The Right Reverend Bravid Washington Harris, 1896-1965
The law of life is: ‘In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,’ and we either eat it in the sweat of our own or somebody else’s and the latter doesn’t help much. Men develop as they work and labor for their own ends and manhood cannot be developed in any other way. Then too, we appreciate the things that are the result of our own labor more than those things that are presented to us by somebody else.

- Bravid Washington Harris

Bishop Harris was a tireless worker in the building of better interracial relationships. He achieved his purpose with honor and distinction over the course of forty years. At the time of his consecration as the eighth Missionary Bishop of Liberia, Harris was the only black bishop in the active service of the Episcopal Church who went on to lead an effective missionary program in Liberia.
Harris was born in Warrenton, North Carolina on January 6, 1896. He received his education from St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina and Bishop Payne Divinity School in Petersburg, Virginia, both of which were affiliated with the American Church Institute. Following his graduation from St. Augustine’s, where he was commanding officer of the Student Military Corps, he entered the Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. He was commissioned First Lieutenant upon completion of the course and deployed to France to serve from 1917 to 1919 during the First World War. As first lieutenant, he was recognized for honorable service by the United States Government. Harris married Flossie Mae Adams on May 28, 1918.
After his discharge from the Army, Harris enrolled at Bishop Payne Divinity School to prepare himself for the ministry. He graduated in 1922 with a Bachelor of Divinity and an admirable academic record. Harris also held an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary, which he received in 1946.
Harris was ordained to the diaconate in 1921 and to the priesthood by Bishop Delany the following year. That same year, he began his ministry serving the Warrenton, South Carolina parish of All Saints Church as Priest-in-Charge. In 1924 he left All Saints to begin his long rectorate at Grace Church in Norfolk, Virginia. For twenty years, Harris lead the Grace Church community which would grow to become the largest historically black Episcopal parish in Virginia. Under the dynamic guidance of their rector, the parishioners of Grace Church evolved into a congregation that became recognized for their contributions to the community.
Harris filled the position of Archdeacon for Negro Work in the Diocese of Southern Virginia from 1937 to 1944. During this period, Harris also devoted his time to the Bishop Payne Divinity School as a trustee; the Norfolk Community Hospital as president; and the Norfolk Community Fund as director from 1934 to 1944. Harris resigned from Grace Church in 1944 to take a position with the National Council in New York as the first Executive Secretary of Negro Work of the National Council Home Department, a position he held for a year until his election and consecration to the episcopate.
Harris’ close association with the African American church earned him the qualifications and reputation that elevated him to the episcopate as Missionary Bishop of Liberia on April 17, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the first black American to lead the Liberian mission, which nonetheless retained a colonial relationship to The Episcopal Church. His consecration was a celebration of interracial fellowship with more than 1,500 people in attendance, a testament to the trust and wide admiration people had in Harris. As Bishop of Liberia, Harris was assigned the Church’s mission of “westernization and democratization” in one of the oldest missionary districts of the Church, one inherently complex yet teeming with opportunity.
Liberia was two years shy of its bicentennial celebration as an independent nation when Bravid Harris succeeded Leopold Kroll as Missionary Bishop of Liberia. The patterns of tension and misunderstanding present among the different peoples of Liberia were familiar to him, reflecting the division of races and classes present in the United States at the time. The almost three decades preceding Harris’ episcopate were marked by events which impeded the Church’s progress in Liberia - a labor scandal in Liberia, two world wars, and the 1930s economic depression. Success
in Liberia was further complicated by the lack of strong clerical leadership in the country. It was a period in the mission’s history that tested the endurance and patience of the Church’s faithful. The devotion and integrity consistent with Harris’ decision making and leadership would help him to overcome the ever-present obstacles and to assist Liberians in reaching their potential

Liberia would ultimately benefit from Harris’ experiences as rector and archdeacon in urban and rural work and from his fearless commitment to human rights. Harris first concentrated his efforts on building schools and churches in support of improvements to the educational system. After twenty years of closure, he rebuilt and reopened Cuttington College to serve as the center of the Liberian mission. Classes in Christian theology, agriculture, health, and education were offered to men and women for the development of skills that would ultimately benefit the work of the Church and the whole of Liberia. Harris believed the women of the Church were an underutilized resource and advocated both theological and traditional education for them.

