4 May, 2024

Prof. Terry Bowland Retires from OCC (Plus News Briefs)

by | 10 May, 2023 | 0 comments

DR. TERRY BOWLAND

Ozark Christian College created a video marking the retirement of Dr. Terry Bowland after 30 years of service to the school. The ministry and New Testament professor will be remembered for many things, according to faculty and staff of the school, including his acting skills, his enthusiasm for motorcycles and Cardinals baseball, and his love for family, church, and teaching at OCC. 

“Every year when we sign our teaching contracts,” Dr. Chad Ragsdale, OCC’s academic dean, said in the video, “Terry would turn his back in along with a thank-you note expressing his gratitude for the ongoing teaching ministry that he had here at the college.” (Watch the video.

Ozark’s May 2 Facebook post in honor of Bowland’s retirement had 570 likes and 124 comments as of Tuesday.

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News Briefs

Meredith Williams, whose Facebook page is devoted to sharing news and prayer needs, particularly those involving the Ozark Christian College community, shared several important items over the past week, including reporting the passing of Nell Stacy on Monday. Her husband, Bob Stacy, said people would often comment on Nell’s wonderful smile; he said she “loved everybody and was loved by everybody.” Funeral arrangements are pending. (Bob Stacy is a veteran Christian minister and educator who founded Christ In Youth in 1968. He serves as minister to seniors with the Spring Hill Church of Christ, Middletown, Ohio.) 

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The International Conference On Missions encourages churches and colleges to register for this November’s gathering, which will entitle their entire church/college family to attend ICOM for free. The missions conference—slated for Nov. 15–18 in Oklahoma City—has programming for all ages. A CCW (church/college-wide) registration also includes “virtual” programming. Learn more here.

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Harry Richards, 89, who served as vice president of finance and operations at Great Lakes Christian College from 1989 to 1999, and then volunteered with the school after his retirement, died May 2. Mr. Richards also was an elder with St. Louis Church of Christ. His funeral was May 5 at GLCC’s Doty Center. (Click here to read his obituary.)

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Dr. John Mark Hicks, professor of theology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, will be guest speaker for the Explorer’s Conference at Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp in Cloverdale, Ore., May 26-29. Families are welcome. Learn more and register at www.winema.org.

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Hope International University hosted the 38th Annual Fullerton Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on Friday. Fram Virjee, president of California State University–Fullerton, was the guest speaker.

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Six in 10 U.S. adults say they pray, according to a survey of 1,700 adults by the Radiant Foundation.

In reporting on the survey, The Christian Century noted, “U.S. adults who pray often do so at dawn or when they awaken (50 percent) or at bedtime (55 percent). More people report that they pray in their car (61 percent) than in a place of worship (46 percent).”

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