Lectureship to discuss the future of the church

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

The 63rd Oklahoma Christian University Lectureship kicks-off Sunday with a keynote speech, congregational signing and an Acappella concert. Running from Oct. 6 to Oct. 8, the lectureship focuses on this year’s theme of “The Future of the Church.”

“This is an annual event that has been a part of the history of Oklahoma Christian from our very beginning,” Bob Rowley, executive director of church relations, said. “It’s something that we’re glad that we can provide every year.”

Junior Matthew McCranie said that the topic of the Lectureship would be valuable to the students and guests who attend.

“I believe that [the topic] will be very beneficial,” McCranie said. “We, as the students, and especially in the Bible department, we need to learn to apply the knowledge that we learn from the Bible. Our new generation definitely perceives differently. We can tell that the models of the church nowadays aren’t working, that so many are dying out. Actually learning new ways of keeping the church alive would bolster larger church growth.”

Distinguished Professor of Bible Stafford North said that the Lectureship will have several different classes available.

“The Lectureship has a wide variety of the types of classes,” North said. “Some deal with just studies of Bible texts that we feel are important for the future of the church and some deal with issues that are going on within the church, some deal with marriage and family topics, some deal with youth and how youth can be taught.”

Rowley discussed the types of classes that will be offered.

“While there are some classes that are more, if you want to say, doctrinal in nature, there are many practical classes,” Rowley said. “I really think that all the classes, if a student will just look at them, they might say, ‘Hey, I think that’s something that I would be interested in,’ or ‘That’s something I would like to know more about.’”

To kick off the Lectureship, Oklahoma Christian is going to hold an Acapella concert at 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 6.

“Following the Keynote Speech on Sunday night is an Acappella concert,” Rowley said. “I know of a lot of individuals who want to come and not only hear the lesson, but want to attend the Acappella concert.”

The Oklahoma Lectureship is open to all students and the community.

“We truly want students to feel like it is for them,” Rowley said. “We will have visitors from the state of Oklahoma and from out of state. By no means is it just for the people outside of Oklahoma Christian. We want our students to feel comfortable about attending the Lectureship and for them to take advantage of the classes. We would love for them to be active participants in the Lectureship.”

McCranie said he is looking forward to the Lectureship.

“I love lectureships,” McCranie said. “It’s kind of like Bible camp for adults. You can take the classes that you normally can’t at church, that churches don’t normally offer, that you can take from a college level because it’s normally professors and professional speakers teaching the classes, and you get way more depth from the Bible than just the surface stuff that we cover on Sunday mornings.”

North hopes that students and visitors will learn from the Lectureship.

“I’m hoping that the people will take home from this Lectureship some practical things they can do in their churches and as individuals, that they will have a better understanding on how to deal with some issues that are being faced and that they will be inspired,” North said.

North said that they have a way of helping to keep the students involved in the Lectureship.

We will be posting a set of all the classes and everything in the student center and in Hardeman,” North said. “There’s going to be this big poster of all of the classes and lectures and everything that [students] can go there and look to see what would be of interest to them.”

Rowley mentioned the goal of the Lectureship.

“I think at the end of the day we just want to be the encouragement and try to help churches to grow and to prosper, and we want this Lectureship to help the future of the church to be brighter and if, through our classes and lectures that we offer, we can help the future of the church be brighter, then we would feel like we’ve accomplished the goal that we have here,” Rowley said.

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