A passion for Luv Blankies
FULLERTON, Calif. — Dot Barr loves making blankies.
Her Luv Blankie Project has grown from one small quilt to more than 1,500 blankets sent to traumatized children all over the nation.
The ladies Bible class at the Sunny Hills church helps quilt and crochet the blankets, the Orange County Register reported.
“The quilt and blankie project is something about which she is more passionate than life itself,” elder John Free told The Christian Chronicle.
Barr, 73, a member of the congregation since the 1960s, said she recognized the importance of a
blankie 14 years ago when she welcomed a foster child into her home.
“He would tell me how often he sat in a closet at the group home wrapped in an afghan,” she told the Register. “He couldn’t believe someone made the blankie just for him.”
DELAWARE
NEWARK — Who loves cookies more than the Cookie Monster?
Members of the Newark church think they know the answer: Prisoners at state correctional facilities.
The congregation, led by member Tom Dedmon, baked and delivered nearly 400 dozen cookies to help brighten the holidays for inmates, said Matt Wilson, youth and worship minister.
FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE — Gov. Charlie Crist presented the 2007 Governor’s Community Investment Award to Northside Community Involvement Inc., which was established by the Northside church.
Minister Charlie McClendon is the church’s minister and president of the nonprofit organization.
Monique Weeks is executive director of the organization, which developed the Working to Improve Neighborhoods program to help resolve the high rate of youth homicide and crime in the 32208 ZIP code. The WIN program includes recreational programs such as a summer basketball league.
PORT ORANGE — Sixty-four people attended the recent inaugural worship service of the Port Orange church, member Roben-Marie Smith said. The church was planted with the blessing of the elders of the Holly Hill, Fla., congregation.
GEORGIA
TUCKER — The youth group from the Northlake church hosted a recent holiday party for the senior residents of Annandale Village. Grin & Bear It Band, an area charity group, provided the tunes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
LOUISIANA
WEST MONROE — The Heart to Heart women’s ministry at the White’s Ferry Road church connects mature women and younger women over a homecooked meal and Bible study. The ministry was started by Joneal Kirby, director of the congregation’s marriage and family program.
“There is just something very important about older women spending time with younger women, showing them what they need to do, how things work, how to get through problems in their marriage,” Kirby told the News-Star in Monroe.
NORTH CAROLINA
RALEIGH — The Brooks Avenue church served a Thanksgiving lunch to more than 120 English as a Second Language students and teachers recently.
Students were led in songs, including “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and learned the historical basis of Thanksgiving. Wake Technical Community College uses the Brooks Avenue building for ESL classes.
OKLAHOMA
COLLINSVILLE — The Collinsville church purchased an early childhood school building and plans to turn it into the focal point of the congregation’s growing youth program.
The church had the high bid of about $180,000, which was accepted at a recent Collinsville Public Schools board meeting, the Tulsa World reported.
The purchase is part of an expansion plan the church developed last year, said Don Witten, chairman of the church’s building committee. The church has about 200 members. About 40 are in the youth program.
TULSA — The Garnett church is stepping away from leadership of the 2008 Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop.The Memorial Drive church will take over the workshop while Garnett leaders weigh their future relationship with the event.
“Garnett has reached a tough decision. … They will remain supportive and involved as they love the event as well as we do at Memorial,” said Memorial Drive minister Terry Rush.
Garnett minister Wade Hodges said: “The consensus here is that on the leadership level, there simply isn’t the passion for and commitment to the workshop that is needed to design and execute a quality program. We love the workshop. We support the workshop’s vision and program. But we feel like it is time for our church to direct its energy in other directions.”
TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE — Howard Senter at first declined the McDonald Drive church’s offer for a dinner in his honor. But he was later persuaded to accept, reasoning that it might offer others encouragement.
The life and legacy of Senter, 82, the first licensed black veterinarian in Tennessee, were celebrated at the church Dec. 8. While working, Senter was known for caring for animals, sometimes at no charge to owners who couldn’t afford to pay, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.
TEXAS
MESQUITE — Getting to evening church services is a smooth ride for 70-year-old Betty Owens and other members of the La Prada church. That’s because the congregation recently bought a limousine to help members uncomfortable with driving to services at night, The Dallas Morning News reported. But elder Gerald Hanley told the newspaper it’s not as extravagant as it sounds — the silver 1990, nine-passenger Cadillac Fleetwood cost $1,700.
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — Just 43 days after his baptism at the Legacy church, 100-year-old Stan Stafford died.
“He fell asleep in Jesus while sleeping during the night of Nov. 19, not to be awakened until the resurrection morning,” said member Alvin Jennings, who studied with Stafford and baptized him.
