Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville (left) is on “our team.”

Tuberville and his family are active members at the Auburn church, said Jim Brinkerhoff, campus minister.

“Of course, the schedule that Tommy keeps is very demanding and keeps him away from us at times, but he is certainly dedicated to our church family,” Brinkerhoff said.

“We love having him and his family here at Auburn. He is a person of quality and convictions.”

ARKANSAS
JONESBORO

The Southwest church is helping with a church plant in Salem, Ore., donating money to what pulpit minister Jimmy Adcox describes as a “baby church shower.”

Members have given more than $1,400 to the church, which is meeting in a school and will “go public” in October, Adcox said.

FLORIDA

Plans to deploy a mission team to Miami to work primarily among the city's more than 1.5 million Hispanics have been delayed but not forgotten, according to organizers.

The Continent of Great Cities mission organization, based in Abilene, Texas, suspended the Miami plans after four of the six couples and a single man who planned to participate dropped out for various reasons.

“This decision represents the loss of multiple thousands of dollars, thousands of man-hours, much personal sacrifice, especially on the part of the team members, disappointment to individual and church supporters, and the loss of what would have been a voice to the lost in Miami,” organization official Ken Lewis wrote in a recent newsletter.

But Lewis said that disappointment is counterbalanced by the knowledge that “God is sovereign over his creation ... and ultimately his will shall be done in this world!”

KENTUCKY
HOPKINSVILLE

The Southside church bought a full-page ad in a local newspaper, the Kentucky New Era, in a failed effort to persuade the city council to reject Sunday alcohol sales in large restaurants.

Minister Terry Alan Jones told the newspaper the church opposed the proposal because it raised moral and health issues.

However, the council voted 8-4 on Sept. 6 to approve the measure, overriding a veto by Mayor Rich Liebe.

OKLAHOMA
MIDWEST CITY

The Eastside church has started a breast cancer awareness and support group coinciding with “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” in October.

The group will meet the first Monday of every month.

“While the majority of women who attend the group will be survivors of breast cancer or will be in the midst of treatment, the group is also a great place for women to come and find out more about breast cancer and how to detect it,” said coordinator Judy Hays, a breast cancer survivor.

TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS

The Southwind church's 70th anniversary celebration Aug. 21 attracted 496 people, a record for the congregation at its current location.

The church began as the Fort Pickering church in the spring of 1935 when the building was rented for $8 a month, The Commecial Appeal reported.

The recent reunion marked both the congregation's founding and its 10th anniversary at the Southwind location where it first met Aug. 20, 1995.

NASHVILLE

Think of it as a “Big Boys VBS.”

More than 500 men and boys, many dressed in their best hunting camouflage, packed the Brentwood Hills church's decorated auditorium Aug. 23 to hear “Duck Commander” Phil Robertson.

Robertson, an elder at the White's Ferry Road church, West Monroe, La., shared stories about duck calling, his hunting and his personal walk with Jesus.

Robertson described how he has shared his faith with hundreds from the duck blind and thousands of others as he has traveled across the nation speaking.

WEST VIRGINIA
MORGANTOWN

The Morgantown church, formerly the Madigan Avenue church, marked its grand opening Sept. 4 with 377 in attendance.

That topped the average of 250.

Guest speaker Yale Canfield from the Skyway Hills church, Jackson, Miss., was unable to attend because of Hurricane Katrina.

Minister Karl J. McLarty said he “spoke on looking beyond our new building to the God who doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.”