Historic Black Church Donates 2 Million for Higher Education
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CMEC), a 130-year historic denomination, gave two million dollars to one of its affiliated schools in Texas as part of an effort to support educational institutions and its surrounding communities.
The gift, which was presented to Texas College in Tyler, Texas on Friday, Oct. 29, was given in the form of a giant check to the seminary’s President, Dr. Billy C. Hawkins.
Hawkins expressed his gratitude to the College of Bishops and the church for the generous gift, according to the CMEC’s press release.
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Present at the gift-giving ceremony were senior Bishop and CEO Marshall Gilmore, seven more members of the College of Bishops, Members of the Texas College football team, and eight of the denomination’s ten active CME church bishops.
In attendance were Bishops Marshall Gilmore of the Eighth Episcopal District; William H. Graves, First Episcopal District; Othal H. Lakey, Sixth Episcopal District; Thomas L. Hoyt, Fourth Episcopal District; Charles L. Helton, Seventh Episcopal District; Paul A.G. Stewart, Third Episcopal District; Lawrence L. Reddick III, Fifth Episcopal District; and Henry M. Williamson Sr., Ninth Episcopal District. Bishop E. Lynn Brown, the present Chairman of the College of Bishops and leader of the Second Episcopal District, and Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham of the Tenth Episcopal District, sent representatives from their respective districts since pressing matters would not allow them to be present, according to the Dec. 22 press release.
The CME Church was founded in 1870 in Jackson, Tennessee, and has since spread throughout the United States, Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana and Nigeria.
The church owns and operates four historical black colleges: Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee; Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama; Paine College (in cooperation with the United Methodist Church ) in Augusta, Georgia; and Texas College.
For more information on the CME Church, visit: www.c-m-e.org
