'Gentle and Lowly' author to be keynote at Wilson Hall Mission Series

If it is the beginning of the fall semester, that means Wilson Hall is preparing for its annual Mission Series to impact young people and the greater community, and this year is no different.

Best-selling Christian author Dane Ortland is this year's keynote speaker for the fall event, and Wilson Hall Head of School Brent Kaneft spoke Monday on Ortland and his best-selling book "Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers."

The book, published in 2020, has been widely popular in Christian circles for its approach on the true heart of Jesus Christ as found in the scriptures and how it can help people understand God's grace in a new way.

The central passage the book is based on is from Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus says, "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

This year's Mission Series will be Wednesday, Oct. 2, in Wilson Hall's Nash Student Center at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Like for every Mission Series speaker, the event is open to the public free of charge, and tickets are not necessary. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, Kaneft said.

"Really, the Mission Series is a moment in our year to get some encouragement, to challenge us, to orient us toward the higher good and higher principles, and I think this message of Christ being at his heart gentle and lowly is important," he said.

"Personally, I imagine it as this big table and Christ is there, and there is this huge buffet of delicious food, and He is saying 'Come.' If Christ were judgmental and divisive and quick to anger, then no one would come to that table.

"But we come as He says in Matthew 11."

Kaneft said he thinks it is a great message for the Sumter community now and the broader country as well "that Christ calls us to put on that heart ourselves, to be gentle and lowly ourselves with each other.

"To remind ourselves to take that position of humility first. To remind ourselves that we are called to love people, first, and that is the mission.

"I think that is the message of Christ. So, I think it is a timely speaker and a timely book, even though it was published a few years ago, for just where we are. You know, it can be a challenging environment out there right now, and I think people need to hear this message in terms of our own walks, our own faiths, our own behaviors toward our neighbor to love them as ourselves and to remind them what Christ, at His center, what He is about."

Kaneft said the school is encouraging local churches and people to revisit the book or use it in small Bible study groups to get excited about Ortland's visit.

"We want people to maybe be ready to ask some questions or be ready to take a deeper dive into what his main thesis is in the book," he said.

The Mission Series is focused on impacting young people for their future, but it is also a community event, according to Kaneft.

"It is for everyone," he said. "Not just Wilson Hall kids, not just Wilson Hall families, even though that is predominantly who comes. But we have larger crowds, generally it's about 2,000 people, and I would love to see that many people again. So, there are going to be a lot of people who are new to the book, and one plug that I would make is to go pick up a copy at The Olive Tree bookstore and give it a read over the next month before he gets here. Then, I think people will just get more out of it."

Several local youth ministers are part of the school's chapel program and will be visiting the school to review sections and themes of the book with Wilson Hall middle-schoolers and high-school students to prepare them for the event, Kaneft added.

If churches plan to bring a large group to attend, he encourages them to contact Adelaide Spencer of the school at (803) 469-3475 so some seating can be sectioned off for them.

"The Mission Series is just really a timely event for everybody to take a second, take some rest and really get some nourishment from someone who is popular, and their work is impacting thousands of people," Kaneft said. "And certainly, Dane Ortland and 'Gentle and Lowly' fits that bill."