Local Teacher Earns Doctorate Degree at 73

Sometimes a lifetime of hard work is rewarded, and sometimes that reward is something you would never imagine. When local retired World Geography teacher, Carolyn Duncan Cecil stood at her graduation ceremony at 73 years old, the moment she received a doctorate was almost surreal. When the leadership of Kingsbury Bible College conferred upon Carolyn a Doctor of Ministry degree, it was the fulfilment of her life-long work, but she never expected the degree and had learned just months earlier that her tireless efforts would earn her the credits for this honor.  With her grey and white curls flowing from under her graduation cap, Carolyn was not the picture of the usual graduate, but somehow that just seemed to make the moment even sweeter.

The project that led Carolyn to this honor began nearly thirty years before in the early 90s. While a full-time teacher at William Byrd High School, Carolyn began writing Sunday School lessons for her local church. What started out as just a few lessons to rotate turns with other Sunday School teachers, soon became a 12-week course that Carolyn would teach. Her class grew and as more students signed up, over and over they would tell Carolyn that before her lessons they had not learned how to apply the Scripture to the everyday problems they were facing. Then they had more questions. As Carolyn answered questions and prayed with her students, she began realizing that so many people were in need.

They had needs that the teaching, programs, and services provided in many churches or community groups were not designed to meet. Carolyn decided to write more lessons to meet these needs. She went to work. While still teaching full-time, Carolyn would stay up late into the night working on her lessons. Once she retired, she spent even more time working on these lessons, writing other books, and praying for people.

After decades of research, writing, editing, and presenting, Carolyn ended up creating a 42-lesson curriculum that she called Equipped – Equipping and Empowerment for Christians and Lay Ministers. It was more than 750 pages that she divided into a three-volume workbook series, a complete Christian curriculum for laymen and just regular Christians who want to learn.

Unlike most works of theology, Carolyn’s book had a practical design. She wanted to give ordinary Christians the Biblical background they needed to face their own struggles, and the confidence that they could then reach out and help those around them. Her curriculum was so thorough, that when she presented the work to Kingsbury Bible College as a possible teaching curriculum, Kingsbury President Dr. Jerry Dotson and former Jacksonville Theological Seminary instructor, Dr. Roger Graves, said that it was the most comprehensive lay ministry resource they had ever received and that it was equal to a doctoral dissertation. And so, Carolyn’s lifelong work earned her a doctorate degree.

Carolyn has self-published her Equipped series, as well as seven other children’s books, which are available on Amazon or from her website www.carolyncecilministries.com. She is not done yet though, as she is currently working on getting two other books published. While publishing has taken up most of her time lately, her passion is still teaching and prayer ministry to others. She is continuing to teach Equipped and is also planning to put her Doctor of Ministry degree to work for Kingsbury Bible College.

Carolyn grew up right here in the Roanoke Valley. During her teen years, she went to Lord Botetourt High School and sold corn and tomatoes at the Roanoke City Market during the summers. Carolyn graduated from Madison College/JMU in 1968 and spent a total of thirty-seven years working for Roanoke County Schools. Most of that time was spent teaching World Geography at William Byrd Middle and William Byrd High Schools in Vinton. Carolyn married William Cecil (d. 1991) and has two adult daughters. While Carolyn’s favorite subject was World Geography, she believed that the key to success in life was to faithfully follow the path presented in the Word of God. Carolyn’s books and more information about her classes are available at www.carolyncecilministries.com.

Biography

Like the Biblical Ruth, Carolyn Duncan Cecil is a gleaner—not of grain, but of truth nuggets and ways to apply the Word of God to everyday life. Over the past 30 years, she has collected, condensed, and expounded upon bits and pieces of truth from the Bible, church sermons, books, workshops, the media, and experiences. The resulting 42-lesson curriculum, Equipped: Equipping and Empowerment for Christians and Lay Ministers is designed to turn regular believers into lay ministers so they can do their part to fight the good fight of faith and keep their families protected from the enemy. Carolyn has also written children’s books including Holy Spirit at Work (multiple versions for different ages), Smells to Treasure, Simple Holiday Pleasures, Life on Earth…What a Journey!, Our Good Earth, and Angels at Work.

Carolyn grew up in small town America, which instilled in her a strong sense of right and wrong. She is the daughter of a Military family, Woodrow and Rachel Graybill Duncan. She was influenced by living on a small family-owned Virginia farm that taught her an appreciation for life, food production, and hard work.  Since Carolyn’s dad was in the armed forces and the family was stationed in many faraway places, she developed a love of geography, travel, and experiencing many other people and cultures.

Carolyn has a Doctor of Ministry from Kingsbury Bible college, and a Bachelor of Science from Madison College (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., with a double major in History and Social Science, and minors in English, Sociology, and Geography which was added later. Carolyn has been teaching in a variety of capacities since 1968. She was employed by Roanoke County Schools for 37 years, teaching World Geography at her local high and middle schools most of that time. Additionally, Carolyn teaches on many Christian subjects, but her favorites are the Work of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit Baptism.

Carolyn grew up in the church and has served as a Sunday school teacher, prayer leader, and small group leader. She served her church officially on the Missions Commission, on the church board, and as a delegate to the Church conferences. She has taught at the Holy Spirit Conference for more than 30 years, and served on the conference’s board for more than 10 years. Carolyn developed, implemented and directed a Wellness Center / Healing Rooms designed to minister to those in need of encouragement, prayer, inner healing, or bondage breaking. In 2014, she was the featured speaker at a women’s conference in Haiti and spoke to one audience of more than 1,500 people. Carolyn has traveled widely through extended education trips, as well as quite a few missions and prayer-mission trips. Carolyn is often heard saying how being in the service of the Lord is so much fun and when we take care of the Lord’s work, He takes care of us!

Carolyn currently resides in Vinton, Virginia. Her husband of 22 years, William “Bill” Cecil, passed away in 1991. She remains very involved with church, classes, and her family including two adult daughters and one grandson. However, she is always ready to minister the gospel through workshops, classes, or mission trips. She calls herself a SWAT prayer/ministry team–“give me the problem and we will pray and apply the scriptures until we win and the devil loses!”