included the majority of Black Americans.
Jeremiah Eames Rankin was an abolitionist, champion of the temperance movement, minister of Washington D.C.'s First Congregational Church, and correspondent with Frederick Douglass. In 1890 he was appointed sixth president of Howard University in Washington, D.C. Howard's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel was built during Jeremiah Rankin's tenure as president (1890–1903) and named after his brother. Rankin is best known as author of the hymns "God Be with You 'Til we Meet Again" and "Tell It to Jesus". In 1903 Rankin published a fictional journal of Esther Burr.
Black Methodism in the United States is the Methodist tradition within the Black Church, largely consisting of congregations in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal denominations, as well as those African American congregations in other Methodist denominations, such as the Free Methodist Church.
Hood Theological Seminary is a Christian seminary sponsored by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is a graduate and professional school sponsored by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church. From its founding in 1879 until 2001, the seminary was part of Livingstone College; it is now independent. The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.
The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, sent Thomas Coke to America where he and Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was to later establish itself as the largest denomination in America during the 19th century.
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Benjamin Franklin Lee was a religious leader and educator in the United States. He was the president of Wilberforce University from 1876 to 1884. He was editor of the Christian Recorder from 1884 to 1892. He was then elected a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, serving from 1892 until his resignation in 1921, becoming senior bishop in the church in 1915.
Payne Theological Seminary is an African Methodist Episcopal seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is the oldest free-standing African-American seminary in the United States. Incorporated in 1894 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was named after Daniel Alexander Payne, the founder of Wilberforce University. Payne was Senior Bishop of the AME Church at the time of the Seminary’s founding and served as its first dean. He was the first African-American college president.
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