Britain’s first black SDA Conference president receives Lifetime Award

LONDON:

Britain’s first black Seventh-day Adventist Conference president was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent One Vision Black History Month Leadership and Service Awards held at the Stanborough Conference Centre in Watford.

Dr Cecil Roy Perry, the first black president of the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists headquartered in Stanborough Park, Watford, accepted the One Vision Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his 50-plus years of pastoral ministry in both Jamaica and the United Kingdom.

Born in 1937 and raised in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica, Dr Perry says he was deeply impressed by his mother’s devotion as a Methodist, and then later an Adventist, which led to his own baptism in 1951.

He studied at Manning’s High School with the desire to become a medical missionary. However, the prayers of his mother that he would become a minister were answered as Dr Perry pursued pastoral training at West Indies Training College (now Northern Caribbean University), graduating top of his class with a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in theology.

After serving in the Jamaican Conference for a significant number of years, it was in 1979 that Dr Perry was among several other pastors in the Caribbean who were called to serve in Britain. Dr Silburn Reid was elected president of the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and would later be succeeded by two Jamaicans - Pastor Donald W. McFarlane with Pastor Egerton Francis, elected president of the North England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

When Dr Perry became the first black president of the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in 1991, the entire leadership of the SDA Church was black.

In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in religion and theology by the Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica, for his decades of service and leadership to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In response, Dr Perry expressed gratitude to God, his parents, and the many church and community members he served.

AWARDEES

The evening’s awardees included: Val Bernard-Allan, for Innovation and Excellence in Leading Black Women’s Transformational Training; Ken Burton, director of the London Adventist Chorale, for Excellence in Choral Music and Composition; Tina Brooks, for Excellence in Ethnomusicology; Fiona D. Pacquette, director of the East London School of Music, for Excellence in Music and Orchestral Leadership; and Dr Jude Jeanville, pastor and author of Justice For Women (2023) for Faith in Action.

Weekly Gleaner writer Darell J. Philip, who also serves as communications coordinator for the London Area 6C of Seventh-day Adventist Churches, received the One Vision Award for Excellence in Journalism.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Alicia Shaw, a retired chief inspector from Hertfordshire Constabulary who was the first black female to attain this rank. After 30 years of service, she remains the most senior officer to have been in the force from a visible ethnic background.

One Vision are the hosts of the annual Leadership and Service Awards, which, during Black History Month, celebrate black individuals who have made significant contributions to British society.

Its founder and CEO, Enoch Kanagaraj, said: “We must put aside differences and come together for the common good. We were delighted to bring together many people to reward and recognise some of our community members. This year’s theme is ‘Saluting our Sisters’, so we were pleased that most of the awards went to our females.”

Sharon Platt McDonald, British Union Conference director for Adventist Community Services, Health and Women’s Ministries, was chair of the the event. She reminded the audience of the quote by Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington: “Man gives the award, but God gives the reward.”