From the General Secretary of Christian Education

To Pastors and Christian Educators

Greetings in the name of the One who saves us from our sins, Jesus the Christ!

As we have moved through the introspective time of Lent to the Easter Event and march toward Pentecost and the celebration of the Birth of the Church, I want to share with you my hopes of Christian education across our denomination.  Through teaching, we bring our people into a holy understanding of God’s love, word, and spirit.  The mission of the Department of Christian Education is to make disciples of Jesus Christ through events that form and transform.  My hope for all our congregations this year is:

  • To bring children, teens and adults into a deeper understanding of God’s word
  • To reach into the communities and touch those so close tour doors who do not yet know the bounty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
  • To build families through building faith and to strengthen those families through the supporting community of the church
  • To enhance a deeper and richer awareness of the long history and heritage of the African American church and its place in the community

Our church school resources, recommended by the Department of Christian Education of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and published by the Department of Publication Services, are an important key to how we bring people into a stronger relationship with God and the Word.  I urge you all to take advantage of these resources in your ministry of Christian Education.

This year, I would also like each of your congregations to know and experience a new resource that is designed to bring our children, teens and adults together in a new and exciting way – a way that will claim their roots, kindle their hopes for the future and spread the love of God through the community around us.  This new resource is Under the Baobab Tree.  A five-session program, this study connects strong Bible teaching with the heritage of the African American community and our faith heroes and teaches our children about African culture.  I am strongly recommending this resource to be used in local church Vacation Bible Schools in 2003.

This resource was developed in response to demands expressed by African American church leaders in United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, African American Episcopal Zion, and Christian Methodist Episcopal congregations for more Afro-centric materials for children.  There are two main benefits that Under the Baobab Tree will offer congregations:

  1. Congregations will explore how themes of liberation and freedom stretch back through history to the Bible, and to the greatest source of freedom, Jesus Christ.  Programs tie stories like the Moses and the Exodus to traditional “Negro Spirituals” (Go Down Moses, Rock-A My Soul, etc.)  and to historical events in African American history.  (Underground Railroad, the Exodusters, Great Migration).  Participants will claim their faith tradition as well as their cultural heritage.
  1. Intergenerational worship and learning is a key feature.  More than half of the learning time is spent in intergenerational settings with children, teens and adults singing traditional and contemporary music together, playing African games, sharing a meal, and hearing stories from elders in the congregations.  The design helps build stronger family community within the church.

Finally, the Department of Christian Education will receive a 10% rebate for all material purchased by CME churches.  You can make your order through the Department of Christian Education or through Cokesbury at 1-800-672-1789.  To make sure your order is identified as a CME order, use this promotional code, AV3, at Cokesbury when you order.  For further information, see the enclosed brochure.

I strongly recommend that each of you take the opportunity to review this new Bible study program for your church and enjoy the blessings of what it will do for you, your congregation, and for the community living around you.  Reach out into the community you and help your children claim their heritage and faith, and kindle hope in your young people when there often is such a shortage, and spread the love of God and the life changing message of the Gospel.

Your Servant Leader

Carmichael Crutchfield