Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana wins HOPE Award 2024 for groundbreaking work on the intercultural church across Europe
Sarajevo/ Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2024
Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana, an ordained and accredited Baptist minister and founding director of Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World, has been honored for his groundbreaking work on the intercultural church across Europe by receiving the HOPE Award 2024. The award was presented to Dr Olofinjana during the General Assembly of the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) in Sarajevo/ Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, 11 June 2024.
The HOPE Award is presented annually by EEA‘s Hope for Europe Networks Roundtable to a person, group or project in Europe embodying both the message of biblical hope and values such as partnership, networking, transformation, and integrity. With the presentation of the award, the EEA aims to give appropriate honor to such people and efforts, and to increase awareness especially across national borders of initiatives which in turn can inspire further ‘actions of hope’.
In 2024, the EEA honors Dr Olofinjana for his „tireless efforts in seeking to enable, cheer on & catalyse, evangelical unity across all ethnicities in the UK and beyond.“ This is what the engraving on the statue, which is presented as the award, reads. Dr Olofinjana has led two multi-ethnic Baptist churches and an independent charismatic church, is an honorary research fellow at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham and is on the advisory group on Race and Theology at the Society for the Study of Theology (SST).
During the HOPE Award ceremony held at the EEA’s General Assembly venue in Sarajevo, Connie Duarte and Jan Wessels, the General Secretaries of the EEA, emphasized that Dr. Olofinjana has been fundamental in bringing hope to many people, ministries and churches. He has worked tirelessly to make those who are marginalized find their place. He and the One People Commission within the UK Evangelical Alliance have challenged the majority to embrace the minority in love and dignity. They have challenged the church to be inclusive and welcoming and to be a Church that learns, that transforms, that is humble and yet bold.
Gavin Calver, CEO of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, who could not personally attend the EEA’s General Assembly and witness the award ceremony, said in a video message: „Israel has done a wonderful job of bringing people together of all ethnicities in the UK to celebrate and worship the One Jesus together.“ Calver gave examples of questions that Israel raised and dealt with in a novel and pioneering way: „What does unity look like interculturally? What do intercultural churches look like? And what might intercultural justice look like in the UK landscape?“ He emphasised that „we long to see the impact of this intercultural work not just within the UK but within wider Europe all around“ and congratulated his friend and colleague with the words „Well done, congratulations, this is well deserved. Let’s crack on and keep going for the kingdom!“
