COMPTON, CA (December 8, 2016) – A total of 158 students graduated from Centro Hispano de Estudios Teológicos (CHET), the ECC Hispanic leadership training center, during recent ceremonies.

The main ceremony was held Saturday at First Baptist Church of Huntington Park, California. Ninety-four
students received pre-ministerial degrees, 16 received ministerial degrees, 24 received family counseling degrees and 10 received bachelor’s degrees. The bachelor’s degree enables the students to enter master’s degree programs at any school accredited by the Association of Theological Seminaries, including North Park Seminary.

Covenant missionary Nancy Reed was the main speaker. Five scholarship were given in honor of Eldon and Opal Johnson, and Lyle and Rosie Stokes. Each scholarship is $500, with $400 going to the student and $100 designated for a ministry of the student’s choice.

Michael Jordan, pastor of La Viña Covenant Church in Kerman, California, wrote in an email that he had gathered with students prior to the ceremony and asked what the moment meant to them. “There were a lot of tears,” Jordan recalled. “One of the common threads was, ‘I have never graduated from anything in my life. We are doing this, not for us, but for our church and others we will be sharing with.’”

Other ceremonies were held at nine sites in addition to Compton: Simi Valley, San Diego, Kerman, Upland, and Northridge, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Representatives from each site participated in the Compton ceremony.