By LORETTA FULTON As early as kindergarten, Kevin Lenius loved Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church, usually celebrated by Father Fred Nawarskas. He would even “play priest” at home, urging his parents to listen to him preach. Even on the swing set, gently swaying back and forth, Lenius felt God’s love and presence. When he got a little older, his
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By DANNY MINTON April 6, 1945, brought a fierce battle off the shore of Okinawa, Japan. The American fleet consisted of three large carriers, a dozen destroyers, four light cruisers, and a couple of light carriers. It also included three battleships, of which one was the USS North Carolina. Onboard the BB55, North Carolina, was my dad, Smitty Minton. The
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By LORETTA FULTON As a real estate broker and owner of a local company, Vance Cooksey is used to putting people into houses. But an additional job as program coordinator for Work Again West Texas, in partnership with Goodwill-West Texas, is giving Cooksey an opportunity of a different sort to guide people into permanent housing. The program provides part-time jobs
Read moreBishop Scott Mayer has eased COVID-19 restrictions for churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas. Masks will still be required for indoor worship social distancing requirements will be lifted. The diocese issued the following statements, with changes effective Sunday, May 16: After more than a year of living with COVID-19, we may finally be seeing a light at the
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U.S. Jews are culturally engaged, increasingly diverse, politically polarized and worried about anti-Semitism, according to the findings of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. The survey found that many Jewish Americans participate, at least occasionally, both in some traditional religious practices and in some Jewish cultural activities. Among young Jewish adults, however, two sharply divergent expressions of
Read moreMark Hewitt, founder and executive director of Love & Care Ministries, is featured in the current issue of Abilene Scene magazine as an Abilene Influencer. Click on the heading below to read the story
Read moreA memorial service will be held May 15 for Mark Rogers, who was killed in a car accident on March 13. The service will begin at 10 a.m. at Southern Hills Church of Christ, where Rogers was a member. The service will be live-streamed on the church’s YouTube channel. Rogers was West Central Texas Market President of Big Brothers Big
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By JIM NICHOLS Do you remember your first elementary school building? I do. I spent the first three-plus years of my education at Francis Willard Elementary in Kansas City. In kindergarten a boy held a crayon in his hand for a long time and it soon got softened and melted enough he could bend it into a curl; I was
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By NANCY PATRICK Last summer (2020), I attended a community gathering held at Stevenson Park in Abilene. I went to support the Black Lives Matter Movement. The sweltering June evening drew a large number of Abilenians. I proudly observed people of all races and ethnicities, most carrying placards with expressions of protest for George Floyd’s recent murder. Others expressed hope
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By MARIANNE WOOD The first thing you learn as students of the Latin dance Tango is to keep your knees bent. Our instructor, Sophia, taught that essential lesson to our ballroom dancing class about two months ago. She followed up with these steps: a corte and a sit-down. The first step advances; the second retreats. We then learned to promenade
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By DANNY MINTON In 1963 I watched the news and the report on the funeral service of a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. There were no pallbearers, so the newsmen at the funeral were asked to help carry the coffin to the graveside. It even became difficult to find a preacher to perform the service. Despite all this in the
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By DANNY MINTON This past week I took our dog outside and sat in one of the rockers, staring at the night sky. Then, without warning, a sudden sense of sadness swept over me as my thoughts came back to our son, who died seven years ago. For a few moments, my heart swelled, filled with grief over the loss.
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By JIM NICHOLS Whether or not you are a follower of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, you have some sort of spiritual stance. Furthermore, that stance did not just fall into you; it was developed over the years through what you have been told, what you have read, and the way you have interpreted what has happened
Read moreBreakfast on Beech Street (B.O.B.S) is celebrating its 25th birthday in May and is asking for one simple gift: a donation on Tuesday, May 4, through the Abilene Community Foundation’s annual Abilene Gives day. It’s a simple request and easy to grant. In fact, you don’t even have to leave the house and go shopping. The Community Foundation is making
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By LORETTA FULTON National Day of Prayer services will look a little more normal this year than a year ago when COVID-19 had a firm grip on all public gatherings. This year’s observances, locally and nationally, will be on Thursday, May 6. 1-Kingdom will sponsor a live event at noon in downtown Abilene, and the Abilene Interfaith Council will host
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World Vision 6K for WaterLink to Team Abilene registration and informationhttps://www.teamworldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=14915YouTube videoshttps://youtu.be/SLkoktezFy8https://youtu.be/coxw9n2IcXIWhat: 6K (3.7 miles) run/walk to benefit World Vision 6K for WaterWhen: 9 a.m. May 22Where: ACU Lunsford Foundation TrailHow much: $50 for adults; $25 for children (All proceeds benefit World Vision 6K for Water)Deadline: Registration will be available on the day of the event. To receive a T-shirt
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By DAN R. STIVER In the aftermath of the landmark conviction of Derek Chauvin over the murder of George Floyd, a case that riveted the nation and the world, I had swirling feelings and thoughts. I was then struck by the words of lead prosecutor and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who for me hit so many notes so well.
