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Honestly, is honesty still a virtue
among Christians?
Nun will speak for the week at St.
Michaels
Pastoral Pondering: Give thanks for
those
who serve God in so many ways
A.C.
Green will
speak at
Mayors' Prayer Breakfast |
The OSU and NBA star will lead a list of players, athletes
and coaches at the May 15 event |
By Schellene Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The concept is teamwork, and who better to understand the necessity of
teamwork than a pro athlete?
So considered Mayor Roger Worrall and community members who hold a seat on
the Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast committee.
When the group was planning invitations for speakers at the event —
slated for 8 a.m., May 15 in the Klages dining hall in Heacock Commons at George Fox
University — several athletes’ names came to mind. The most positive response to
invitations came from A.C. Green.
Green was a basketball standout at Benson High School in Portland and Oregon
State University. He spent more than a decade playing professionally with the Los Angeles
Lakers, Phoenix Suns and other NBA teams.
In 1989 Green established the A.C. Green Youth Foundation. The
foundation’s mission is to help youth build self-esteem, character and moral
principals, according to a press release. Green will serve as keynote speaker for the
event.
But preparations are not complete. “Every year we start right after the
current year’s prayer breakfast to prepare for the next,” Worrall said.
Worrall said he believes people in general, and kids in particular, begin to
learn how to interact with the community and world around them early in their school
career, even more so in sports endeavors.
“What is the goal, the task to be done, the end to be achieved?” he
asked. “It’s crystal clear in a sports context, but those are the lessons that
apply to life in general. It’s a microcosm. Everything is connected to everything
else and the more we integrate prayer the more it all becomes one great big interrelated
network.”
Lon Fendall, GFU dean of undergraduate studies and coordinator for the
breakfast, said the group features a certain category in the community and they pick their
speakers accordingly. Last year the group featured health care speakers, asking doctors
and nurses to get involved in the discussion.
This time the group picked athletes and coaches as a focus. The local tie
will be Jill Jamison Beals, a legendary distance runner at GFU, along with Green.
In addition, the flag salute will be presented by coaches and athletes. Tim
Burke, Newberg School District athletic director, and Craig Taylor, GFU athletic director,
will lead prayers.
“People find it to be inspiring and unifying,” Fendall said.
“We don’t ask which churches we go to or what theology we believe in; here
prayer and community have a focal point.”
The event costs $10 per person or $125 to sponsor a table of eight. Tickets
are available at Friendsview Manor, Chapters Books and Coffee Cottage. For more
information contact Edna Williams at 503-538-6988. |
|
From April 17,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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