| Forrest's Experience: Dr. Forrest E. Harris, Sr., President of American Baptist College since 1999, holds a B.A. degree (Knoxville College), a B.Th. degree (American Baptist College), M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where he was Benjamin E. Mays Fellow and recipient of the Florence Conwell Prize. While a student at Vanderbilt, Dr. Harris pastored Oak Valley Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, TN, brought together several community organizations, and founded the Oak Valley Development Corporation. He was president of the Oak Ridge Branch, NAACP. From 1985-1987, as instructor at Roane State Community College, he initiated a Black Studies curriculum and coordinated social outreach programs. In addition to his presidency at American Baptist College, since 1988, Dr. Harris has been a faculty member and Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute on Black Church Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School. With Lilly Endowment and the Pew Charitable Trusts grants over $1.3 million, he coordinated a national ecumenical dialogue, 'What Does It Mean to be Black and Christian?' Over 12,000 people participated in this discussion resulting in publication of 'What Does It Mean to be Black and Christian: Pulpit, Pew and Academy in Dialogue,' (Townsend Press, 1995); and 'What Does It Mean to Be Black and Christian: the Meaning of the African American Church' (Townsend Press, 1997). President Harris has been instrumental in establishing a black church history and preservation project resulting in the establishment of a Black Church Historian Society in Nashville. In addition to journal articles, Dr. Harris authored 'Ministry for Social Crisis: Theology and Praxis in the Black Church Tradition' (Mercer University Press, 1993). He received a journalism prize from The Journal of Intergroup Relations, National Association of Human Rights Workers for his article, 'South Africa Beyond Apartheid,' The Journal of Intergroup Relations, National Association of Human Rights Workers, 1993. |