The theological school at Cuttington was a primary focus for Harris. Since the days of Bishop Payne, the Church had desired a staff and facility within the republic that could train Liberian ministers and laity. This could not be accomplished, however, until the Liberian lower schools were strengthened. Steady improvement was made in this area including the construction of five new schools. Bishop Ferguson Memorial High School was a noted success. At the time of his death in 1965, the majority of active Episcopal priests in Liberia were trained at Cuttington and ordained by Bishop Harris.

The severe climate and lack of scientific and technical expertise in Liberia gravely impacted the quality of life for native Liberians as well as the direction of Harris’ mission. In spite of Liberia’s harsh terrain, Harris traveled the country extensively, witnessing first-hand the hardships faced by the people of Liberia and the limited availability of medical services. The impact of these trips resulted in the establishment of tropical disease research and public health laboratories, some in areas that had never before been home to a resident physician.

Bishop Harris’ philosophy of evangelism was simple. For purposes of a sustainable Church, he believed Christianity should be planted and nurtured locally by the inhabitants of the area rather than by a foreign church. Harris’ evangelism centered on the completion and improvements to existing church buildings; improvements to clergy salaries, quality of work, and pastoral care; involvement of qualified local leadership in policy making; and the thorough training of future clergy and church workers. His progress included the founding of four self-supporting churches: Trinity Church; St. Thomas, Monrovia; St. Paul’s, Greenville; and St. Mark’s, Monrovia. Although not completed during his tenure, Harris began efforts towards the construction of Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia.
By the end of his jurisdiction, Bishop Harris’ work as an outstanding and sensitive administrator and an imaginative leader, won for him the profuse admiration of the people of Liberia and his American Church colleagues. President Tubman expressed the sincere gratitude of the nation at Harris’ retirement in January 1964 saying, “The Protestant Episcopal Church in Liberia has been fortunate to have had the benefit of Bishop Harris’ vision, depth and breadth of understanding, humility of spirit, human compassion, deep interest in evangelism and yen for hard work...In addition to his building programme, the Bishop has promoted the idea of a self-supporting church as the sacred obligation of a free people in a land where religion and the founding of the nation were coeval...The personal relationship that has existed between Bishop Harris and myself has been intimate and mutually beneficial...During the nineteen years of our association I have had every occasion for increased confidence, respect and affection for the Bishop...Another reason for my tender feelings that must be brought to mind at this time...is the fact that we are of the same age, or what we could call in our Liberian colloquialism, ‘crowd of boys’.”
After serving nineteen years in Liberia, Bishop Harris retired and returned to the United States. He worked briefly as the president of the Association of Episcopal Colleges before his death in an automobile accident at the age of 69. Harris also authored A Study of Our Work. [Sources]

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B. W. Harris Episcopal School Alumni Association-USA, Inc.

The B. W. Harris Episcopal School Alumni Association-USA, Inc. comprised of graduates and former students of the B. W. Harris Episcopal School, Monrovia, Liberia, was established to improve education in Liberia, with particular emphasis on B. W. Harris Episcopal School. The Association offers opportunities to “alumni to “give back” of their time, talent and treasure to their alma mater. The Association provides scholarships to deserving and suitably qualified students registered at the school without discrimination of race, religion, creed, gender, age or grade level. Each year, the Association plans, implement s and funds educational and academic projects with the goal of improving the learning environment and quality of education afforded students of their alma mater. It is a primary goal of the Association to promote and foster good and supportive relations and concern among members of the Alumni Association and their families in the United States, as well as to promote and foster good working relationships with the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia, the Board of Trustees and Administration of the B. W. Harris Episcopal School.

B.W. Harris Episcopal High School is a religious secondary school in Monrovia, Liberia. It operates under the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia of the Church of the Province of West Africa.

