In mid-January 2009 Christian Educational Ministries founder Ron Dart, business manager Larry Watkins and former Tyler Church of God pastor John Reedy began conducting Sabbath services in the CEM building in Whitehouse, Texas, just south of Tyler. Since CEM's beginning, in 1995, Mr. Dart has stated emphatically more than once that CEM, although a ministry, is not a church. Recently The Journal asked Mr. Watkins to talk about the ministry's nonchurch status. Is its standing affected by the addition of CEM-sponsored Sabbath services? "Essentially, nothing has changed," he said. "We are not a church. We do not have a name." Mr. Watkins said CEM has begun its own Sabbath meetings "to provide staging for our tape program. So many congregations depend on us for at least some of their Sabbath messages." The Sabbath message features audio, or audio and video, of a sermon by one of the three men. Mr. Dart also appears on radio stations in several countries through his Born to Win broadcast. "When requested, we send out DVDs or CDs to congregations around the country and around the world," Mr. Watkins said. Because of CEM's recent separation from a Tyler congregation (see "CEM Moving Away From Tyler Church of God, The Journal, July 31, 2008), Mr. Dart, Mr. Watkins and Mr. Reedy (all three live in the Tyler area) no longer could conveniently record their Sabbath messages for outlying congregations that support CEM. |
