(Editor’s Note: Bishop Sis has canceled the Ash Wednesday services that were scheduled to be held in Abilene Feb. 17) By LORETTA FULTON Weather and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic permitting, Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo will be in Abilene Wednesday for two Ash Wednesday services. But those services won’t be in one of the four local
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By LORETTA FULTON Libby Rankin didn’t know it, but she waited almost a year for an award she should have received on March 26, 2020. That was the date of the annual Hardin-Simmons University Round Table Scholarship Luncheon when the winner of the Woman of Virtue Award and the recipient of the scholarship are announced. But COVID-19 intervened in March
Read moreEditor’s Note: The following column was written by Dr. Lanny Hall when he was president of Howard Payne University. It was published in “College Faith,” a publication of Andrews Press in 2004. Its message is relevant today. Hall also is past president of Hardin-Simmons and Wayland Baptist universities. By DR. LANNY HALL My university years represented a time of searching
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IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Many lessons awaited a baby born in 1935 on a dry land farm in West Texas’ Tom Green County. Jimmie Royce Keeling calls all of them “blessings.” That’s how he has sized up life so far, and it’s hard to dispute him. He’s shown dogged determination to give a heap more back than he’s taken
Read moreHardin-Simmons University is hosting an on-campus symposium, Tuesday, Nov. 10 and Thursday, Nov. 12. Tuesday’s event is a re-enactment of a talk by Dr. James Simmons. The re-enactment will take place at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the campus gravesites of Simmons and his wife and son. On Thursday, Nov. 12, faculty member Kelvin Kelley and former faculty member
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Google gets the last laugh, probably far more often than we know. Include one letter more than needed to “Google” and a subject turns research to clabber quicker than political candidates can call their opponents liars. (Seems like mere decades ago that such comments were tenderized, usually beginning with sentences like, “My worthy opponent deals
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By LORETTA FULTON In March 2019, Bishop Michael Sis of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo conducted Ash Wednesday services at all three of Abilene’s universities–and no one did a double-take. All three universities are affiliated with a denomination, but none has a Catholic connection. The campuses are affiliated with the Church of Christ (Abilene Christian), Baptist (Hardin-Simmons) and United
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Editor’s Note: Everyday Ministry is an occasional feature of Spirit of Abilene, highlighting people who weave ministry into their everyday lives. If you know someone you would like to see featured, email editor@spiritofabilene.com with the name, contact information and a brief description of the person’s ministry. By LORETTA FULTON Life is filled with learning right now for Peyten Castillo. The
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By LORETTA FULTON Praise music, scripture reading, prayers, homilies–and a dash of COVID-19 humor–greeted Abilene university students this week as they returned to campus after an extra long spring break that morphed into summer. Like most colleges nationwide, Abilene’s three universities shut down on-campus classes after spring break due to the COVID pandemic. Classes were held online for the remainder
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