Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman
A retired pastor at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Ky., is opening a coffee shop that employs people with special needs.
Brewster McLeod served Southland for 40 years before retiring last year. Now he is preparing to open McLeod’s Coffee House early this month at 376 Southland Drive. He has hired 50 employees, all of them with special needs, faithwire.com reports.
“If Down syndrome or special needs make you nervous, you probably need to come in here and relax and just treat them like anyone else,” he told WKYT News.
McLeod said he was drawn to helping the special-needs community after Southland launched its “Jesus Prom” years ago. The idea for the café has been brewing for five years now.
“I don’t do it for that pat on the back because that can be very addicting. I do it because I really care about them, and I know that they are gifted,” he said. “I just want them to know they have great value.”
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NEWS BRIEFS
Organizers of the Emergency Food Assistance Program in Portales, N.M., are looking for a new, permanent location for the food distribution effort that has been housed “temporarily” in Central Christian Church for five years.
“We love our food distribution,” CCC senior pastor Don Thomas told the Eastern New Mexico News. “It’s just not functioning here anymore. It sounds counter-intuitive, but we are shutting it down with the idea of expanding it.”
The program needs more room, more cold storage, and more available time to operate. The program serves 175 to 200 families each month. Thomas is helping search for a new location.
The program is a partnership among the Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico, the United Way of Eastern New Mexico, and the Roosevelt County Ministerial Alliance.
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McCook (Neb.) Christian Church hosted a prayer breakfast featuring Ben Nelson, who served previously as both Nebraska governor and a U.S. senator. Nelson spoke at the George W. Norris Prayer Breakfast on Friday morning, the McCook Gazette reported.
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Cornerstone Christian Church, Pikeville, Ky., celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday. The church’s former pastor, P. L. Keene, was the guest speaker. Another scheduled guest was Fern Coleman, who hosted the church’s first-ever gathering in her living room, according to the Appalachian News-Express. After the morning service, the church had outdoor activities and served lunch. Paul Potter serves the church as senior pastor.
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William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif, has opened a new center for American Sign Language. The school has experienced strong demand for its sign language classes, according to KCRA. The university began offering ASL classes four years ago with 17 students. Last year, 150 students were involved.
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White Mills (Ky.) Christian Church is nearing its goal of raising $300,000 for a new church building. Church members prepared and sold more than 300 chicken dinners over the weekend as a fund-raiser. As of Saturday, about $258,000 had been raised, according to the News-Enterprise.
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The Alliance (Ohio) Review recently wrote a feature about Mike Harshman, who began serving as minister with Pine Lake Christian Church, Sebring, Ohio, in August. Harshman grew up in that church and was ordained there in 1996.
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Former baseball great Darryl Strawberry spoke on Sunday at Central Christian Church in Beloit, Wis. The former all-star, who battled addictions for many years, now operates Strawberry Ministries, according to WREX 13.
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