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By DANNY MINTON In the movie “Rudy,” Daniel Ruettiger is found in the chapel praying when a priest sees him and sits down to talk with him. Daniel is trying to get into Notre Dame and inquires of the priest if he has done everything he could do. The priest responds, “Son, in all my years of theological studies, I
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By NANCY PATRICK Back in the 1940s, Ralph Edwards created a radio program called “Truth or Consequences.” Its popularity resulted in a television version in 1950. The program’s premise required contestants to answer trivial questions correctly or reap the consequences. The consequences usually meant doing foolish, silly things that resulted in the audience’s appreciative laughter. In fact, most contestants answered
Read moreBy PHILIP LeMASTERS Eastern Orthodox Christians may have hesitated a bit this year on April 5 when friends asked, “How was your Easter?” The day before we had observed the third Sunday of Lent, not the Lord’s resurrection. Though Orthodox agree with Catholics and Protestants that Easter is on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the
Read moreACU NEWS RELEASEWendy Kilmer, Director of Communications and Media Relations Dr. Billy Curl, a former missionary in Ethiopia and current minister of Crenshaw Church of Christ in Los Angeles, will speak at Abilene Christian University April 28 about his experience as one of the first two Black undergraduate students to integrate ACU. The event, sponsored by ACU’s Office of Multicultural
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Bishop Michael Sis of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo announced several clergy changes in the diocese effective July 1. Several involve former and current priests in Abilene. Most notably for Abilenians, the Rev. Msgr. Fred Nawarskas, or “Father Fred” as he is best known, will retire. He has been priest at Holy Family Catholic Church since 1996. A special
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By JIM NICHOLS The monitor lights blinked with lines and numbers. The patient lay unmoving in the bed while family members quietly entered and exited the hospital room; they spoke softly and seldom. It seems to me that those employed in medical settings have a distinct human advantage over others. This is particularly true in our modern world. Whereas, in
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By RICK HAMMER Here we are at Earth Day 2021 after one of the most tragic and heartbreaking years in over a century. Over the past year the world has been through much sickness and death as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by a highly infective virus. A virus, mind you that is a part of God’s
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By LORETTA FULTON Methodists are used to change, but no one could have predicted the big change that is coming in July. And, it will be welcomed news to all who were touched by the ministry of Felicia Hopkins when she served as senior pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church from 2013 to 2019. Hopkins will be returning to
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By JIM NICHOLS In 1786 poet Robert Burns penned a line that is memorable. Paraphrased, it suggested it would be a great gift from God if we could see ourselves as others see us. I am speaking to myself now as well as readers. The two types of glass with which we are most familiar are windows and mirrors. Through
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By DANNY MINTON A preacher was making his rounds on a bicycle when he came upon a little boy trying to sell a lawnmower. How much do you want for the mower?’ asked the preacher. “I just want enough money to go out and buy me a bicycle,” said the little boy. After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, “Will
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By LORETTA FULTON As accomplished as she is, Jessica Goudeau had no intention of writing a book when she met a refugee at a church festival in Austin. She had no intention of forming a relationship with the woman and her family. And, she had no intention of starting a nonprofit to aid other refugees from the same country, Myanmar
Read moreHoly Week begins April 23 at St. Luke Orthodox Church, 501 Sunset Drive, with daily services leading to Pascha or Easter on Sunday, May 2. Western Christians celebrated Easter on April 4, but Orthodox Christians follow a different calendar, which places Pascha at a different time from Easter. Below is the schedule for Holy Week and Pascha services at St.
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Editor’s Note: The following article by Loretta Fulton first was published in the West Texas Angelus, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo. By Loretta Fulton Every priest serving St. Vincent Pallotti Catholic Church in Abilene since 1985 has at one time or another said the same words when confronted with an issue that needed a decision. “Let’s
Read moreEditor’s Note: Jim Nichols wrote this piece for Spirit of Abilene just before Christmas 2019. The message is too good not to re-post for 2020. By JIM NICHOLS “No more let sin and sorrow grow,Nor thorns infest the ground;He comes to make His blessings flowFar as the curse is found.” Somewhere in town is an unknown clerk at a convenience
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“The Year of COVID-19” won’t be celebrated by many people, but don’t discount the innovation and creativity that continues to pop up because of the pandemic. Spirit of Abilene would like to share the innovative and creative ways that congregations, or individuals, are coping with the chaos brought about by the coronavirus. What does your “Everyday Ministry” look like during this
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By LORETTA FULTON Someday, Nathan Wright wants to put his math and science skills to work as either an aerospace or chemical engineer. For now, he’s perfectly happy using his muscles more than his brainpower to help others. Wright is one of 12 missionaries in Abilene serving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On Wednesday, July 22, they
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By JIM NICHOLS It was a heavily traveled road, but a dangerous journey. You certainly did not want to walk it alone. It was not called the “way of blood” for nothing. It was a generally downhill trip from Jerusalem to Jericho with lots of twists and turns and rocks and boulders to try to avoid. However, the bandits were
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Proverbial truisms typically go unchallenged, but an expression dating back to the sixteenth century has gone by the boards when its application is directed toward men’s footwear. Historically, what men have worn on their feet has been basic, often dictated by comfort, durability and practicality. Long before Baskin-Robbins came along with 31 flavors that threatened
Read moreHoward Payne UniversityNews Release Howard Payne University will host a free Zoom seminar, “In the Beginning and Beyond: A Study of Genesis 1-4,” on six Wednesdays in May and June. Leading the study will be Dr. Donnie Auvenshine, HPU’s vice president for academic affairs and professor of Christian studies. The meetings will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
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