General Information

Established:1960 Color(s): Blue and White / Mascot: Spartan / Affiliation: Anglican

Location :Broad Street, Monrovia Liberia, West Africa / 6.3181°N 10.8096°W

History

In 1954, Bishop Bravid Washington Harris of the Episcopal Church in New York sent Dr. Joseph G. Moore to Liberia to evaluate the work of the Episcopal Church there. Dr. Moore came to the conclusion that the Trinity Parish Day elementary school and St. Thomas Parish Day secondary school should be consolidated and the programs enriched to better prepare Liberian students for higher and professional vocation at the university level. The Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) provided the initial funds to facilitate the consolidation and training. Most of the teaching staffs for both schools were retained and the transition continued throughout the 1950s.

B.W. Harris Episcopal Elementary and Junior High School officially opened on June 29, 1960 under the leadership of. There were then a total of 250 students in classes through eighth grade. An additional grade was added every year. The school's first graduating class consisted of 6 students in 1966.

St. Thomas Church pulled out of the consolidated system in 1964, but the school continued to grow. An annex building accommodating the science laboratory, library and other facilities was constructed in 1965, funded by a donation of $65,000 from the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) in the United States. The school's largely stable Board of Trustees saw dissolution in 1985 and a new board installed in 1986.

In 1990, the First Liberian Civil War forced the school to close. Many of the buildings survived but a significant portion of the school's infrastructure was looted. The school reopened in 1993 under principal Reverend Father Dee Wellington Bright offering classes to grades 1-9 and the school obtained a hundred percent pass in the grade 9 National Exams in that year. The kindergarten division was rehabilitated in 1994, as was the grade 10 with additional grades added each subsequent year.

The school was forced to close down again in 1996 due to the April war in Monrovia, when looting again made away with many school materials. A tutorial program was run in August 1997 and regular classes resumed for the 1997-1998 academic year. In December 1997, Mrs. Gertrude Findley was appointed as Principal. The first class of 33 post-war graduates was produced in June 1998.

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The Very Rev. Dr. Emmanuel W. Johnson

Fr. Johnson served as principal of the St. Thomas Elementary School, Monrovia prior to his departure for the United States in 1956 for further studies.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1958 from Langston University and his Master’s in Educational Administration and Supervision from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois in 1959. His internship was completed at Kent School for Boys in Kent, Connecticut under the Rev. Dr. John Patterson. During that time, Bishop Bravid W. Harris, missionary bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia, visited Dr. Patterson.

Finding Emmanuel there, Bishop Harris immediately invited him to return to Liberia to head the Bravid W. Harris Episcopal High School, very near Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia. Emmanuel returned to Liberia in 1960 and became the founding principal of B.W. Harris Episcopal High School. While at B.W. Harris, Mr. Johnson commenced his theological studies at the Seth C. Edwards Theological Institute in 1965.

Mr. Johnson was ordained deacon on February 11, during the episcopacy of Bishop Dillard H. Brown. In 1968 upon the call from President William V. S. Tubman to serve his country, Deacon Johnson was appointed the first Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) in Monrovia Liberia.

He held this office until 1973, working very closely with Dr. Asa G. Hilliard of Georgia State University, who served as consultant and advisor to MCSS.

Fr. Johnson was ordained priest in 1968 by Bishop Dillard H. Brown, and in March 1970 was appointed Canon by Bishop C. Alfred Voegeli, interim Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia.

Rev. Johnson served as priest in Clay Ashland and Caldwell and became the first rector of St. Stephen Episcopal Church, 10th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia.

In 1973 Fr. Johnson was appointed president of Cuttington College and Divinity School, which, by action of the Cuttington Board of Trustees, was later renamed Cuttington University College.

It is located in Suacoco, Bong County. He left Cuttington in 1980 and became priest-in charge of the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County.

In 1981 he was elected dean of Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia, Liberia, thereafter appointed Canon and served in that position until his departure from Liberia in 1990 during the outbreak of the civil war.

Upon his arrival in the USA, he was appointed dean of Academic Support Services and Chaplain of Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina from 1992 to 2003 when he retired.

He then moved to Virginia in 2003 and assumed working as Priest Associate at St. David’s Episcopal Church and School in Ashburn, Virginia, where he served up to his illness.

