Nazarenes in the News: 07.23.2010

Global Ministry Center

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Nazarenes in the News is a compilation of online news articles featuring Nazarene churches or church members.   

USA/Canada Region

Sudanese woman to receive ministry license at Nebraska church
Grand Island, Nebraska

(Grand Island Independent, July 21) Sudanese Christians in Grand Island and from around the country are expected to attend one of two Sunday services at First Church of the Nazarene, where Martha Kier will receive her ministry license.

The Rev. George Oxford of the First Church of the Nazarene said he believes Kier will be the first Sudanese woman in Nebraska to receive a ministry license through the Church of the Nazarene.

Oxford said he believes about 50 Sudanese residents of Grand Island will be at Sunday's 10:45 a.m. service, when Kier will be presented with her ministry license in front of the congregation. He said he has been told to expect a crowd of between 200 and 300 Sudanese during a 1 p.m. service when Kier will once again be presented with her license. Oxford said he has been told that Sudanese from Nebraska, other Midwestern states and even more distant locations will attend that service. There are a number of Christian Sudanese leaders, from many tribes, who have expressed a call to pastor their growing communities.

For the rest of this story, click here.


Leading from the rear
The Sandy Nazarene Church's new pastor denies he's the reason for nearly tripling church attendance
Sandy, Oregon

(Sandy Post, July 20) A quick look at Jameward "Jamie" Snodgrass on any weekday gives the impression he is a typical member of the community, probably a guy who works outdoors. He lives in Boring, Oregon, with his wife, Maria, and he'd pass for a well-tanned 30-something, anywhere.

But ask him one question - any question - and he opens the curtains to a Jamie Snodgrass totally different from the first impression he gives.

Already in the second half of his 50s, Snodgrass is shepherd to at least four worshipping Christian congregations. He's been in the pastoral ministry for more than 35 years, since he was a teenager. During his ministry, Snodgrass has pastored five small churches and several with large congregations, numbering up to 450.

"Probably what I do best is take small churches and see them grow and become self-sustaining," he said.

In Sandy, Snodgrass consented about two months ago to pastoring the Sandy Nazarene Church, at that time a discouraged group of about 20 members.

For the rest of this story, click here.


Man with MS builds motorcycle
Warren County, Indiana

(Danville Commercial-News, July 20) Ken Pavlick loves to ride motorcycles. He has ridden one since he was a teenager. The advancing stages of multiple sclerosis has put Pavlick in a wheelchair, but he yearned for his cycling days.

A year in the making, Pavlick and his son and grandsons have put together a motorcycle that he can ride. He has revved it up to 70 miles per hour on the interstate.

"I tried it slow (on the road in front of his home) at first," he said. "I am comfortable with it out on the road."

The front end is a motorcycle; the back end is a Ford Taurus, with the motor.

"I rode a (regular) motorcycle as long as I could," said Pavlick, 65, who lives in Warren County just off Indiana Route 63.

... Pavlick hasn't let MS slow him down. He serves as senior adult minister at First Church of the Nazarene in Danville, Illinois, where he works about 15 hours a week teaching a Sunday School class, guiding the Keen-Agers senior citizen program and visiting hospitals and nursing homes. Previously, he served five years at the Covington Church of the Nazarene and the West Lebanon Church of the Nazarene when both were undergoing building projects.

For the full story, click here.


Haiti quake anchors many to U.S., while others drift
Boston, Massachusetts

(Boston Globe, July 19) In a Haitian church hall in Mattapan, it is clear who is safe and who is not.

Altidas Pierre sits in a dimly lighted classroom, eager to learn English at age 72. Before the earthquake in Haiti, he was here illegally. Now he is among more than 35,000 Haitians in the United States with temporary permission to stay.

"Everybody is fine,'' he writes in shaky cursive in his notebook.

Upstairs, in another classroom, a 39-year-old student named Marie is not fine.

