SED Christian Training Institute (9/12-13/2008)

Concept

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, extends this gracious invitation to all:  "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me" (Matthew 11:29).  If we are serious followers of Jesus Christ, we are willing to do all we can to "learn" of Him.  It is in keeping with the Lord's invitation and the seriousness of our faith that the Christian Training Institutes of the Sixth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church have been developed.  In the most accessible manner possible, they intent to provide meaningful teaching and training experiences for all members of the church.  The concept is to provide a "school" for church members in a way that would bring the "school" to the members.  Ten geographical areas have been selected where the Institutes are to be conducted.  Those persons living in and around these areas are invited to attend the Institute nearest them.  The staff to conduct the school and the instructors to teach from across the Episcopal District have been selected.  Five Institutes will be held in the Fall of 2008 and five in the Spring of 2009.  The Institutes will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening and close at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.  --excerpt from 2008/2009 CTI Guide (C.M.E. Sixth Episcopal District)

We attended the session on September 12-13, 2008 at Everette Temple C.M.E. Church, Tifton, Ga.  We appreciate the hospitality extended by Pastor Rev. James N. Greene, Jr. and the members of Everette Temple.  The plan was well executed by our local Dean Matthew Conyers and Assistant Dean Glendora P. Ryce.  Further, we appreciate the smooth operation led by local Registrar Betty Parson.  Our Presiding Prelate, Bishop Othal Hawthorne Lakey, left the Paine College Presidential Inauguration Ceremonies in Augusta, Ga. and journeyed through North, Middle, and South Georgia to meet us in Tifton thus showing his commitment to the programmatic effort and his personal support of our educational success.  We found his depth of scriptures and their Biblical and historical context fascinating and intriguing.  You probably already know that the Psalms are a Hymnbook of the Bible.  But did you know the five books of Psalms and that each closes with a doxology to God.  Attending this session, you will be amazed of his transliteration and translation of Hebrew.  We are blessed to have his leadership and more importantly his example of inspiration meeting preparation.  It was our welcomed experience to participate as an instructor for the Elective Course No. 10-107110, "Negro Spirituals:  The Stories They Told and the Faith They Declared."  We pray that He is pleased with our praise!  We congratulate those who attended and celebrate the graduates who were awarded a Diploma in Christian Training for having earned a total of fifteen credit hours over a three-year period.  Finally, we thank you Presiding Elders Robert L. Yarbrough (South Georgia Moultrie-McRae-Brunswick District) and Carlton Mahone (South Georgia Albany-Thomasville District) for your leading this Region of the Sixth Episcopal District in a spirit of TEAM.