Father Johnson has served in many other organizations. Some of his services included the training of priests and lay persons at the Seth C. Edwards Theological Institute in Liberia,

instructor of New Testament, Vocational Deacon Training Institute of the Diocese of South Carolina, member of the Standing Committee to the province of West Africa for the Episcopal Church, chaplain of the International Order of St. Luke and most recently co-founder of the Liberian Episcopal Community in the USA (LECUSA).

Father Johnson also offered Pastoral Services to Liberians in the diaspora, regardless of denomination. A onetime avid boy scout, Fr. Johnson served as international commissioner, Boy Scouts of Liberia, leader, Liberia Contingent to World Jamboree of Boy Scouts in Idaho, U.S.A. and in Tokyo Japan.

He was also Liberian delegate to World Conferences of Boy Scouts in U.S.A and Europe; and Member of Liberia delegation to UNESCO Conference on the development of Education in Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Father Johnson offered Pastoral Services to many Liberians in the Diaspora, regardless of denomination.

Emmanuel Weah Johnson was born in Fishtown, now River Gee County on May 24, 1924 to the union of Ban Sie-Dabe Johnson and Helena Tode Elliott-Johnson.

He attended the Boyle Memorial School and Bonny Government School in Bonny Nigeria where his parents and family had relocated for work. He also attended the Laboratory High School in Monrovia, Liberia. He was the second of five children.

Investiture of The Very Rev. Dr. Emmanuel W. Johnson

Rev. Dr. Emmanuel W. Johnson. By directive of Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Rev. Dr. Johnson also was conferred upon the distinction of Knight Great Band into the Humane Order of African Redemption. Fr. Johnson was appointed the first Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) by President William V.S. Tubman, and later became President of Cuttington College and Divinity School, now Cuttington University in Suacoco, Bong County. The Citation by President Sirleaf for Father Johnson also states: “Further testimony of your contributions to the Church and State were the training of Priests and Lay Persons at the Seth C. Edwards Theological Institute in Liberia; Member of the Standing Committee of the Province of West Africa for the Episcopal Church; Chaplain of the International Order of St. Luke; and most recently co-founder of the Liberian Episcopal Community in the United States.”

The Very Reverend Dr. Emmanuel W. Johnson, died. on March 2, 2018 at the Dulles Health and Rehab Center in Herndon, Virginia, United States of America.

His family and close friends were at his bedside when he received his eternal summons. He was in his 94th year

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Bishop George D. Browne

Consecrated August 6, 1970
Diocese of Liberia

X Bishop of Liberia
IV Archbishop of West Africa

Archbishop George D. Browne was Born in Garroway, Liberia. First indigenous Bishop of Liberia. First Missionary Bishop directly elected by a diocese. Led the Church in Liberia toward self-support, independence from the American Church and membership in the Province of West Africa. A visionary for peace and harmony during the civil unrest in Liberia.

The cleric, who survived death threats in his efforts to bring peace and democracy to Liberia, served on a commission that proposed democratic changes in Liberia's Constitution, but they were opposed by the authoritarian President, Samuel K. Doe.

When President Doe, was assassinated in 1990, the Archbishop opened seven churches to help victims of the civil war that broke out. Although many other religious leaders fled, Archbishop Browne tried to negotiate among warring factions.

The Archbishop's rise was occasioned by violence. After the assassination of his predecessor, he was consecrated as the first native-born Bishop of Liberia, in 1970. In 1982 the bishops of West Africa elected him Archbishop for Liberia, Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Cameroon.

As a boy, he supported his family by selling biscuits for a penny apiece and canoeing upriver for firewood. One grandfather was a high priest in an animist African religion; another was an Episcopal priest.

After graduating from Cuttington College in Liberia, Archbishop Browne received a master's degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria; he was ordained in 1963.

Archbishop George D. Browne, the leader of the Episcopal archdiocese embracing six West African nations, died on Feb. 14. He was 59.

His survivors include his wife of more than 30 years, the former Agnes Clavenda Railey; five sons, Daniel and Charles, of Milwaukee, Herman, of Liberia, and Wade and George, of Liberia, and two daughters, Dahlene Browne Passawe, of Liberia, and Shadelia Browne, of England.