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Living Education-Charlotte: 2025-2026 Graduation

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Author: David Markopoulos | Living Education

The eighth academic year of Living Education-Charlotte has come to a close. On the morning of Friday, May 22nd, 2026, our students gathered with their families and guests for graduation, receiving their hard-earned certificates.

Opening the ceremony, Program Director Mr. Jonathan McNair shared a slideshow presentation of the year in review. Following this, Mr. McNair addressed the students and guests by recounting statistics and details of the year. He compared the experiences and lessons learned this year to a smorgasbord. Life presents a wide variety of rich experiences and choices, but there are also bad ones. Mr. McNair encourages the students to make the effort to choose right.

Following this, Mr. McNair introduced his brother and Assistant Director of Church Administration, Mr. Rod McNair, to give an address to the group. Mr. McNair’s presentation revolved around a central piece of advice he himself had learned as a student many years before: You will be the same person in one year as you are now, save for the people you meet and the books you read. Mr. McNair admonished the students to pick their associates wisely, and to read well and widely.

The highlight of the ceremony was the conferring of credentials. Instructors Mr. Kenneth Frank and Mr. Wayne Tlumak announced each student and helped Mr. Gerald Weston, Presiding Evangelist, in presenting the certificates to each graduate. Surrounded by friends and family, this special occasion is an exciting milestone and accomplishment for each and every student. Following the presentation of the certificates, Mr. Weston addressed the group, and encouraged the students to make the most of their educational experience here in Charlotte as they continue forward in their lives. Afterward, students and guests enjoyed a beautiful reception filled with fellowship and refreshments.

This year of Living Education has produced 10 alumni of our foundations program, receiving their Certificate in Biblical Foundations. Additionally, three returning alumni have now graduated from our Student Leader Program, and will soon be headed to Thailand to volunteer as English teachers over the summer. All in all, Living Education-Charlotte has produced 84 alumni over its eight academic years. 

Over the past nine months, our students have learned many things. They’ve learned about the Bible, personal finance, cooking, music, history, and more. But even more than that, they have been taught how to put God’s way of life into practice for themselves. This year of education is only the beginning of a lifetime of godly learning. 

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David Markopoulos is a Living Education alumnus from the 2023-2025 school years. Originally hailing from Chicago, he currently works for the Living Education program.

Guidelines for Using Recorded Hymns

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What hymns from the LCG Hymnal may be played in Sabbath services, streamed, and played or special music?

  • If you are not streaming services, all hymns may be played during services.
  • If you are streaming services, the only hymn that you cannot stream is page 126, “Love Never Fails’.
  • You may stream any hymn (except page 126) for special music, provided that the hymn is not altered or re-arranged in any way. It must be played and sung as it is written in the hymnal.
  • Other than the hymns described above, you must mute all other music played for special music.

What about the redacted hymns on the www.cogl.org website?

  • The reason these hymns are redacted is because of the laws surrounding digital distribution. This is separate from the laws that govern streaming music. To restate what is said above, with the exception of page 126, you may play and stream any redacted hymn during services.

Pentecost Focus Unit

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Prepare for Pentecost by visiting our focus unit!

Our Pentecost focus unit is an excellent resource for centering your study on this special day. This unit gives an overview of the Feast of Pentecost, covering the command to keep it, how we know when to keep it, and the lessons we learn from this holy day. It begins in the Old Testament with the first Pentecost at Mount Sinai. It then moves to the New Testament, to the Temple in Jerusalem that is the stage for the dramatic events in Acts 2, and it concludes with lessons for us today. We encourage all to use this unit to concentrate on the Feast of Pentecost and sharpen your grasp of this significant day!

Here’s what is in the unit:

  • Pentecost and the Old Testament. This section gives 7 lessons from Passover to the first Pentecost. It also covers the foundational covenant at Mount Sinai, the importance of the wave sheaf offering, and the church eras of the Old Testament.
  • Pentecost and the New Testament. This covers the Temple, reviews the incredible Pentecost of 31 AD, and studies the gift of the Holy Spirit and what it means for us.
  • Lessons from Pentecost. Here, we cover the significance of the number 50, Pentecost and our family history, and a Psalm traditionally read at Pentecost.
  • Tools and Resources. This section includes graphic aids of scripture lists, details on the names of Pentecost, and more. These handy resources pack a lot of information in an easy-to-read format!
  • Voices of Experience. Here are five podcast style interviews with ministers. They share a key focus point about Pentecost as well as motivating stories of God’s Spirit working in His people!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

James 1:17-18 NKJV

Pentecost—Voices of Experience

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Here is an inspiring section from our Pentecost Bible study course!

The Pentecost course has a few podcast style interviews in the section Voices of Experience. In these, we ask field pastors Pentecost-themed questions about their experiences with their local congregations. Here’s a look at the topics these discussions cover.

1. What is a key focus point that is on your mind to bring out to the members in your area in regard to Pentecost this year?
2. What is an example where you’ve seen the power of God through His Holy Spirit really working in your area over the past year?
3. In what way do you see the members in your area really reflecting the admirable elements of the New Testament church that we see recorded in the early days following the pouring out of God’s spirit in Acts 2?

Here’s what you’ll find in this section:

We hope you find these stories and experiences insightful and encouraging!

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4 NKJV

Pentecost–what does it mean?

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The Feast of Pentecost course explains the meaning and importance of the name: Pentecost.

The Feast of Pentecost is less than a month away! If you want to see exactly how many days it is, see the timer on our home page. But with Pentecost coming soon, we are pointing to our online course to help in your personal preparation for this feast day.

Below, there is an Learn More that concisely coveys a lot about Pentecost, including whether the name means “count fifty” or not. If you’re interested in learning about the symbolic importance of Pentecost, you can also read the LCN article: The Symbolic Meaning of 50, by Peter Nathan.

This Learn More comes from the section of the course: The Feast with Four Names.

Podcasts

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Find all episodes for Brother to Brother and Digging Deeper on our podcasts page!

On July 7th, 2020, Living Education posted the first Digging Deeper podcast, A Lesson From the Ethiopian Eunuch, produced by Kenneth Frank. Since then, Mr. Frank has made 69 episodes, and Digging Deeper has surpassed 10,000 downloads!

On November 3rd, 2022, the first Brother to Brother episode, Leading by Helping, was posted. Already,
Brother to Brother has 18 episodes and almost 6,000 downloads! You can find both of these in our new podcasts page.

Here’s what you can find on our page:

LivingEd–Charlotte

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Learn all about our program at our LivingEd–Charlotte page!

The Living Education – Charlotte program for 2023-2024 is already nearing maximum capacity, but next year is nearer than you may think. We encourage young adults, parents, grandparents, and everyone else to explore the exciting Living Education onsite program. See how the 2023-2024 students will be kept busy in this nine-month, immersive program!

Here’s what you can find on our page:

Note: all links do work but some require you to scroll down to see the relevant information

Additionally, you can find forum summaries and student life articles on our blog.

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV