Church School Continues to Flourish in First Episcopal District

Church School Continues to Flourish in First Episcopal District

By Sister Angelena Spears, 1^stEpiscopal District

The First Episcopal District has something that not all Episcopal districts have—a district church school superintendent. The current superintendent is Sister Jeanne Chavious, a member of Mt. Tabor AME Church in Philadelphia, who was appointed to the position by Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram in 2014.  

In her role as district church school superintendent, Sister Chavious is intentional on attending all seven of the District’s annual conferences.

Her first stop this year was Bermuda in March; followed by Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Western New York, and New England. She ended in Philadelphia in May.

Each annual conference culminates with a Model Church School, held on the morning or afternoon of the closing session.  An identical lesson is used for each conference, which mirrors the District’s theme for the year.  This year’s theme, selected by Bishop Ingram, was “The Year of Restoration,” based on Joel 2:25-26.

Attendance at the Model Church Schools continues to grow.  The Bermuda classes had over 40 persons in attendance this year. Philadelphia usually has upwards 60-70 students.

Sister Chavious served as the local and conference superintendents prior to being named to the Episcopal district leadership role. Prior to Sister Chavious’ appointment, Sister Ann White-Sims served as the district superintendent for 14 years. “The church school is the ‘cornerstone’ of the church, as we teach the Word of God and prepare members for discipleship, as commanded in Matthew 28:19-20,” says Sister Chavious. “The church school is as relevant today as it was when Mother Bethel AME Church began Sunday school under the Rev. Richard Allen… It is imperative that we fulfill Jesus’ Commission and support the ministry of the church school and its workers,” she continued. 

In addition to working with district superintendents in planning the Model Church Schools, Sister Chavious coordinates the Church School Annual Training Workshop and Luncheon. The annual event is held every fall and is attended by teachers and superintendents from across all conferences. The workshops emphasize “best methods” in teaching and stimulate valuable exchanges on how to grow the local church school departments. 

Last fall, in celebration of 25 years of training, a Silver Awards Banquet was held to honor the seven conference superintendents and to recognize the district and local superintendents. Former conference superintendents were also recognized. The event was co-chaired by Sisters Chavious and White-Sims. It was attended by more than 400 people. 

Two special persons were honored, the Rev. Diane Jefferson, who is the pastor of Bethel Cito AME Church in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, and Sister Chavious. The Rev. Jefferson was presented with the Rev. Earl R. Jefferson Christian Trainer Award and Sister Chavious received the Leadership Award.

The keynote speaker was the Rev. Jay Broadnax, the pastor of Mt. Pisgah AME Church in Philadelphia, who delivered a timely and compelling message titled, “Restoring our Learning Communities.” He used Acts 2:42 for his text and spoke passionately about the need to maintain and restore learning communities in the AME Church.

He then uplifted the church school as a “learning community laboratory” and said, “by definition, it models the notion of learning together, growing together, and applying God’s Word together.” During the event, Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram commended Sister Chavious for the fine work she was doing in leading the church school and expressed his appreciation for all of the persons being recognized for their service.The First Episcopal District Conference Superintendents are Dr. Shangri-La Durham-Thompson (Bermuda); Barbara Lash (Delaware); Victoria Hill (Philadelphia); the Rev. Dannie Green (New England); Samuel Jones, Jr. (New Jersey); the Rev. Camille Smith (New York); and Caroline Williams (Western New