Keri Fersner, 17, wants to be a positive role model for her peers at school and in the community. She recognizes the importance of prayer in helping her do that.

Fersner joined others from throughout the Orangeburg for a fall prayer breakfast Thursday.

The theme of the annual prayer breakfast, sponsored by the Orangeburg-Calhoun Association of Clergy and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was “Inside Out.”

The Rev. Lance Wright, collegiate ministry director at South Carolina State University, was the featured speaker. He issued a passionate plea for individuals to first foster inward change before expecting effective change within their community.

“It’s not what’s going on around us. It’s what’s going on on the inside,” he said, comparing the process of inward change to the metamorphic transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly.

“It’s not who we are, but it’s always who we are becoming. Think like the Lord wants us to think at all times,” Wright said. True transformation begins with a submission to God’s principles and standards, he said, referencing Romans 12:2, which reads: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Wright said leaders not only need to renew their minds, but youth as well. “You can’t be comfortable sometimes with the way you see things going at your school. You’re in this process, too. This is a good place to be,” he said.

An inward transformation is infectious, Wright said.

“The leaders have to change according to God’s standards. We’ve got to change our city and our community for the glory of God,” he said.

Fersner, a member of the Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School Choir Ensemble which sang two selections at the breakfast, said she enjoys singing and was glad to be a part of the event.

“Prayer is definitely an important part of the Christian lifestyle, so I felt that it was a good opportunity to come and be a part of something big in the community. I just want to be a positive role model for my peers in our schools,” Fersner said.

Prayers were offered by several clergymen, including Father Frank Larisey of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, who prayed for the transformation of youth.

“I believe that the transformation of our youth begins with the transformation of our families,” Larisey said.

The Rev. Dr. Mike Smith of St. Andrews United Methodist Church and the Rev. Dr. Tommy Huggins of First Baptist Church of St. Matthews prayed for the transformation of churches and the community, respectively.

The Rev. Earl Humes, director of the Midlands 4 Office of the FCA that serves Orangeburg, Bamberg, Calhoun, Sumter and Clarendon counties, said he hopes the prayer breakfast makes a difference, especially in the lives of youth.

“We want to find kids where they are and make sure that they get a chance to hear the word,” Humes said. “Like Paul says, we can plant the seed, but someone else is going to have to water it. God will reap the reward. As a community, we can help transform each other as we look within ourselves and try to impact our kids for Christ in a positive way.”

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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