By Margaret Colson
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
She has been recognized on the U.S. Congressional Record of the 115th Congress. She has received a commendation from the governor of Alabama. She unofficially has surpassed a known Guinness World Record.
Yet for Velma Lee Sebring, who will celebrate her 97th birthday on Aug. 27, all of those honors pale in comparison to the countless lives she has touched during the past 74 years of teaching Sunday School at Center Point Baptist Church, Scottsboro.
She has taught children and women through the years, influencing many to make salvation decisions for Christ.
When Sebring considers those who have made professions of faith, “I just say, ‘Lord, thank you.’ And then all you can do is cry, just cry. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
On Aug. 6, in a surprise service at her home church, Sebring was honored for her record-setting tenure as a Sunday School teacher.
In addition to the Congressional Record recognition and the governor’s commendation, Sebring was presented with a letter from U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, a certificate of recognition from her home church, a plaque from the office of Sunday School and discipleship at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), a letter from the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission and a bouquet of flowers.
Investing in lives
“Thank you so very much for all your faithful years of service and we look forward to many more. God bless you for your investment in countless lives over the years,” said Jamie Baldwin, an associate in the SBOM office of Sunday School and discipleship.
Kirk Griggs, Sunday School director for Center Point Baptist, added, “Ms. Velma’s faithfulness has been an inspiration to generations at Center Point. Teaching Sunday School for 74 years means 74 years of faithfulness. She is an example to me and to all of our wonderful Sunday School teachers. Perhaps most of all, she still teaches with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. She is a true jewel.”
Immediately following the recognition, Sebring said, “I’ve never been so speechless in my life.”
Then, reflecting on the morning’s accolades, she said, “This is not right. This (serving God) is what you’re supposed to do.”
Sebring, Center Point’s oldest member, began teaching at Randall’s Chapel United Methodist Church, Scottsboro, in 1938. When she joined Center Point in 1942, she immediately began teaching Sunday School there.
When first asked to teach, Sebring said, “I was terrified. I said, ‘I can’t do this; I don’t know anything about teaching a class.’”
Her only “experience” was “pretend teaching” her six younger siblings as they squirmed under her tutelage sitting on a wagon in the family barn.
Still, the thought of teaching intrigued her. “I used to think, ‘Well, maybe I will be a missionary.’ Really and truly we are all missionaries,” she said.
She accepted the invitation to teach a children’s class and she hasn’t looked back since.
Today she teaches a senior adult class of women known as the “Last Stop” class. Virginia Bradford, a Center Point lifetime member, was led to make her profession of faith by Sebring in 1951 and today she is an active member of the Last Stop class.
Through the years, Sebring has regularly participated in training opportunities to hone her teaching skills, including classes offered through then-Howard College (now Samford University) as well as the state convention and association.
After 74 consecutive years of teaching Sunday School some people may want a break. Not Sebring. “I’ve never had a thought of quitting,” she said. “If the Lord gives it to you, be willing to share it.”
Even on the day of her recognition, Sebring spotted a senior-adult woman visitor making her way into Center Point’s sanctuary for worship. Sebring eased her walker into the church aisle to meet the woman, also using a walker, and invited her to the Last Stop Sunday School class.
A blessing
Teaching, she said, is a blessing. “Why would I want to give this blessing to someone else when I can keep it myself?”
As Sebring is still going strong as a Sunday School teacher, her legacy is already evident in great-granddaughter Reagan Wallace’s life. Wallace, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in education in December, has been teaching Sunday School since she was only 13 years old. She turns to her “precious” great-grandmother for advice.
“Just keep on keeping on,” Sebring said.
Sebring was married to the late Bill Sebring of Scottsboro and she has three children, four grandsons and five great-grandchildren. They all were present at Sebring’s recognition service.
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