Visiting Professor to present ‘History of the Black Church’ lecture
Posted on: March 12, 2021
Tigerville, SC (January 31, 2019) North Greenville University (NGU) presents “Emanuel and the History of the Black Church” on Monday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in Hamlin Recital Hall on the Tigerville Campus. Admission is free.
The documentary “Emanuel” which tells the story of the 2015 Charleston church shooting will be shown followed by a lecture and discussion led by Dr. Echol Nix, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences at Claflin University.
Nix grew up in Jefferson County, AL. He graduated from George Washington Carver High School in Montgomery, AL, and later Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. While at Morehouse, he accepted a call to ministry and was licensed and ordained at Everdale (now New Everdale Baptist Church) in Montevallo, AL.
Believing that the call to ministry is a call to preparation, he received the Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) and over the years has served in Baptist, Cumberland Presbyterian, Presbyterian (USA), and non-denominational churches. During seminary, he participated in a study course in the Holy Land to better understand the history and geography of the Bible and visited Bethlehem, Jericho, Joppa, Bethany, Galilee, and Caesarea Philippi, among other cities.
After receiving his first master’s degree at Vanderbilt in 1998, Nix earned a second master’s degree in Theology in 2000 and a Ph.D. degree in 2007, both from Boston University. Because of his academic work and community service in Boston, he was awarded an international doctoral fellowship anywhere in the world and chose to live and study in Europe for three years, traveling throughout Germany and France.
Nix is a past president of the North American Paul Tillich Society and has served on the Board of the Baptist World Alliance (Commission on Ethics, Evangelism, and Theological Reflection). His last four books, “Milestone Documents in African American History,” Second Edition, co-edited with Dr. Keturah Nix cover over 100 primary source documents from 1619-2017. He has also published “Ernst Troeltsch and Comparative Theology” which contributes to an emerging field of academic study; “In the Beginning: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College” which has chapters on education, social justice, and reconciliation; and “The Inspiration of the Holy Spirit,” a book of sermons co-authored with his parents.
In addition to his seven books, Nix has also authored many articles, encyclopedia entries, and book reviews in journals and other professional literature. He regularly attends conferences, workshops, and training sessions on teaching and ministry and has traveled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, Germany, France, Japan, and El Salvador.
Currently, he teaches in the Department of Humanities and serves as Activity Director of the Visionary Leadership Institute at Claflin University in Orangeburg. He has lectured at Furman University, Brown Mackie College, Selma University, Boston University, Hamilton College, Baylor University, Morehouse College, Lane College, and Frankfurt University in Germany.
For more information about other cultural events, visit NGU.edu/cultural-events-calendar.
