In the summer of 2021, the Christian community in the UK and globally lost one of its premier Christian leaders, Rev Dr Joel Patrick Edwards CBE. Dr Edwards was an extraordinary individual and Christian leader. From humble beginnings, this boy from Kingston Jamaica rose to become the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, EA, in 1997. As the first Black person (from a Pentecostal tradition) to hold this prestigious office, he served the Alliance and the wider Christian community with distinction for over three decades.

Joel had a passion for justice and empowering the poor. After leaving the EA in 2008, he became the International Director of Micah Challenge, an NGO committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MGD) and working with the global poor and the disenfranchised. In 2019, Dr Edwards was honoured in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List with a CBE for ‘services to tackling poverty and injustice’.

Last year during Black History Month, Christ the Redeemer College, CRC, celebrated his achievements and legacy. This year, the College and the Joel Edwards Legacy Group will host the inaugural Annual Joel Edwards Lecture.

The inaugural lecture will be given by Bishop Claion Grandison. In September 2022, Bishop Grandison became the 7th National Administrative Bishop of the New Testament Church of God, England and Wales. He currently has oversight of the organisation’s 11,000 members comprised of 130 churches and 350 ministers. Bishop Grandison also oversees the denomination’s 82 cross-cultural churches.

Previously, Bishop Grandison served as National Youth Director in the British Virgin Islands, local pastor for NTCG Chrisma in Woolwich and as District Bishop for the West Croydon group of churches.

Bishop Grandison has a BA in Theology from Spurgeon’s College where he was guest lecturer in Pentecostal Studies. He is the author of Our Story Retold: The Black Experience Unveiled Through Poetry.

Come and join us for an exciting evening, honouring one of the most impactful and inspirational leaders of his generation. The lecture is hybrid. You will be able to join us online if you are unable to physically attend the event at Christ the Redeemer College in Harrow.