From staff reports
Holy Trinity Classical Christian School is set to launch its annual Aletheia Speaker Series. Throughout the year, Holy Trinity will invite speakers to address thought provoking topics that align with its educational objective of encouraging moral character, civic virtue and the discovery of eternal truths.
According to a release, the school seeks to not only educate their students through content rich classical liberal arts and sciences curriculum, but also to feed the intellectual curiosity of the Beaufort community at large.
The series will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 10 with guest lecturer Pastor Alexander McBride. His theme is “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” from 2 Corinthians 3:17. Since its beginning as a “praise house” during the Civil War, First African Baptist Church has been a pillar of faith and strength in the Beaufort community. Pastor Alex McBride will speak about the history of First African Baptist and the significant role it has played in spreading “the freedom of the Lord.”
Born in Greenwood Mississippi in 1958, McBride was raised in a single parent home by his mother, Dollie L. McBride. He entered the United States Marine Corps in 1975 and became one of the first integrated blacks to be on President Carter’s Presidential Guards and first Black Sergeants Major to serve aboard the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier, The U.S.S. Harry S. Truman and chosen as the second Black Sergeants Major of the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station. He participated in several wars across three timelines: The final months of the evacuation of Cambodia, Operation Kuwaiti Freedom, and the Gulf War.
McBride is an honor graduate across three schools: Bachelor of Science in Management from Wayland Baptist University, Master of Science in Early Childhood Education from Boston University, and a Master of Science in Theology from Liberty University. After 33-years tenure in ministry he is the full time senior Pastor of The Prestigious First African Baptist Church where his motto of teaching is, “Above All Else, Sound Doctrine …”
In November, Holy Trinity will offer a series of three evenings presented by Rev. Joe Lawrence. His theme for these lectures is “Telling Tales: the Mythic Imagination of Tolkien and Lewis.” The lectures are on Tuesdays, Nov. 7, 14, and 21.
The Rev. Joe Lawrence graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a major in English Literature and a minor in Philosophy. He also graduated from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., with a Masters of Divinity. He is now the Interim Headmaster of Holy Trinity Classical Christian School and Chair of the Humanities Department.
In the modern West we have progressed technologically far beyond anything imaginable to the ancient world. But are we better storytellers? Or has the West, despite its staggering technological proficiency, lost the plot?
Perhaps we’ve traded wisdom for knowledge, and then knowledge for information, as T.S. Eliot laments. The ancient world could really tell tales, on the other hand. And it’s tales body forth the deeper truths of human life in a world made by divine power and threatened by evil.
Fortunately, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were steeped in the old stories and summoned a few new tales of their own that have some of the luster and power of the old.
Over three evenings Rev. Lawrence will investigate these modern storytellers and the deeper truths embedded in their beloved stories.
- Nov. 7: The Song of Creation
- Nov. 14: The Battle of Good and Evil
- Nov. 21: The Story of Redemption
All events will be held from 6 to 7 p.m., in the Great Hall at HTCCS at 302 Burroughs Avenue. Admission is $10, and registration in advance is required so that HTTCS can comfortably accommodate the necessary number of guests. Visit www.HTCCS.org/speaker-series/ to register.
