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Special to The T&D
Clergy and laity from churches across South Carolina and beyond will gather at Claflin University next week to explore reaching congregants with "different voices."
The annual Granville Hicks Leadership Academy for Laity and Clergy will be held on the Claflin campus Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
The keynote address for this year's academy will be delivered by Dr. Michael J. Brown, an Emory University associate professor of New Testament and Christian Origins. The keynote session will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, in Elmore Chapel.
Theme for this year's academy is "Reading the Bible in Different Voices."
"This year's lecture series raises the question, 'How can we make the Bible speak to the situations of people of varying cultures, races, ethnicities and socioeconomic circumstances?'," said Dr. Jimmy J. Montgomery, associate professor of philosophy and religion at Claflin.
Workshop leaders will include Dr. Carolyn L. McCrary, the Rev. Kenneth Nelson and the Rev. Sonia Ortigoza, who will focus on different voices in the areas of pastoral care, worship and social witness. A complete schedule for the lecture series is available at www.claflin.edu.
McCrary, an associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at Atlanta's Interdenominational Theological Center, will also address second-year Claflin students as the speaker at the weekly Sophomore Assembly. The assembly will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, in the W.V. Middleton Fine Arts Center.
For more information or to register, call Montgomery at 803-536-5360 or e-mail jmontgomery@claflin.edu.
The 2008 Granville Hicks Leadership Academy for Laity and Clergy is sponsored by the Claflin University Center for Vocational Reflection and the Ethnic Local Church Concerns Committee and the African-American Task Force of the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The annual Granville Hicks Leadership Academy for Laity and Clergy is named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Granville A. Hicks, a 1957 Claflin alumnus, in recognition of his leadership as a pastor and district superintendent in the S.C. Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Established in 1992, the purpose of the Granville Hicks Leadership Academy is to equip laity and clergy for ministry and leadership within the church. The academy empowers individuals with biblical knowledge, intellectual growth and theological reflection, thus enhancing church development, renewal and mission outreach. The academy intends to unite laity and clergy; establish church leadership; increase awareness of Christian education's role within the church; offer cross-cultural experiences within the church; and enhance church/university relationships.