By Joan C. McKinney, director of university communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention, formerly of Campbellsville, will be the guest speaker at a Black History Month Celebration at Campbellsville University Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m.
The event, which is the Wednesday morning chapel/convocation service for CU, will be at Campbellsville Baptist Church. A gospel choir, directed by Lawanda Hazard will perform. The public is invited.
“Dr. David Goatley is one of the emerging Baptist leaders in the United States today,” said the Rev. John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president at Campbellsville University.
“In addition to his leadership of the oldest African-American international missions organization among Baptists, he is a key leader in the Baptist World Alliance and the BWA's North American affiliate and is a leader among those involved in the 2008 Baptist
Covenant meeting that is to be held in Atlanta,” said Chowning.
He said Goatley's leadership of the Lott Carey missions organization has been a time of “expansion around the globe including work in a number of African nations with emphasis on
HIV/AIDS relief.”
Chowning said, “Dr. Goatley has keen insight into the diversity and rich history of the Baptist movement in the United States and around the world.”
The Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention is an international Christian missions agency founded in 1897 that helps churches extend their witness to the ends of the earth. It is a global relief and development agency that helps improve the quality of life in marginalized communities around the world.
As the chief executive officer of these two agencies, Goatley oversees vision, administration and development efforts to invest in indigenous leadership and programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.
Goatley is the former pastor of First Baptist Church in Campbellsville, and his wife, Pamela, is a native of Campbellsville.
“Dr. Goatley is certainly authoritative on the history of African-American Baptist life and missions work. We are fortunate to have him coming to speak to the Campbellsville University campus community as part of our Black History Month emphasis. We encourage individuals out
in the community and region to join us for this very special chapel service,” said Chowning.
An ordained Baptist minister who has been a pastor, university professor and seminary professor, Goatley earned degrees (associate in applied science and bachelor of science) from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and two degrees (master of divinity and Ph.D.) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
In addition to journal articles and book chapters, Goatley is the author of “Were You There?: Godforsakenness in Slave Religion” (Orbis Books, 1996) and the editor of “Black Religion, Black Theology: Selected Writings of J. Deotis Roberts” (Trinity Press International, 2003).
Goatley, his wife and their son, Atiba Emmanuel, live in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
For more information about the event, contact Chowning at jechowning@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5520.
Campbellsville University, now celebrating her Centennial year, is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,310 students who represent 100 Kentucky counties, 32 states and 28 foreign nations. Listed in U.S. News & World Report's “America's Best Colleges” 14 consecutive years as one of the leading Southern master's colleges and universities, Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his eighth year as president.