8 May, 2024

Church Finds Time Capsule, Restocks It (Plus News Briefs)

by | 8 May, 2019 | 0 comments

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman

Central Christian Church in Portales, N.M., discovered a 60-year-old time capsule while expanding its building. 

As contractors removed a plaque that marked the cornerstone of the building, they discovered a Bible, a copy of the local newspaper from 1958, a church bulletin, and a history of the church written by then pastor Glen E. Hull.

The Eastern New Mexico News tracked down Hull, 86, who now lives in Florissant, Mo., with his wife of 62 years, Inez. CCC was Hull’s first ministry.

“You always go back to your first ministry. It brings back lots of good memories,” Hull told the newspaper.

Hull remembered names of key families in the church and recalled gifts some of them sent after he left the church and moved away. Hull, however, couldn’t recall details of the time capsule ceremony that commemorated its placement in the church’s new building in 1958. 

The church’s current pastor, Don Thomas, told the newspaper that the church planned to add to the time capsule, possibly with another Bible and bulletin as well as an updated history of the church.

“It will all go in a fire safe and be kept there,” he said.

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News Briefs

KPIX Channel 5, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco, did a feature story on Eddie Williams, a former NFL running back who now leads Bay City Church, an Orchard Group church plant. Williams was the featured speaker at the Students Rising Above gala. Williams first became involved with SRA while in high school.

“Finding success and finding purpose are not the same thing,” Williams told folks at the gala. “As fun as the NFL was, I realized we as human beings need transcendent purpose in order to thrive.”

Williams said he hopes to inspire a new generation of young people to give their lives in service to others, according to KPIX, and that he also hopes to see his fledgling church grow in the same way he has grown, with the help of Students Rising Above.

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Compassion Christian Church in Savannah, Ga., on Sunday welcomed Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who shared his story of perseverance in rising to become a top player in the NFL. 

“Kirk Cousins is . . . the real deal,” pastor Cam Huxford told ABC affiliate WJCL 22. “He is a man of great character. He is excelling in the NFL. He’s at the top of his game. And yet he’s kept himself balanced. He loves his family, and he loves his wife.”

Huxford said the church felt Cousins provided an inspirational example for business people and athletes in the church and community. It was a good opportunity, he said, “to meet somebody who has worked as hard as Kirk has, who has achieved what he has achieved without compromising his character at all.”

Cousins spent time with local athletes after the service.

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Kalkaska (Mich.) Church of Christ worked to meet the needs of families who recently lost their homes in a local fire. 

Sixteen apartments burned at the Kalkaska Woods apartment complex, leaving 47 people in need of help. The church invited displaced families to stop by its facility to pick up toiletries, clothing, and other items. 

“When a disaster like that hit, we just thought, ‘What can we do to help,’” senior minister Andy Bratton told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. “We just wanted to meet some immediate needs.”

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Summit Christian College is home to one of four “bike repair stations” in Gering, Neb. The Western Nebraska Bicycling Club last week opened the repair station at the college as part of its efforts to help local cyclists who may not have the tools needed to fix their bikes, according to the Scottsbluff Star-Herald.

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Warren Wiersbe, a writer and speaker known as “the pastor’s pastor,” died on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb. He was 89. Wiersbe held a variety or ministry and teaching positions throughout his life, but he is probably best-known to Christian Standard readers as the author of more than 150 books that help ministers read and explain the Bible better. His grandson, Dan Jacobson, wrote: “Grandpa built bridges from the world of the Bible to the world of today so that we could get to the other side of glory in Jesus.” News of Wiersbe’s death was reported at Kentucky Today and Christianity Today, among others.

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