Each year, the Savannah Waycross District of the Georgia Annual Conference in the Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church gathers for the business of area churches. The business sessions include resolutions of the local congregations, and the Board of Examiners report to receive new and advance individuals who have accepted their call to public ministry. These congregations gather for fellowship, worship and training.

This year, the District Conference has a new component to promote its training portion, the Theological Symposium. The symposium brings together scholars and theologians to explore trends in theological education and what it means for ministry, preaching and pastoral care.
It takes place Dec. 11-12 at Trinity Fountain AME Church, 672 Key St., Savannah.

The plenaries on the first day will explore the historical presence of people of color in the Bible. Dr. Cain Hope Felder will speak. He holds a Ph.D. in biblical languages and literature from Columbia University, a Diploma of Theology from Oxford University in England and master’s degrees in divinity and of philosophy from Howard University. He can read Hebrew, Latin, and Greek — skills he brought to bear in writing the Jubilee Legacy Bible (published by Broadman and Holman of Nashville, Tennessee) which documents the African presence in the Old and New Testaments.

Dr. Michael Joseph Brown, who has taught at Emory University for more than 12 years will examine pastoral care from a 21st-century context. Brown has written three books, “The Lord’s Prayer through North African Eyes: A Window into Early Christianity” (2005), “Blackening of the Bible: The Aims of African-American Biblical Scholarship” (2004) and “What They Don’t Tell You: A Survivor’s Guide to Biblical Studies” (2000). He has published two dozen scholarly articles, given 17 invited lectures and presentations, and has received seven grants to advance his scholarship.

The session’s goal is to increase clergy and laity’s awareness of the importance of pastoral care in congregational ministry and the significance of black people’s presence in the Bible.

Dr. Lawrence Gordon, pastor of Greater Macedonia AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the guest preacher.

Registration is $75 through Nov. 30. On-site registration is $85. For more information, contact Luella Clark at 912-921-5302 or lou122008@
yahoo.com.