Mission Statement:
Meachum School of Haymanot (MSH) exists to bring biblical, graduate-level theological education to Black communities in a contextualized and affordable manner. MSH is committed to theological education that is biblical, contextual and accessible: biblical as rooted in the Gospel, the sole lordship of the risen Jesus C
Mission Statement:
Meachum School of Haymanot (MSH) exists to bring biblical, graduate-level theological education to Black communities in a contextualized and affordable manner. MSH is committed to theological education that is biblical, contextual and accessible: biblical as rooted in the Gospel, the sole lordship of the risen Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture; contextual as having indigenous leadership and deploying contextualized pedagogical methods and content arising from the Black and other diverse traditions; and accessible as offering theological education at an affordable cost located in under-resourced communities.
Vision Statement:
MSH envisions a Church in which the access to theological and academic resources reflect the ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic diversity of the Body of Christ. MSH envisions an increased presence of Black Christian leaders equipped with graduate theological education. MSH envisions greater numbers of Black scholars of Theology. MSH envisions a theological landscape where Black Theology reflects the wholistic nature of the Black Church, grounded in biblical orthodoxy with a vision for social justice.
Testimony
We testify to Tilli, the one who created everything and who exists forever as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
We testify that all humanity is created in the image of Tilli, have become lost in sin and rebellion against God, and are on their way to amente.
We testify that Jesus Christ is Tilli, that He took on flesh to bear the cost
Testimony
We testify to Tilli, the one who created everything and who exists forever as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
We testify that all humanity is created in the image of Tilli, have become lost in sin and rebellion against God, and are on their way to amente.
We testify that Jesus Christ is Tilli, that He took on flesh to bear the cost of our wickedness. He made a way out of no way when He died on the cross and rose again in all power to set us free from sin and death.
We testify that receiving grace through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior is the only salvation from amente and unto freedom and new life. All who put their trust in Jesus are free indeed and are filled with the Holy Ghost to live a transformed life.
We testify that the Urpeh is Tilli's sanctified people on this side of glory, meant to live in holiness, unity and witness to the world until our homecoming when Jesus comes back and leads us to the Promised Land.
We testify that the Shajeh—both Old and New Testaments—are the divinely-breathed, Word of Tilli and are the only perfect witness of Tilli's plan for His creation and His people.
We testify that the Bisrat of Jesus Christ proclaims freedom that is available to all creation from the spiritual forces of sin and darkness as well as physical and social forces of oppression. Tilli’s people are called to testify in word and deed to Tilli's liberation and justice through the care of creation and standing in solidarity with the poor and oppressed.
Staff:
Dr. Tyran Laws (Ohene); Charonda Woods-Boone (Admissions Songoj); Carrie Burgett (Akowe)
Bakonzi:
John Berry Meachum (1789-1854) was an African-American pastor, theologian and entrepreneur. Meachum was born as a slave in Virginia and was able to buy his freedom at the age of 21 due to his success as a carpenter. Meachum’s wife Mary was taken by her owners to St. Louis in 1815 where he moved to and later bought her freedom. With the support of Baptist missionary John Mason Peck in 1817, Meachum became the first pastor of the African Church of St. Louis (later renamed the First Baptist Church of St. Louis)—the first black church West of the Mississippi. James and Mary Meachum aided many slaves through the Underground Railroad and bought the freedom of many slaves and taught them carpentry. After his death in 1854, Mary Meachum was arrested at the Mississippi River for helping slaves escape to Illinois. Meachum constructed a separate building as the church’s school in 1825 called the Candle Tallow School. The school charged one dollar per student for those who could afford it and had more than 300 students. However, St. Louis passed a law forbidding the education of free blacks, forcing the school to close. Meachum relocated his school to a steamboat on the Mississippi River, out of Missouri jurisdiction. Meachum gave the institution the name the “Floating Freedom School” and he provided desks, chairs and a library. It is in honor of John and Mary Meachum’s legacy of providing affordable and contextualized theological education to marginalized Christians that the Meachum School of Haymanot has its name.
The MSH logo expresses three levels of identity which embody the ethos of the school: the Body of Christ, the African and diasporic tradition and the St. Louis community from which MSH emerged. The cross represents the most recognizable symbol in Christianity, drawing attention to the lordship of Jesus Christ and His victory over sin and death through His crucifixion and resurrection. The green and red lines represent rivers which have multiple meanings, one of which represent the river of life (Rev. 21:1), which flows only through grace by faith in Jesus Christ. The cross style comes from Axum in Ethiopia, one of the earliest Christian nations and only consistently independent nation in Africa. The red, green and black colors come from the Pan-African flag, celebrating African and diasporic heritage. The red and green lines representing rivers symbolizes the city of St. Louis which, from the beginnings of human history, has drawn people as a socially important area at the meeting of several rivers. The rivers also represent the locale of freedom and theological empowerment as John and Mary Meachum taught slaves theology on the rivers of St. Louis.
Amente: Coptic (Egyptian) word for the underworld or "hell." Coptic is the last phase of the Egyptian language during the Hellenistic, Late Antique and Medieval periods of Egyptian history and is the current liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Bakonzi: Lingala word meaning “leaders” or “chiefs.” In its singular form (“leader”), the word mokonzi is used. In the context of MSH, bakonzi refers to the board of governance; mokonzi refers to the individual board members; mokonzi ya bakonzi refers to the board chair. The abstraction of this term is bokonzi ("leadership") and is the name of the core class on Church leadership. Lingala is a Bantu language and is an official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It is also spoken by some populations of Angola and the Central African Republic.