She has dark circles under her eyes, a toddler at home, and a visa that expires in October. She dodged crashing cars and toppling buildings to survive the Jan. 12 quake, but under federal rules, she is ineligible for the US government's temporary protected status program because she arrived after the disaster.

For a video report and the rest of this story, which takes place at a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries center, click here.


New Nampa park born in 6 days of service, sweat
Nampa, Idaho

(Idaho Press-Tribune, July 15) For now, the bright new playground equipment looks out of place in an expanse of dirt, with dust and green-clad workers swirling around it.

A few days ago, the lot was vacant. In a few days more, it will sport grass, trees, a picnic shelter and, presumably, a bevy of neighborhood kids.

A six-day project by Nampa College Church of the Nazarene has drawn hundreds of volunteers to the corner of Sheridan Avenue and Ivy Street in Nampa's University District. As the sign in front of College Church proclaims, "We're building a park for our neighborhood."

It's called Neighborhood Hope, and Hope Park is just part of it.

Volunteers fanned out through the neighborhood, tackling 22 projects for nearby residents - everything from remodeling a bathroom to replacing a rain gutter.

For the rest of this story, click here.


One congregation sings praises of construction workers
Gulfport, Mississippi

(WLOX-13, July 16) With uneven roads, detours and closed sections of road, you might expect to hear complaints about the construction on Three Rivers Road that's still weeks away from being complete. But members of Gulfport First Church of the Nazarene are singing a different tune.

Reverend Lisa McCleese with the First Church of the Nazarene said, "We just want our workers to know that we appreciate them."

About a dozen church members came together to provide lunch for the workers they say deserve some appreciation.

"This was just a real small way to show them that not everybody's frustrated about the detour signs. We thank them for all of their hard work," McCleese said.

For the rest of this story, including a video report, click here.


U.S. women's sitting volleyball coach Bill Hamiter has big dreams for sport
Edmond, Oklahoma

(Oklahoman, July 17) Bill Hamiter has coached plenty of volleyball teams in the last 25 years. None have been more rewarding than the sitting volleyball team he'll lead today as they play for a chance at the Olympics.

Hamiter, the U.S. women's sitting volleyball coach, began his head-coaching career in 1986 at his alma mater Southern Nazarene University. Since then, he has coached at more than five programs, including a three-year stint at Heritage Hall, where he won three straight state titles.

Today [July 17], Hamiter will lead the national team into the semifinals of the Sitting Volleyball World Championships. If they win, they are guaranteed a spot in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

The relationship with his players is what makes the job so rewarding for Hamiter.

For the rest of this story, click here. (Note: Hamiter's USA squad won the silver medal, losing to China in the championship game.)


Police nab suspect in church AC thefts
Huntington, West Virginia

(The Herald-Dispatch, July 19) The Huntington Police Department said Monday they arrested a man who has admitted to a string of copper thefts from area churches and other locations.

Justin Lee Lewis, 25, of Huntington was arrested Thursday at a relative's house and charged with felony destruction of property. During interviews with police, Lewis admitted to stealing copper from air-conditioning units at nine different churches and a west Huntington apartment complex during the past six or seven months, according to a prepared release from the Huntington Police Department and another source within the Huntington Detective Bureau.

Lewis admitted to stealing copper on multiple occasions from Full Gospel Assembly Church, Lighthouse Baptist Church and Walnut Hills Church of the Nazarene, according to the release.

... The Rev. Fred McCarty, pastor of Walnut Hills Church of the Nazarene, said he heard about the arrest over the weekend from the pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church. McCarty's church has had copper stolen from air conditioners on three occasions in recent months. Damages have amounted to about $25,000. Luckily, the church's insurance company has covered most of the damages, he said.

"There's nothing we can do about the thefts now," he said. "We just pray that this young man can get help and that this serves as a life-changing event for him."

For the full story, click here. (This is a follow-up story to a previous Nazarenes in the News story involving the Walnut church thefts.)



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