His parents planted the seeds of faith, which have grown into beautiful blooms | Opinion

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it…”- Proverbs 22:6/NIV

Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to witness the above prophesy play out in real time when my godson, the Rev. Cecil Andrew Duffie, Ph.D., was installed as dean of the chapel at Tuskegee University in Alabama.

As I sat during the ceremonies, listening to ageless hymns beautifully rendered by Tuskegee University’s concert choir, and as ministers, mentors and Andrew’s parents told the story of how he became one of the youngest officers of college religious and spiritual life, I was overwhelmed by being a witness to the historic occasion. He is 37.

I can tell you this: The moment did not happen by accident. The seeds of faith had been planted in Andrew’s life even before he could pronounce his own name correctly. Not only did he have praying parents and grandparents on both sides, he had a host of mentors and teachers who helped instill in him how being a person with moral character and a deep faith could benefit him.

Andrew took the bait. Saturday, surrounded by his parents, Minister Troy and Cecily Robinson-Duffie, Esq., twin sister Dr. Cecily Anastasia, brother Troy Adam, youngest sisters Caitlyn and Trinity, and friends and members of his home church, the Historic Saint John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Miami’s Overtown, Andrew accepted the challenge to serve as the spiritual leader of a campus ministry that is steeped in history.

I have been privileged to watch his development over the years. His grandmother, the late Thelmarie Mitchell Robinson (Mitch, as we called her), and I had been friends since the seventh grade. She died when we were 54. So, over the years, I have filled in as godmother to her daughters Crystal and Cecily, as well as a surrogate grandma to her grandchildren.

I remember the first time I realized Andrew had a spiritual calling. I was the speaker for a Woman’s Day program at Saint John’s, where his family has celebrated more than 100 years of continuous membership.

When it was time for the altar call, an invitation to those in the congregation who did not know the Lord as their personal Savior, Andrew, who was barely 5 years old, took his twin sister by the hand and walked to the altar with her as a gesture of accepting Christ.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the congregation that Sunday. Their great-grandmother, the late Hannah Mitchell, was so happy she nearly jumped from her wheelchair.

As the Robinson-Duffie family grew, I noticed how the parents quietly guided their children on their Christian journey. There was no demanding or pushing their children toward the Lord. Troy and Cecily Robinson Duffie simply gave their children good, sound biblical teaching. Better still, they showed their children how to live righteously by being living examples.

So, Saturday as I sat in the beautiful Tuskegee Chapel, these and other memories about Andrew flooded my mind. I spoke to him about his new appointment a few days after the installation. I wanted to know if the seriousness of being a spiritual guide to so many young people had hit him yet.

“The responsibility of leading a religious and spiritual life office is both humbling and exciting,” he said. “I often say that I get to love people with the love of Christ, sometimes without having to call the name of Christ. That is because often religion can be a hindrance to some.

“But love, especially the love of Christ, is unconditional and without strings. Our mantra in the chapel is ‘curiosity, connection and community,’ which highlights our purpose to be a space where students feel affirmed, where they belong and most importantly, where they can go deep.

“Truth is critical in the times we are living in,” he said. “Truth-telling, especially in tough conversations, helps our students to formulate perspectives that impact our world. Our youth crave facts and they look for authenticity. They want what is real. I believe it is my responsibility to lead with transparency in a world that is filled with artificial intelligence.”

Andrew was born in Miami and attended Miami-Dade County Public Schools, graduating in 2007 from North Miami Senior High. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in telecommunications with a minor in education from the University of Florida. He earned a Ph.D. and a master’s of divinity from Howard University.

He has taught at Breakthrough Collaborative, the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom School, and as a Teach for America Corps member in Miami-Dade County Schools.

Andrew became a licensed minister in 2012 and was ordained in 2017 at Howard University. That same year, he was appointed as the inaugural assistant dean of religious life at the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel at Howard.

Prior to joining the faculty at Tuskegee, Andrew served as dean of the Julius S. Scott Senior Chapel of Wiley University in Texas. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, where he serves a national committee chairman. In addition, he is a board member of the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education.

“We are living in an age when truth is being scrubbed from history books, classrooms, and cultural institutions. It is imperative that leaders, particularly on college campuses, speak truth to power and the powerless,” Andrew said.