3rd Annual Imago Dei Week: In His Image
Written by: Ijeoma “EJ” Unegbu, EdD, Director of Community and Culture
Each February, we hold our annual Imago Dei Week for students. Imago Dei Week is a time to highlight the beauty of God in all people. This year’s theme was “In His Image.” The headline speakers for this year’s event were mother-daughter duo, Alex and Lisha Mack from Longview, Texas. Alex is an artist with a great life story of God’s faithfulness. Alex was born with Downs syndrome, and was the first in her high school district to complete a regular high school diploma. Lisha discussed Alex being drawn to art with stacks and stacks of notebook drawings Alex called “My Peoples.” Soon Alex’s art gained public attention. In addition to being a flourishing artist, Alex also works as an educational support employee with the Longview Independent School District (LISD). It was a joy having them at our school to share their story. To learn more about them visit: https://www.mypeoplesart.com/about.
Imago Dei Week also organizes G.R.A.C.E breakout sessions for students. These sessions are from friends and professionals in our community to share with students from a biblical lens, namely, gender or generational; race or religion; age or ability; community or culture, and economic/ethnic topics. Some of this year’s speakers were Siretha Ajayi of the Junior League of Tyler, Jennie Ravanesi of The Fostering Collective, Ray Davis of Promise Academy, GCS middle school principal, David Robinson, Megan Riaz with Bethesda Clinic and Ms. Angela Hill-Goudy of Love Thy City.
Dei Week’s G.R.A.C.E breakout sessions for students.
For our Feast of the Nations portion of Imago Dei Week, we showcased some delicious samples of international, ethnic, and cultural and regional cuisine. We love food and fellowship!
For worship chapel, we welcomed Chelsea Klotz of Tyler Deaf and Hard of Hearing to participate with our chapel practicum students. Chelsea presented worship in sign language. Chelsea also served as a breakout session speaker on her talk on misconceptions of the deaf and hard of hearing community.
A new element of Imago Dei Week this year was an Around the World Trivia game for high school students. This new element was partnered with our Logos Lab. Students each day could participate via QR code, in trivia related to tribes, languages, and food to win daily prizes and have their name entered in a grand prize for gift cards.
To round out our special week, for Imago Dei Worship Sunday, Pastor Charles Burns, New Zion Baptist Church 1, welcomed Grace Community School for worship with his congregation.
Overall, Imago Dei Week serves as a beautiful tapestry of God’s image shown throughout humanity and we look forward to next year’s week-long celebration of highlighting Revelation 7 community.