Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo., has departed from a longstanding tradition of not holding classes on Monday. Starting this semester, the Bible college is holding classes five days per week.
“As an OCC student, I learned a proverb, ‘Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, principles never do,’” Ozark President Matt Proctor said in a post on the OCC website. “For over 75 years, Ozark has stayed true to one unchanging mission—training men and women for Christian service—but our methods have often changed.”
Proctor said 98 percent of Ozark’s students are involved in some kind of ministry. It used to be that many students would serve churches a couple of hours away from the campus, and many of those churches had Sunday night services.
OCC held no classes on Monday to allow students to travel back to Joplin and do homework.
But things have changed over time.
Today, OCC students tend to serve churches closer to campus. Moreover, Proctor said that while 65 percent of OCC’s students serve on Sunday mornings, only 6 percent of them serve Sunday nights.
Proctor said more than half of OCC’s students now serve at Wednesday night church services, and the college will ease class schedules those days as part of its changes.
“This change reflects the changing rhythm of students’ weekly classes,” Proctor said. “Our curriculum remains Scripture-saturated, as students still take 50-plus required hours in Bible classes. But rhythms change.”
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Manhattan, Kan., and the surrounding area experienced several inches of rain Sunday night and Monday morning, network newscasts reported, but Manhattan Christian College suffered no damage. “The college didn’t get any flooding at all,” said April Wendt, assistant to president Kevin Ingram. A flash flood occurred in the western part of the city, displacing hundreds; the college is located in central Manhattan.
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It’s not every day that a former mob boss is a guest speaker for a church’s men’s group, let alone the church’s Sunday services. But that’s what happened at Crossroads Christian Church, Grand Prairie, Texas, the last weekend in August.
Michael Franzese, a former mob boss of New York’s Colombo crime family, spoke at Crossroads’ Men’s Breakfast and then at Sunday services. Franzese is the only high-ranking official of a major crime family ever to walk away and survive.
Franzese has become a Christian and is sharing his story with others.
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Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kan., hosted a “Father-Son Nerf Battle” last Friday. The event for fourth- and fifth-grade boys included a dinner and a giant Nerf battle.
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Metz Christian Church in Angola, Ind., celebrated its 175th anniversary on Aug. 5. Activities that Sunday included a lunch, an afternoon singalong, memory sharing, and a presentation on the history of the Restoration Movement. Oh, plus there was homemade pie and ice cream.
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Real Life Christian Church in Longwood, Fla., partnered with a local barbershop to offer free back-to-school haircuts Aug. 4 for up to 60 kids in kindergarten through fifth grade.
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Members of Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas recently came together to gather school supplies to be donated to local foster care students. The church filled and donated 595 backpacks.
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Nicholas Scott Grounds was ordained into the ministry on Aug. 16 at Hill N Dale Christian Church, Lexington, Ky. Nicholas serves as student pastor at Hill N Dale, where Robbie D. Phillips is lead pastor.
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Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan hosted the National Student Conference in July. The five-day event included workshops, worship, food-packing, and whitewater rafting.
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Manhattan (Kan.) Christian College will host the 16th annual Leadership Breakfast for business leaders in the community from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Sept. 13. The speaker will be Stan Franczek, president of CAPSTONE, Louisville, Ky.
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The adult Sunday school class at Farmland (Ind.) Christian Church hosted its third annual “Baked Cube Steak Supper” in July. Proceeds from the meal went to Journey Home, a transitional home for veterans. The meal was put on by about 15 members of the class; they purchased and prepared the food so that the $10-per-plate proceeds could go to charity.
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