Compiled by Chris Moon
Calvary Christian Church in Winchester, Ky., is ramping up for the little league basketball season one year after the church helped rescue the sports program after the closure of the community’s YMCA.
Calvary Christian is one of several churches sponsoring Upward 40391, a Christian-based basketball and cheerleading program. The program came into existence after the Winchester YMCA closed in late 2016.
“We were breaking down barriers and coming together for the cause of the kids,” CCC’s lead pastor Mike McCormick told the Winchester Sun.
About 940 preschoolers through 12th-graders are signed up for the program this winter. That’s up from 860 players a year ago.
Eight churches are partnering with Calvary on the program. The churches have helped raise $26,000 to restore the floors in the gymnasium of a local church that is hosting games. The national Upward program also donated money to the cause after listening to a Facebook Live sermon from Calvary, according to the Sun.
“Churches in all different parts of the community are breaking down that race and class barrier by being in each other’s spaces,” McCormick told the paper.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Taylorville (Ill.) Christian Church hosted a “Multi-Agency Resource Center” to assist victims of an EF-3 tornado that tore through the area on Dec. 1. More than 500 homes were damaged during the storm, according to the Journal Star. The resource center was held at the church last Friday and Saturday and served as hub for state and local agencies offering assistance to tornado victims.
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Aaron Chambers, lead pastor at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colo., was one of six speakers at the Greeley Tribune’s “60 Ideas in 60 Minutes” event. The newspaper asked leaders from a variety of community organizations to share “10 widely applicable ideas that brought their businesses success.”
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Christian rock band Narrow Path, which has roots at Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Ind., has released its second album. “Hail to the Liars” is available on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Digital, according to the Dubois County Free Press. The band was formed in 2005 as the worship team at the church. Two of its membersâDaniel Ross and Kurt Neighborsâare on Redemption’s staff.
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Boones Creek Christian Church and Crossroads Christian Church in Gray, Tenn., are joining forces for a combined Christmas program, “The Worship of Christmas.” The Johnson City Press reported the churches were scheduled to gather Sunday night at Crossroads and to meet again Wednesday night at Boones Creek. At the latter event, the churches’ choirs will perform jointly.
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Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Ore., has formed a partnership with Lane Community College to allow students there to advance easily into NCU’s undergraduate programs. According to The Register-Guard, the two schools have aligned their standards so that students with associate degrees from the community college will be able to enroll in upper-level classes in NCU’s nursing, psychology, music, and business programs.
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William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif., is the co-sponsor of an interfaith conference series dedicated to religious freedom. According to the Mountain Democrat, the university has joined together with The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to present the three-part conference series. Dr. John Mark Reynolds, the founder of The Saint Constantine School, gave the first lecture, “Preserving Our Religious Freedoms with a Civil Voice.” Two additional gatherings will be held in 2019.
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Gethsemane Church of Christ in Mechanicsville, Va., hosted a barbecue fund-raiser that netted $15,000 to support two firefighters injured Oct. 11 and the family of another firefighter who was killed in that same incident, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The fund-raiser was organized by the Hanover CREW Foundation, which provides crisis relief for emergency workers.
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