On February 24, 2008 Betty DeLess and other members of the class talked about the class at the morning worship service. The following is a transcript of their remarks:
Good morning. As he said, I am Betty DeLess. I’m moderator for the Couples and Careers class today, and we’d like to tell you a few things about our class, starting with the history. Bert Jordan?
Yes ma’am.
(chuckle) When was the first Couples class started and why do you remember that?
October the 5th 1954. The main reason I remember that, and I will remember it forever, is because my oldest daughter was born that morning.
(laughter) Thank you. Gertrude, where did the class meet and how was it set up?
We met in the little building back there, the Boy Scout hut, with men on one side and women on the other side. We are not segregated anymore.
It didn’t last very long that way. Leonard Ponder? Where does the class meet now?
In the Administration Building with coffee at 9:15 and class at 9:30.
Thank you. Charlene Morgan? How many are in our class now?
We have twelve members and a lot of space for a lot more people.
Rusty Morgan. Do we have an on-going study?
Yes. We use the Adult Bible Studies and we have been studying Luke in the last quarter.
Mary Jane Manning. Do we have teachers?
Yes. We have Alice Williams, Betty DeLess, Jim Manning, Bob Vandiver, and only rarely Mary Jane Manning. (laughter)
Jim Manning. Tell us about your approach to teaching our class.
Everybody has heard the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words.” That probably originated in Chicago in the 1920’s with an advertising executive who was pushing the use of pictures in magazine advertisements. It has also been attributed to Abraham Lincoln and to Confucius, so there is about 3000 years in there you can choose from. But I think most everybody will agree that it is true. I have worked with PowerPoint for years, I love PowerPoint, and as soon as the church got a digital projector a few months ago I started using PowerPoint when I teach the 2nd Sunday of each month. I try to make the message as visible as possible. I incorporate videos from YouTube if I can find something appropriate. So my approach is a bit different. Its, ahhhh— more visual. (chuckles)
Thank you, Jim. Alice Williams. How would you describe the class participation in the lessons?
Oh they participate. In fact sometimes you have to draw in the reins to be able to teach the class. We have a lot of laughs, we don’t always agree on everything, but it’s a great class and I thoroughly enjoy being a member.
Thank you. Lemmelia Walter? Do we have any projects that we support?
Yes, we do. We support the Ingathering, the Food Bank, the Wesley Foundation, the Disaster Relief trailer, and whenever there’s a need our class always digs deep and we contribute.
Thank you. Bob Vandiver, what would you want to say to a perspective member of this class?
Well, it’s a very friendly class. I’m a fairly new member myself and I’ve sure been made to feel at home there. We have a good time. We have interpersonal meetings before the meeting. Like Alice said, you have to call a time out sometimes to get to the study lesson. We have opening prayers, we discuss community affairs, current events, we do a lot of sharing of open hearts, open door, and open minds in the class.
Thank you. We are offering an invitation to you to come to visit the class and we thank you for your attention.
The picture below is the melding of two pictures taken on May 28, 2006.
Last Updated 07/13/08
