5^th ANNUAL WOMEN’S PRAYER CONFERENCE

CELEBRATED AT ST. PETER’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Located at 4509 Springdale Road, Austin, Texas, St. Peter’s United Methodist Church Women’s Ministry will celebrate their 5^th Annual Women’s Prayer Conference beginning Friday, July 29, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. with registration and an opportunity for fellowship and snacks.  “Women of Triumph – Treasuring the Anointing!” is the conference theme for 2011.

Friday, July 29, 2011 will feature Reverend Telley Lynnette Gadson, M.Div., pastor of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Sumter, South Carolina since 1999.  Affectionately known as Pastor T, Reverend Gadson with her sensitivity and a warm smile as her hallmarks, leads by example and believes that everyone has a place in the building of God’s Kingdom.  An anointed preacher, a tenacious teacher, and a compassionate counselor, Reverend Gadson models her life after the African-American spiritual:  “If I can help somebody as I travel along the way, then my living shall not be in vain.”

Saturday, July 30, 2011 will be the continuation of registration with fellowship and snacks before going into our Praise Celebration with Keynote Speaker Pastor Arlise Carson, co-pastor with her husband at Spirit and Truth Christian Church in Round Rock, Texas.  Her passion is to glorify God and serve His people by reaching out to the un-saved and spiritually disillusioned with a radically relevant message of salvation, deliverance, integrity, empowerment, and faithfulness.  Pastor Carson is a woman that earnestly perseveres to walk in the excellence of God, so that she may glorify Him in all she does.  She has truly been ‘Called Into This Time for God’s Purpose.”  She attributes all she is in Christ to the love and grace of God that continues to make all things possible in her life.

During the Saturday activities we will have age-appropriate child involvement sessions for children three years to 12 years of age.  These sessions will be going on simultaneously with the Women’s Prayer Conference Workshops.  St. Peter’s will be sponsoring a Silent Auction Friday evening through Saturday and vendors will be on site.

Our climax for this three day Women’s Prayer Conference will be Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. with Reverend Dr. Clara M. Reed, D.Min., as the Keynote Speaker.  Dr. Reed is an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and a member of the North Texas Conference where she currently serves as the District Superintendent for the Metro District and provides spiritual and administrative oversight for the 80 churches and all the clergy members in her district.  Throughout her Christian journey, which began as a member of the Pentecostal Church, Dr. Reed has served the church in numerous capacities which include pastoring, directing community outreach ministries, serving as minister to children and youth and as a frequent facilitator for Disciple Bible Study.

New this year for our Prayer Conference, St. Peter’s will sponsor a Women’s Chorus Musical, “PRAISING GOD FOR THE ANOINTING” scheduled for Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. This praise musical will be featuring choirs, groups and soloist from the Austin and surrounding communities.  Serving as the Mistress of Ceremony for this celebration will be Claudia D. Williams, a Christian woman who has carried the baton directing the St. James Missionary Baptist Church Music Ministry since 1976.  Her love for gospel music, especially her rhythmic and animated actions, began at a very early age. Her accolades within her church as well as the community are numerous and extraordinary.  And on Wednesday night, July 27, 2011, we will have an Old Fashioned Prayer Meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The proceeds from our Women’s Prayer Conference benefit St. Peter’s UMC Ministries and Educational Scholarships of St. Peter’s graduates.  The Austin and surrounding communities are invited to join us for this awesome conference, musical and prayer meeting.  For conference information pertaining to registration, scheduling, etc., please contact the church office at 512 926-1686 or visit us at stpetersaustintx.ning.com.  First Lady Tammie Y. Gause is the founder of the St. Peter’s United Methodist Church Women’s Ministry and the Women’s Prayer Conference and Elder Jack C. Gause, M.Div., is the pastor of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church.

Kevin Durant talks summer camp

Kevin
Durant talks summer camp

By: Terry Davis

The dog days of summer got a little better for 360 kids at
the Kevin Durant basketball camp at Westlake High School.  This is the third year that Durant has hosted
a summer camp for kids, but this is the first time that the camp has come to
Austin where Durant played college basketball at the University of Texas.

When asked about why Durant wanted to bring the camp to
Austin, he stated “I’ve always loved Austin they embraced me so much, being
from the East Coast I felt right at home since I first time I stepped off the
plane for summer school.  I connected
with a lot of people here and I wanted to come back here to see how the turnout
would be and since has been successful and hopefully it can be even better next
year.”

