Faith News Network

Cleveland, TN–Dr. Nancy Hill, professor of education at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education will address graduates and guests at Lee University’s spring commencement on Saturday, May 7, at 9:30 a.m. on the lawn of the Science and Math Complex (SMC).

Hill is a developmental psychologist and researcher, and her work identifies the unique and interactive ways in which race, ethnicity, and socioeconomics status influence parenting beliefs, practices and child outcomes, especially among African American, Latino, and Euro-American children. She is the co-founder of the study group on Race, Culture, and Ethnicity and has published books such as “African American Family Life: Ecological and Cultural Diversity,” “Families, Schools, and the Adolescent: Connecting Research Policy and Practice.”

Graduation festivities at the Church of God’s flagship educational institution will begin with a hooding ceremony for students earning graduate degrees. This service will take place in the Lee University Chapel on Friday, May 6, at 4:30 p.m. After the hooding ceremony, all graduates will march in the commissioning service at 6:30 p.m. on the SMC lawn. During commissioning, six graduates will share stories of their Lee experiences, and all graduates will receive Bibles to commemorate this personal milestone.  Students earning the top three awards, as chosen by the faculty, will be recognized during the Friday service. They include the F.J. Lee Award, for the top overall student, Zeno C. Tharp Award for the student believed to make the greatest impact in the church, and the Charles Paul Conn Award, given to the student believed to have the greatest potential to academically succeed beyond the undergraduate level.

On Saturday, over 510 degrees are set to be conferred, about 50 of which are for graduate students. In addition to the awarding of degrees and the address by Nancy Hill, the three top faculty awards for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Advising, will be presented.

The spring commencement weekend is the largest of three graduation exercises held each year
All three ceremonies, including hooding, commissioning, and commencement will be available for live stream viewing at http://livestream.com/leeu.

For more information about commencement exercises, please contact the Academic Events Office at  academicevents@leeuniversity.edu, (423) 614-8117 or visit the website at www.leeuniversity.edu.

(NOTE: The following article reports on an on-going revival which was sparked at a local high school, and broke loose at the Regional Church of God in Delbarton, West Virginia. Reported by Ken Walker of PE News, the news source of the Assembly of God).

The Gatlinburg Convention Center in downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, was the site for the 2016 Smoky Mountain Jubilee Senior Adult Retreat, held April 26-28, 2016. A registered 1,324 persons age 50 and older, gathered for two nights and a day and a half of fun, fellowship, music, and worship.

The 2016 Jubilee began with a Tuesday night concert featuring comedian/ singer/ songwriter Aaron Wilburn and the renowned Southern Gospel trio, Greater Vision. Bishop James E. Cossey, executive administrator of USA Missions who served as the director of the retreat, opened the Tuesday night session and set the tone for the venue by singing the title song from his new CD, Don’t Hang Your Head and Cry! Cossey challenged the delegates with the words of Solomon, “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4), saying that “this is a time for laughter and celebration!”

Along with her husband, Bishop Raymond Hall, Pastor Arlene O. Hall founded the Deliverance Temple Worship Center in 1999. Built on the pillars of consistent prayer and Spirit-filled worship, Pastor Hall has innovated new ministry strategies that keep the church on the cutting edge. Her church leaders are well-versed in logic models and measurement tools for ministry. “Outcomes,” she says, “are simply the fruit of the ministry. It’s not a “corporate” thing; it is what Jesus requires. Every ministry should know whether it is producing fruit for the Kingdom. If it is not, we know what area we have to address.”

Cleveland, TN–The Pentecostal Theological Seminary dedicated the Niko Njotorahardjo Chair for the Restoration of the Tabernacle of David (Prayer, Praise and Worship) on Thursday, April 28, in a chapel service followed by a celebration dinner. Dr. Njotorahardjo is a pastor of Gereja Bethel Indonesia, an international Pentecostal church of over 250,000 members. His church donated $1,000,000 for the endowment to establish the chair. The chair focuses on Prayer, Praise and Worship and the title reference to the restoration of the tabernacle of David comes from Acts 14:16-18 (King James Version):

Cleveland, TN–When the Leadership and Communications Center opened in 2004, it included a small conference center and state of the art recording and digital editing studio. At the time the equipment was the best the industry had to offer.