Editor’s Note: Mayor Anthony Williams will be guest speaker for the Jan. 23 meeting of the Abilene Association of Congregations. The meeting, open to the public, will begin at 11:45 a.m. at First Central Presbyterian Church, 400 Orange St. Lunch is by donation. By LORETTA FULTON Martin Luther King Jr. was admired as a great orator, and many of his
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By LORETTA FULTON A familiar face to many Abilenians is returning in May to become rector of the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest. David Romanik was curate and associate rector at Heavenly Rest when he left in 2014 to become associate rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He and his family, wife, Sarah Beth
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Popular Abilene pastor Felicia Hopkins is headed for the Panhandle in July after being appointed Amarillo District Superintendent of the Northwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. No replacement has been named at St. Paul. In 2013 Hopkins became the first woman first African-American senior pastor at historic St. Paul United Methodist Church. Her appointment was made by Bishop
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From Eden to Heaven: Spiritual Formation for the Adventurous By KELLY PIGOTT This book has been a very long time in the making. I’ve been teaching spiritual formation for over a decade at Hardin-Simmons University, and I’ve led three pilgrimages to Ireland (a fourth is slated for this spring). Drawing upon the material I developed for these courses, I’ve crafted
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Each year, the Religion News Association asks its members to vote on the top stories of the year. They are stories of consequence, like this year’s top story, the Pennsylvania grand jury report that accused 301 Catholic priests of sexually abusing at least 1,000 minors. The top religion stories in Abilene ususally don’t carry that kind of weight, but they
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Abilene Christian University is bringing two outstanding presentations to campus Jan. 16-17. Both programs are free and open to the public. The first is a showing of the new film (a PBS documentary) about Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King’s mentor. “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story” explores the extraordinary life of a man who, in his heart, was a
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By NANCY PATRICK My upbringing, though a simple one, taught me about worthwhile values. I confess that I have materialistic moments and desires, but I strive to keep them at a minimum. When I contemplate my New Year’s resolutions, I try to keep them simple, unselfish, and realistic. I consider several categories of behavior for my own life. One area
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