Though virtually unknown today, a century ago Sheafe was by all accounts the leading figure in the rise of Adventism among African Americans. Not only that, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg described him as “a more liberally educated and cultivated man” than “any other Seventh-day Adventist minister,” adding that the church did not have “a white minister that can begin to stand next to him.”
Described by a Washington, D.C. newspaper in 1902 as the "noted apostle of Seventh Day Adventism," Sheafe is the subject of a biography by Douglas Morgan, published in 2010 by Review and Herald Publishing Association as part of its Adventist Pioneer Series.
Sheafe organized Adventism’s first predominantly black urban congregation, the People’s Church in Washington, D.C. The evangelistic campaigns that led to the church’s formation in 1903 attracted mixed-race audiences numbering in the thousands, and catapulted Sheafe to prominence in the cultural center of black America.
A highly regarded Baptist preacher and fiery civil rights orator in Minnesota and Ohio, Sheafe embraced “present truth” in 1896 after receiving health care at Battle Creek Sanitarium. In Adventism’s holistic message he recognized vast potential for the uplift of his people, whose oppression in American society was rapidly worsening during that very decade.
Sheafe’s career as a champion of the “third angel’s message” demonstrated both its liberating promise for black Americans and the conflicts that frustrated full realization of that promise. Its significance also extends beyond race relations, illuminating upheavals over church organization and prophetic guidance that shaped Adventism’s future.
Site Features
Along with introductory information about Sheafe's life, times, and significance, this site features documents and photos, most of which are not included (or not in their entirety) in the published biography.
In Documents, for example, you can read the newspaper accounts of his speech for the 40th Anniversary celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation in Washington on January 1, 1903, a summary of one of his sermons ("Woman at Her Worst"!), and Review and Herald comments on his first sermons as an Adventist, preached in the Battle Creek Tabernacle.
Photos and other images relating to the early phases of his life and career have been posted.
See the Timeline for an overview of Sheafe's career.
Much more to come -- for updates click "Subscribe in a reader" at the top of the right column, or go to the Subscribe page.
Another purpose of the site is to gather further information about Sheafe from readers, and to discuss the signficance of his story and contributions. If you know of any information or sources - letters, photos, newspaper and periodical articles, artifacts of any kind, knowledgeable persons - not reflected in the book or web site, please let us know, using Feedback.
Questions or comments about anything in the biography or on this site are also encouraged -- please use Feedback for this as well.
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