E.
H. “Jack” Sequeira, a well-known and at times controversial Seventh-day
Adventist pastor, evangelist, and theologian, died in Portland, Oregon, United
States, on March 26, 2022, after a stroke aged 89.
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| Pastor Evangelist and Theologian Jack-Sequeira/ Photo by Adventist Review |
During
almost 60 years of service to the Adventist Church in various capacities, the
Kenya-born Sequeira was a sought-after preacher and evangelist on three
continents.
A Life in
Ministry
Born in 1932,
his parents had immigrated to Kenya from Goa, a Portuguese enclave on the west
coast of India.
He joined the
Seventh-day Adventist Church through evangelism in 1957, being baptized by
Robert Wieland.
According to his
official website, Sequeira rode from Nairobi to England on his motorcycle and
spent 14 months working as a literature evangelist before enrolling at Newbold
College.
He graduated in
1963 with a bachelor’s degree in theology and later earned a Master’s in
systematic theology at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United
States.
Together with
his wife, Jean, Sequeira served as a missionary for 17 years in Uganda, Kenya,
and Ethiopia.
In 1982, the
Sequeiras moved to the U.S., where he served as a local church pastor until his
retirement in 2001.
Jack Sequeira’s
Theology
Sequeira held
what is usually called Federal Theology, that God deals with mankind in the
persons of the first and second Adam; that the choice to sin by the first Adam
was something in which all his descendants participated…. Therefore, there
exists a kind of corporate responsibility, even corporate guilt, for which all
of us need to repent.
Sequeira also
suggested that when Christ (known as the second Adam) died, we all died with
Him. And because every person participated in Christ’s death, hence every
person is justified.
Another one of
Sequeira’s teachings is that Jesus saved men and women in actuality, not
vicariously. “When Christ died on the cross, all humanity was legally justified
because all humanity died with Him there,” Sequeira wrote.
According to
retired Biblical Research Institute (BRI) associate director Gerhard Pfandl,
this is not what the Bible teaches. “We did not die on the cross. Christ died
for us, vicariously, instead of us…. He died for us, in our place,” Pfandl
wrote.
Sequeira’s
Influence
According to the
Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, the Adventist Youth Organization in
Kenya traced its roots to a series of sermons preached by Sequeira in 1966.
At that time,
Sequeira was a teacher at Kamagambo Adventist College. “[His preaching] created
a passion in some young people who decided to do something for their fellow
youth,” it states.
Sequeira is
survived by his wife of 58 years and two children who still oversees programmes
for children’s and women’s health in Africa.
A memorial
service has been announced for May 22. Details are pending.
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