I'm teaching Spiritual Formation at Payne Theological Seminary this week (A.M.E.). What a privilege and blessing it is for me to do this!
I teach two SF classes a year at Payne. This is my seventh year of teaching here. I've taught many talented followers of Jesus, and interacted with some great African American scholars.
I'm especially excited because I am now able to use my own book as one of the main texts(Praying). Next summer I hope to add my book (now writing it) on spiritual formation.
Linda is with me and we are staying at a great hotel in Dayton where she can relax, read, pray, and write in her spiritual journal while I teach.
My class runs from 9-5 each day.
It's a beautiful seventeen mile drive from our hotel to the seminary in Wilberforce. This is a very historic area, especially for black history. Payne is the oldest African American theological seminary in our nation. Wilberforce University is adjacent to Payne, and is the oldest African American university in America.
I really enjoyed class and my students today. God is doing great things this week at Payne!
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PAYNE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
1844 – The Ohio Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church met in Columbus October 18th to select a site and erect a Seminary and Manual Training School.
1856 – Wilberforce University was founded with an interest in providing religious education.
1891 – The Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University voted and approved the organization of a seminary to be named for Bishop Daniel A. Payne, who had interested the African Methodist Episcopal Church in a program of higher education.
1894 – Payne Theological Seminary was incorporated as an independent institution “for the purpose of promoting education, religion, and morality by the education of persons for the Christian ministry and missionaries for the redemption of Africa and other foreign lands.”
1954 – The Seminary took steps to raise its standards by promoting a program exclusively on a graduate level.
1956 – Payne Theological Seminary was admitted to membership in the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
1995 – It became the fourth historically African American theological seminary to become fully accredited by the ATS.
2009 – The ATS Commission on Accrediting announced that Payne had been elevated to a ten-year accreditation cycle. Payne’s next accreditation visit will be in 2018.
Location: Payne Theological Seminary is located at the corner of Wilberforce-Clifton Road and Coleman Road in Wilberforce, Ohio. Wilberforce is approximately three miles northeast of Xenia, Ohio, and 18 miles east of Dayton, Ohio. It is situated within driving distance of Dayton, Springfield, Cincinnati, and Columbus.