Her Luv Blankie Project has grown from one small quilt to more than 1,500 blankets sent to traumatized children all over the nation.
The ladies Bible class at the Sunny Hills church helps quilt and crochet the blankets, the Orange County Register reported.
“The quilt and blankie project is something about which she is more passionate than life itself,” elder John Free told The Christian Chronicle.
Barr, 73, a member of the congregation since the 1960s, said she recognized the importance of a
blankie 14 years ago when she welcomed a foster child into her home.
“He would tell me how often he sat in a closet at the group home wrapped in an afghan,” she told the Register. “He couldn’t believe someone made the blankie just for him.”
DELAWARE
NEWARK — Who loves cookies more than the Cookie Monster?
Members of the Newark church think they know the answer: Prisoners at state correctional facilities.
The congregation, led by member Tom Dedmon, baked and delivered nearly 400 dozen cookies to help brighten the holidays for inmates, said Matt Wilson, youth and worship minister.
FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE — Gov. Charlie Crist presented the 2007 Governor’s Community Investment Award to Northside Community Involvement Inc., which was established by the Northside church.
Minister Charlie McClendon is the church’s minister and president of the nonprofit organization.
Monique Weeks is executive director of the organization, which developed the Working to Improve Neighborhoods program to help resolve the high rate of youth homicide and crime in the 32208 ZIP code. The WIN program includes recreational programs such as a summer basketball league.
PORT ORANGE — Sixty-four people attended the recent inaugural worship service of the Port Orange church, member Roben-Marie Smith said. The church was planted with the blessing of the elders of the Holly Hill, Fla., congregation.
GEORGIA
TUCKER — The youth group from the Northlake church hosted a recent holiday party for the senior residents of Annandale Village. Grin & Bear It Band, an area charity group, provided the tunes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
LOUISIANA
WEST MONROE — The Heart to Heart women’s ministry at the White’s Ferry Road church connects mature women and younger women over a homecooked meal and Bible study. The ministry was started by Joneal Kirby, director of the congregation’s marriage and family program.
“There is just something very important about older women spending time with younger women, showing them what they need to do, how things work, how to get through problems in their marriage,” Kirby told the News-Star in Monroe.
NORTH CAROLINA
RALEIGH — The Brooks Avenue church served a Thanksgiving lunch to more than 120 English as a Second Language students and teachers recently.
Students were led in songs, including “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” and learned the historical basis of Thanksgiving. Wake Technical Community College uses the Brooks Avenue building for ESL classes.
OKLAHOMA
COLLINSVILLE — The Collinsville church purchased an early childhood school building and plans to turn it into the focal point of the congregation’s growing youth program.
The church had the high bid of about $180,000, which was accepted at a recent Collinsville Public Schools board meeting, the Tulsa World reported.
The purchase is part of an expansion plan the church developed last year, said Don Witten, chairman of the church’s building committee. The church has about 200 members. About 40 are in the youth program.
TULSA — The Garnett church is stepping away from leadership of the 2008 Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop.The Memorial Drive church will take over the workshop while Garnett leaders weigh their future relationship with the event.
“Garnett has reached a tough decision. … They will remain supportive and involved as they love the event as well as we do at Memorial,” said Memorial Drive minister Terry Rush.
Garnett minister Wade Hodges said: “The consensus here is that on the leadership level, there simply isn’t the passion for and commitment to the workshop that is needed to design and execute a quality program. We love the workshop. We support the workshop’s vision and program. But we feel like it is time for our church to direct its energy in other directions.”
TENNESSEE
KNOXVILLE — Howard Senter at first declined the McDonald Drive church’s offer for a dinner in his honor. But he was later persuaded to accept, reasoning that it might offer others encouragement.
The life and legacy of Senter, 82, the first licensed black veterinarian in Tennessee, were celebrated at the church Dec. 8. While working, Senter was known for caring for animals, sometimes at no charge to owners who couldn’t afford to pay, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.
TEXAS
MESQUITE — Getting to evening church services is a smooth ride for 70-year-old Betty Owens and other members of the La Prada church. That’s because the congregation recently bought a limousine to help members uncomfortable with driving to services at night, The Dallas Morning News reported. But elder Gerald Hanley told the newspaper it’s not as extravagant as it sounds — the silver 1990, nine-passenger Cadillac Fleetwood cost $1,700.
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — Just 43 days after his baptism at the Legacy church, 100-year-old Stan Stafford died.
“He fell asleep in Jesus while sleeping during the night of Nov. 19, not to be awakened until the resurrection morning,” said member Alvin Jennings, who studied with Stafford and baptized him.
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