Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon
Lincoln Christian University president Don Green recently recognized two longtime LCU workers with Distinguished Service Awards. Lynn Laughlin has retired and Freddie Tedrick will end his service with the school at the end of summer.
Laughlin began working with Lincoln upon his graduation from the institution in 1964. He first served as assistant basketball coach and director of the physical education program. Eventually he served in a variety of roles: head coach of both basketball and baseball, athletic director, instructor in New Testament, admissions director, dean of students, and finally as vice president of alumni services. He will continue to serve Lincoln as vice president of alumni services emeritus.
Tedrick is also a Lincoln alumnus who began working in the schoolโs maintenance department in 1973 while a student. He switched to full-time in 1976, and for the last 37 years has served as either supervisor of maintenance or as director of facilities management. โI tried preaching several times and quickly found out that my temperament was really not well-suited for that,โ he wrote in the spring issue of LCUโs magazine, The Restorer.
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News Briefs
White River Christian Church has opened a coffee shop and community center in downtown Arcadia, Ind., which also will serve as the local campus for the church in that town. WRCC is based in nearby Noblesville, Ind.
According to the Times, the church had been meeting in a local high school in Arcadia since 2017, but then a couple of downtown properties became available that could serve as the churchโs permanent home there.
The church invested nearly $1 million to combine the structures and create a coffee shop that would be open every day to the community. Kids also can use the space after school. The church desires for the building to become a true community gathering area.
โOur main goal is for people to feel like itโs theirs, not the churchโs,โ said executive pastor Andrew Smiley.
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Kent Gordon, executive pastor with Impact Christian Church, Woodland Park, Colo., shared some precautionary steps the church incorporated when it reopened for in-person worship recently.
โInstead of having one big lobby area, we have sectioned that off and we have one-way traffic going in and one-way traffic going out,โ Gordon told the Mountain Jackpot News. โWe are utilizing every other row in our sanctuary and then we have two chairs between each family group or individuals that are not with a family. . . . We are having two services to accommodate everybody. The first service we start with rows one, three, five, seven, and so on. The second service we start with rows two, four, and six, so people are not even sitting in the same rows from one service to the next.โ
All doors remain open, so people need not touch door handles. Staff and volunteers wear masks, and the church recommends all attendees wear masks, as well.
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Professor Doug Phillips of St. Louis Christian College will be offering a free โGreek Refresher Courseโ via the Zoom online platform from 1 to 2 p.m. Mondays from July 6 to Aug. 3. Participants should have taken one to two years of New Testament Greek (proficiency is not required). โMy goal is to refresh your love of Greek and your knowledge in Greek in order to be a better communicator of Scripture,โ Phillips wrote. More information is available at SLCCโs Facebook page.
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More than 100 people gathered last week for a rally against racial injustice at Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, N.C.
Event speakers included MACU graduates, as well the local public school superintendent. According to the Daily Advance, the rally included the reading of a statement on racial justice that was coauthored by three local college leaders, including MACU president John Maurice.
โWe are a stronger community when we stand together,โ Maurice said. โWe are thankful that we have faith to guide us in this work that we are doing.โ
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When Chris Hodges, pastor of Church of the Highlandsโthe largest church in Alabamaโrecently โlikedโ some social media posts by a conservative commentator, he had no idea the impact it would have.
Someone took exception to Hodgesโs online activity, and the end result is the Birmingham City Schools Board of Education has ended its lease agreement for two campuses of Church of the Highlands, and the Birmingham Housing Authority has banned the racially diverse church and its Christ Health Clinic from providing its free services in the cityโs public housing communities. (Since 2014, the church had paid the schools more than $800,000 to lease two high schools, while the clinicโs services had included free COVID-19 testing.)
The story has been covered widely by Alabama state media, as well as by Ed Stetzer of Christianity Today, The Christian Post, Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council, and Fox News. Perkins and Stetzer both wrote about โthe rise of cancel cultureโ and (Stetzerโs words) โthe way people have weaponized social media in response.โ
Hodges has apologized for his actions. In his most recent sermon, he said, โI am not the same Chris Hodges I was two weeks ago.โ
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Southland Christian Churchโs Lexington, Ky., campus was the site of a conversation about race and reconciliation Saturday morning. The John Rowe Chapter of the National Bar Association hosted the event, which was preceded by a march from the Lexington Police Department to Southlandโs campus.
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Movement Christian Church, Merrimack, N.H., celebrated their second annual LOVE603 Day on June 3. More than 100 volunteers spread out to work on 10-plus projects in the 603 area code. MCC shared a video of the event.
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Good News Productions International is offering some flexibility to churches planning summertime VBS programs that are in need of a missions partner. Go to GNPIโs website to learn more about their digital content.
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Author: Christian Standard
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