Order of the FLAME: A Life-Changing Experience
By Presiding Elder Carlene Sobers
It was a privilege and honor to be chosen and accepted by the World Methodist Evangelism Council as the representative from the AME Church at their Order of the FLAME (Faithful Leaders as Mission Evangelists) 2020 gathering. It was held March 9-13, 2020 at Epworth by the Sea on St. Simons Island, Georgia. I never could have imagined embarking on such a spiritual journey that would have allowed me to be in such a sacred place to bond with ministers from the AMEZ, CME, UMC, and other Wesleyan and Methodist churches from 25 different states in the United States. This year, for the first time, students at the FLAME attended from Barbados, Brazil, and South Africa. It was a greater honor to be the first to represent the 16th District and Barbados. We were nurtured, encouraged, mentored, and equipped with resources.
The schedule included early morning Holy Communion; morning plenary sessions which included music, prayer, and Bible study that focused on Mark; and teaching sessions that dealt with topics like evangelism, being purposely provocative with our Christian speech in a vital age, dangerous liturgy, and the Holy Spirit DNA. There were also evening breakout sessions on the preaching, outreach, and the Holy Spirit.
I choose to focus on the Word which was very insightful as it dealt with topics like “Seeing the Other,” “Radical Reconciliation,” and “Intergroup Dialogue.” Other sessions included “Spark Talks,” of which two were required each day. I attended the Church Revitalization, Business as Mission/Entrepreneurship, Leading Staff, and Perspectives from the Global Church.
Each day ended with evening worship and a guest speaker. We also embarked on a field trip to Fort Frederica which was the place where John and Charles Wesley visited and spent time ministering to the slaves on the island. It was a humbling spiritual experience to see a place of slavery on United States soil and to know that our Wesleyan heritage had a ministering present as well. The historic grounds of Epworth provided a time of prayer, meditation, and being in the presence of God as well as to visit the John Wesley Museum.
The final day ended with the worship and commissioning service in which we were presented with certificates and welcomed into being members of the World Methodist Evangelism Council. What interested me most was the fact that a lot of what was taught throughout the sessions was very familiar to me and confirmation to the fact that in the AME Church, the teaching and structures are well-designed to equip and empower its members in the right way. In the 16th District, we are privileged to receive such vast knowledge and training at our planning meetings and during the annual conferences where our bishops—particularly Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield—took time to organize, teach, and explain what is required of us to soar. This kind of training in the AME Church is necessary and should be a must for all ministers or persons considering ministry in general.
I thank God for the strength and endurance and also for Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield for her confidence in me and her Godly insight in leadership. It was a life-changing experience.
