A special honour for Bishop Dunn at BIBS Graduation

Bishop S A Dunn was honoured by Bethel Institute of Biblical Studies (Great Britain) and Parkersburg Bible College of West Virginia (USA) with a PhD in recognition of his life work and ministry.  This was not as Dr Nelson emphatically stated an ‘honorary degree, it is an earned degree’.  It is the result of qualifying for the 5 academic modules necessary for the award of a doctorate based on an assessment of Bishop’s writings (e.g. ‘Jehovah God in the Old Testament is Jesus Christ in the New Testament’), tapes of his international radio ministry ‘The Voice of Holiness’, and other church literature cataloging Bishop’s life work (e.g. Bethel Golden Jubilee Booklet, written to catalogue Bethel’s first 50 years). 

The events took place this weekend at Bethel Institute of Biblical Studies graduation ceremony 2008, it was an awesome ceremony, attended by Dr Joe Nelson (President Parkersberg Bible College), Dr Colin Cawley (Mt Zion Apostolic, CA) and Pastor Nunes (Toronto CA).   The theme was: Be Thou Faithful Unto Death, with graduating students exhorting on Integrity, Commitment and Faithfulness. 

The Chronicles of Bishop Sydney Alexander Dunn

Overseer Queensborough gave a short biography of Bishop Dunn entitled: ‘The Chronicles of Bishop Syndey Alexander Dunn’.  He started by recounting Bishop’s birth on 12 October 1921 in Salt Gut (Boscobel), St Mary Jamaica, sharing a joke about Bishop’s fondness for his parish because Mary was mother to Jesus – not Anne or Catherine.  The young bishop Dunn was saved in his teens following the missions work of Mother Christine Walsh.  The chronicles recorded Bishop’s in ital call to ministry (a word of knowledge given to Mother Walsh by God), his early pastoral work in Kilcully (from 19 years old). His overseeing of 8 churches before election as Deputy Bishop for the Shiloh Apostolic Church, Jamaica. The chronicles wouldn’t have been complete without a mention of how Bishop came to England, his preaching on the SS Ariga and the divine call to ‘go up to Gibson Rd’.    Overseer Queensborough said that he had ‘never heard anybody exalt Jesus Christ like Bishop Dunn’, Bishop has an ability to exalt Jesus in a way that Jakes and Jones could not match.   In closing Overseer said that Bishop’s legacy would not be in a building, but in the preaching of the gospel to the lost.  Overseer Queensborough spoke of a message Bishop preached on the ship to England entitled: ‘Ephraim is a cake half turned’, his audience was primarily judges and senior professionals and officials.  Bishop preached society was like the cake not turned, developed intellectually but not spiritually and morally. Overseer said Bishop’s accomplishment in life was that he had helped to ‘turn the cake’. 

Bishop’s PhD presented by Dr Joe Nelson

Dr Joe Nelson, President of Parkersburg Bible College and an Apostolic Jew awarded Bishop with his doctorate.  Dr Nelson encouraged all present to give themselves to the Word and study.  He gave a moving testimony of a friend of his who had Alzheimer’s and could not remember anything when asked by the doctor.  However, when the doctor asked him to write something the brother started to write out Acts 2:38 and told the doctor it applied to him too!  So, we need to immerse ourselves in the Word so that it becomes a part of who we are – even if we lose our memory. Dr Nelson then made comparison between Bishop Dunn and Abraham, I thought it was a high honour for a Jew to compare anyone to Abraham!  Like Abraham Bishop Dunn received a name change when baptised in Jesus’ Name, like Abraham God called him from his country (Jamaica) to a new land (England), like Abraham many sons and daughters (spiritually) have been born to him. 

The Apostolic Church

Dr Colin Cawley finished off the ceremony with a message on ‘The Apostolic Church’.  The message was powerful and dynamic.  The main proposition being that the church of Jesus Christ will survive, it has suffered before and multiplied and it will survive as we suffer again.  

All in all, an awesome evening.