Innovative Ministries

Left: Participants at the 2016 HBCU Festival by Alfred Street Baptist Church in Virginia, USA (Photo courtesy of Alfred Street Baptist Church)

The first festival in 2003 attracted approximately 150 attendees and 17 colleges and universities. Attendance has since grown to thousands of mainly high school students and several dozen colleges and universities from various parts of the US, as well as fraternities and sororities.

Virginia Church Invests Heavily IN EDUCATION

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ore than US$2 million in scholarships were awarded to high school students who attended a college and university festival held by a Baptist congregation in the

state of Virginia in the United States (US). The Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Festival held by Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC), the first in 2003, grew out of HBCU Sunday that has been observed annually by the church since the 1960s. HBCUs are institutions of higher education in the US that were established with the intention of serving the African American community. Most HBCUs were founded to provide opportunities to American blacks whose higher education needs were either ignored or under-served by other tertiary level institutions. There are 107 HBCUs in the US, including public and private,community and four-year institutions, medical and law schools.

Over the past several years, the festival has been held at the

TC Williams High School in the city of Alexandria, one of the largest high schools in the Northern Virginia area, as the festival has outgrown the facilities at Alfred Street. At the 2016 festival held on February 20, 63 HBCUs were represented. More than 3,000 students, parents and counselors and more than 320 volunteers, college recruiters and organization members participated. Approximately 1,000 students received onsite admission into an HBCU institution and US$2.1 million in scholarships were awarded. “We intentionally brought in colleges that were prepared to give away scholarships on the spot,” said Howard-John Wesley, ASBC pastor. “This makes it convenient for

students who

otherwise may not have had help searching for college funds. We know how much this event means to our community as well as to these families; because we know that without this event, many couldn’t afford college.” The festival was the brainchild of ASBC member Vance Davis who shared her vision of a college festival to be held on

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Church planters in Tajikistan

Photo courtesy of the EBF