When asked why he decided to bring the camp to Austin he
stated,” I wanted the young kids to have the opportunity to interact with NBA
players something I did not get a chance to do and I wanted to be there for the
younger kids and show them something different it was a easy decision for me”.  As a kid Durant did not have the opportunity
to attend a camp the was led by an NBA player so he would just go the park and
gym to work on his ball handling and shooting just for fun until he really got
good at it.

Durant occasionally would speak
and play different basketball games with the campers and offer them advice and
tips on how to improve their play on the court and how to be a better person in
life.  In one of the sessions Durant
stated, “play hard, play smart, but most of all play together”.

This year’s camp was coordinated by ProCamps.  According to Jake Moylan of ProCamps the
purpose of the camp is to teach fundamentals, improve technics and to allow the
kids to have fun.  The kids at the camp
are coached by 30 of the area’s top prep basketball coaches .  All of the campers receive a camp t-shirt and
a Durant-autographed team photo. Some campers are even lucky enough to get
signed t-shirts and/or basketball shoes by winning various contests.

The Kevin Durant Basketball Camp host a group of campers on
scholarship from the Boys & Girls Club of Austin.  The camp was conducted over a two day period
and the divided into two age groups.  The
first group consisted of 7-11 year old and the second group was for kids
12-18.  The camp is opened to boys and
girls.

NBA Lockout!!!!

By: Terry Davis

Kevin Durant Quotes:

One camper asked
Kevin Durant about the lockout

Question :  Are you
worried about the lockout and how long do you think it will go on?

I am worried of I want to play I think I am positive about
the situation, I think we can get something done before the summer is out even
though the talks are going really slow now I still think they can speed it
up.  The last lockout they got it done in
the wee hours of the night hopefully it happen again this time and we can get
back to what we want to do.

Questions what are the players doing to stay united?

Every meeting that they have had has had 20-30 players there
the owners are staying together, but there are more players in the league and
we are staying together, guys who not even at the meetings  we all standing together and we are not going
to give in if that what it takes even the some of the higher paid guys in the
league are attending these meetings hopefully we can get something done.

After the playoff
lost to the Mavericks

I was upset for a while we had a chance to get to the top of
that mountain and kinda hurt, but sometimes you have to go through tough things
to get to where you want to get to.  We
gained a lot of experience in getting to the Conference Finals not many people
thought we could get to we want to set bigger goals

Comments about Texas
Longhorn Basketball

Question: Kevin do follows the longhorns basketball team
during the season and what do you think about the newest members to the NBA
Fraternity?

I am so happy for them especially Jordan (Jordan Hamilton),
Tristan(Tristan Thompson) I have been knowing him since he was in the 10^th
grade, Cory, (Cory Joseph) I got to  get
to know him this past year or so see  all
of those guys go in the first round to teams that are pretty good it speaks
volumes to how much they work hard and the program at the University of Texas
of preparing those guys it will be fun to play against them we are friends until
they toss the ball up against them it should be cool to add three more brothers
into the Texas Fraternity of NBA players.

Questions:  Have the
young guys approached you about advice?

Yeah Tristan and Corey I just told these guys to embrace
everything the workouts , meeting with the teams, pre-draft camp and everything
that goes into it just have fun.  Every
time the draft comes around I wish I could go thru it again every single year,
because it is something that you have been dreaming about your whole life and
finally get there no one can take that away from you, embrace it all. because
only comes around once an enjoy it all.

Questions Do you get a chance to talk to Coach Barnes during
the season

Coach Barnes is a real big mentor to me during the season he
is so lock in and focused on what he has to do to make his team get better and
I don’t try to take that away from him he is one of the hardest workers I have
been around and he demands that respect from everyone.  During the season I try not to bug him that
much I know he has a lot on his plate but after the season we try to get
together to have lunch and he know loves me and I know he loves me as a person
outside of the basketball game I am honored and blessed to have the privilege
to play for him he is going to be a very important person in my life for the
rest of my life he has been great for me.

National Black leaders gather for the National Newspaper Publishers Association annual conference in Chicago Fri., Jun. 24.  (L to r) Martin Luther King, III, Benjamin Chavis, Dr. Maulana Karenga, Dr. Cornel West, Rev. Al Shaprton, Danny Bakewell Sr., Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Rev. Marcia L. Dynson. (Photo credit: Gregory Everett)

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BLACK PRESS OF AMERICA CONFERENCE BRINGS OUT BLACK LEADERS  

National Newspaper Publishers Association Brings Out Who's Who in Black America 

CHICAGO, IL - Led by Chairman Danny Bakewell Sr., over 200 Black newspaper publishers and Black leaders from all over the country gathered at Chicago's legendary Drake Hotel for a week of robust conversations on the future of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, also known as the Black Press of America.