Ray Evans/JoAnn Belknap Seminar
This year's Ray Evans Seminar is April 11–13. Our guest speaker is Dr. Kevin Youngblood and the topic is "The Minor Prophet Jonah."
You can learn more about sessions, the speaker, and our annual seminar below.
FREE childcare is available, but you must sign up ahead of time. If you need childcare, REGISTER HERE or call the church office at 405-321-0788.
FRI. & SAT. (4/11/25-4/12/25)
FRIDAY
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm:
"Vocaphobia: Overcoming Our Fear of Our Divine Calling" (Jonah 1:1-3)
SATURDAY
9:30 am to 10:15 am:
"Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go" (Jonah 1:4-16; 2:10-3:3)
10:15 am to 10:45 am: Break
10:45 am to 11:30 am:
"Prayer in the Book of Jonah & in the Christian Life" (2:1-10; 4:1-4)
SUNDAY (4/13/25)
All adult Bible classes will meet in the auditorium for a combined class led by Dr. Youngblood.
SUNDAY
Bible Class at 9:00 am:
"The Playful God of the Book of Jonah: Learning to Take Ourselves Less Seriously and God More Seriously" (Jonah 4:5-11)
Worship at 10:00 am:
"The Sign of Jonah: Jonah, Jesus, and the Resurrected Life" (Jonah 1:17; Matt 12:38-42; 16:1-4, 17-20)
Dr. Kevin Youngblood
Kevin has been preaching for the Westridge church family for over four years. He is a graduate of Lipscomb University (BA and MA), Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv), and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (PhD). In addition to preaching for Westridge, Kevin also serves as professor of biblical studies at Harding University where he has taught for the past twelve years.
Previously, Kevin served churches in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. He has also served on the faculties of Freed-Hardeman University and Ohio Valley University.
Kevin is proud to be the father of four children – Karissa Williams (25), Carmen (deceased), Khyle (12), and Gabriel (7) and the grandfather of Grant and Grace Marie Williams. Be sure to check out his weekly blog “The Daily Disciple."
Ray Evans/JoAnn Belknap Seminar & Ray Evans Library
Ray Evans was a minister, missionary, scholar, and teacher. He preached at University Church of Christ which later merged with Central Church of Christ to form Alameda Church of Christ. Working diligently with college students, Ray believed teaching God’s word would encourage the next generation of teachers to dig deeper and reach farther. Ray had a master’s degree in Old Testament Studies, was working on his PhD in Communications, was a preaching minister, and a missionary in The Hague, Netherlands, but his passion was teaching. He joined the Preston Road School of Preaching as a professor to share his experience and encourage the next generation of preaching ministers. His students experienced great loss when Ray and three of his colleagues were killed in a plane crash on February 22, 1979.
This seminar and the Ray Evans Library at Alameda are memorials of his passion for teaching and encouraging students of the Bible. Those who are searching will find answers they seek, and Ray wanted to share his appetite for the Bible with those around him. His wife, JoAnn Belknap, continued to remember his diligence and shared it with others in this annual Bible seminar. JoAnn passed away in 2023, and now the Ray Evans/JoAnn Belknap Seminar serves in memory of her as well.
Every year, a Bible scholar comes to Alameda to share his area of Biblical knowledge in celebration of Ray Evans’ dedication. His legacy lives on in the loved ones he left behind who share with us his hunger for teaching and learning together in the family of Christ.
