Tulsa, Okla.–The Alliance for Black Pentecostal Scholarship recently honored Dr. David G. Roebuck and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center at their awards ceremony and gala held on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The purpose of the awards ceremony was to identify and celebrate the achievement of Black Pentecostal scholars and church leaders around the world. The Alliance honored Roebuck and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center with a Top-50 Influencers Lifetime Achievement Award for “Archival and Historical Recording of Black Influence in Pentecostalism.”
[1]Clifton R. Clarke, left, presents Top-50 Influencers Award to David G. Roebuck and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center (click photo to enlarge)
In expressing appreciation for the award, Roebuck said, “The Dixon Pentecostal Research Center is pleased to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award for recording and preserving the influence of Black Pentecostals. Our mission is to preserve and pass on the accomplishments of all ethnicities in the Church of God. ‘We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord’ (Psalm 78:4 NLT).”
The Dixon Pentecostal Research Center has preserved several collections related to the history of Black ministries in the Church of God. Among them are the Viola Albritton papers, Church of God Colored Work collection, J.T. Roberts collection, and W.L. Ford collection. Information about these collections can be found at cogheritage.libraryhost.com [2]. Additionally, the center has digitized available minutes of the annual Assemblies of the Church of God Colored Work. They are available free online at pentecostalarchives.org [3]. Roebuck is director of the Center, and the Reverend D.E. “Gene” Mills, Jr., is archivist.
As Church of God historian, Roebuck has extensively researched the history of black ministries in the Church of God including a series of oral history interviews. He recently published “Unraveling Cords that Divide: Cultural Challenges and Race Relations in the Church of God” in Skin Deep: Pentecostals, Racism and the Church edited by Dr. Clifton R. Clarke and Dr. Wayne C. Solomon (Seymour Press).
The Alliance for Black Pentecostal Scholarship was founded in 2019 to encourage the study of Black Pentecostalism and to mentor young Black scholars. The Alliance sponsors courses, seminars, and workshops related to Black Pentecostalism. Dr. Clifton R. Clarke, a Church of God bishop and pastor, is president of the Alliance.
Clifton R. Clarke presents Top-50 Influencers Award to David G. Roebuck and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center