Convocation

Last week was one of the most exciting weeks experienced in the life of my church. I attend Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church. For those of you reading this blog who are not familiar with the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), let me give you a brief background.

Compared to other denominations, the CEC is young; the first meeting was held on June 26, 1992. The CEC did not branch off of the Episcopal or Anglican Church, but rather, was “birthed out of worship,” as our Patriarch, The Most Reverend Craig Bates, told us last week.

The CEC is based on a movement in the church universal today that is known as “convergence worship.” Simply put, this means that our worship is fully charismatic (Spirit-filled), fully evangelical (the Bible is taught and preached in our churches and the Word is carried out to the nations), and fully sacramental/liturgical (we have liturgical readings and responses and we celebrate the Eucharist (Communion) every Sunday.) For more information about the Charismatic Episcopal Church visit the website at www.ICCEC.org or www.CEChome.org.

Last week our church hosted the Provincial Convocation (which is a very fancy way of saying annual meeting) of the Southeast Diocese, beginning on Wednesday evening and ending at the close of the worship service on Friday evening. We were honored to have as our keynote speaker the Patriarch of the CEC, the Most Reverend Craig Bates, as well as the Archbishop of the Southeast Diocese, The Most Reverend Chuck Jones and many other distinguished Bishops and priests.

Patriarch Bates preached on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. General Sessions were held Thursday and Friday mornings and workshops were offered both afternoons. The culmination of the convocation was the enthronement of Father David Epps to the Bishop of the Mid-South Diocese.

Today’s blog is the introduction/background information for the remaining blogs for this week. I will be blogging on messages preached and lessons learned, gifts used and reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Please come back every day this week! And if you ever want to visit Christ the King, the door is always open!