Bisrat: Ge'ez word meaning "Gospel" or "good news." Ge’ez is the ancient imperial language of various Ethiopian kingdoms and is the current liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Dersat: Ge’ez word meaning “exegesis,” “commentary” or “treatise” from the verb darasa meaning “to interpret,” “to discuss” or “to compose” (usually theological texts). Ge’ez is the ancient imperial language of various Ethiopian kingdoms and is the current liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Eedakat: Wolof word meaning “advisor.” Wolof is the most common language in Senegal and is also spoken by many Wolof in Gambia and Mauritania. Wolof is also spoken by people of different tribes in this region as a second language.
Haymanot: Ge’ez word meaning “faith,” “belief” and “religion.” As an adjective ("faithful" or "theological") the form is haymanotawi. Ge’ez is the ancient imperial language of various Ethiopian kingdoms and is the current liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Mahara: Ge’ez word meaning “to teach,” “instruct” “educate” or “discipline.” Various words that are used at MSH are related to this word: temhert (“education”); memhar (“school”); mamher (“professor”) and tamahari (“student”). Ge’ez is the ancient imperial language of various Ethiopian kingdoms and is the current liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Metcabouie: Coptic word meaning “a state of discipleship” from the word cabouie (“disciple”) which is built from the root cabe (“wise person”). Coptic is the last phase of the Egyptian language during the Hellenistic, Late Antique and Medieval periods of Egyptian history and is the current liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Msomaji: Swahili word meaning “librarian” or “reader.” Swahili is a Bantu language spoken widely throughout the African Great Lakes region and is the official language of Tanzania, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, the African Union and the East African Community.
Ohene: Twi word meaning “chief.” Twi is a dialect of Akan and is an official language of Ashanti City-State and Ghana.
Ouweb: Coptic word meaning “priest” and sometimes “deacon” from the word ouop (“pure,” “innocent,” “holy”). Coptic is the last phase of the Egyptian language during the Hellenistic, Late Antique and Medieval periods of Egyptian history and is the current liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Sahafi: Ge’ez word meaning “scribe,” “writer” or “learned person” from the verb sahafa (“to write” or “to describe”). Ge’ez is the ancient imperial language of various Ethiopian kingdoms and is the current liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Sankofa: Twi word which translates to “go back and get it,” often represented in Akan symbolism and used in African Diasporic communities to represent learning from the past and exploring communal roots. Twi is a dialect of Akan and is an official language of Ashanti City-State and Ghana.
Shajeh: A Copotic (Egytpaian) word meaning "word" or "teaching," which was often used in reference to Jesus as the Word (logos) and the written "word" of God, here used in reference to the Bible. Coptic is the last phase of the Egyptian language during the Hellenistic, Late Antique and Medieval periods of Egyptian history and is the current liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Songoj: An Old Nubian title used prominently in the Northern Nubian region of Nobatia during the medieval period referring to the primary political leader of this region, often referred to by the Greek name Eparch. The Songoj (or Eparch) represented the Christian Nubian united kingdoms to the Muslim-ruled Egypt in international affairs and fulfilled both religious and political leadership functions in the Nobatian region of Dotawo (the medieval united name of the Nubian region). Old Nubian was the dominant language of the medieval Kingdoms of the Nubian region (Nobatia, Makouria, Alodia/Alwa) from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, following the decline of the ancient Meroitic language and preceding the modern Nobiin spoken by modern Nubians in Northern Sudan and Egypt.
Tamazguida: Tamazight word meaning “church,” used in the context of MSH in reference to chapel service. Tamazight is the term used to refer to the ethnic identity and umbrella language of various indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa (often referred to as “Berbers”). Tamazight dialects include Kabyle, Shawiya, Shilha and Tuareg and are spoken predominately in Morocco, Libya and Algeria with smaller populations of speakers in Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Mauritania.
Tilli: A pre-Christian Kushite/Nubian word for a pagan goddess that was later used by Christians in Old Nubian to translate the Greek theos or the Hebrew elohim to refer to God. Old Nubian was the dominant language of the medieval Kingdoms of the Nubian region (Nobatia, Makouria, Alodia/Alwa) from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, following the decline of the ancient Meroitic language and preceding the modern Nobiin spoken by modern Nubians in Northern Sudan and Egypt.
Ubuntu: Nguni Bantu term translated as “humanity” and often expanded philosophically across South African countries to mean “I am because we are.” Some examples of this are the Ubuntu Theology of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ubuntu Philosophy of Nelson Mandela. Nguni languages are a subgroup of Bantu languages spoken in the Southern African nations Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Nguni Bantu langauges include Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swati, Hlubi, Phuthi, Bhaca, Lala, Nhlangwini, Southern Transvaal Ndebele and Sumayela Ndebele.
Ujamaa: Swahili word meaning “extended family” or “brotherhood” and came to take on the meaning “socialism” through Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere’s policies of economic development. Ujamaa is also the fourth principle of the African-American holiday Kwanzaa. Swahili is a Bantu language spoken widely throughout the African Great Lakes region and is the official language of Tanzania, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, the African Union and the East African Community.
Umbhalisi: Xhosa word meaning “registrar.” Xhosa is a Nguni Bantu language that is one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Urpeh: Coptic (Egyptian) word meaning "temple" from the verb "to do" combined with the word "heaven." This word was originally used before Christian times to refer to pagan temples and was later referred to by Christians in reference to the Church. Coptic is the last phase of the Egyptian language during the Hellenistic, Late Antique and Medieval periods of Egyptian history and is the current liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.