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Their mission is to let people double-click their way to a higher understanding.
Grace Presbyterian Church in Temple offered its first “Computers Made Easy Class” to the community this week.
Finishing its weeklong term today, the class has covered topics like operating the mouse and keyboard, using Microsoft Windows and surfing the Internet. The class is full to capacity with eight students.
“We’ve got a waiting list of 27 more people wanting to participate,” said Naomi Ingrim, pastoral assistant. “Since interest has been so high, we may be looking at offering it more than once a quarter.”
The schedule of the next class will depend on that decision.
There was no cost for students to participate. It was free, the Rev. Thomas Allen said, because the church views it as a mission of service.
“The overall goal of the computer instruction is to witness the love of Jesus to those who may be fearful of new technology, to those who never had a chance to learn,” Allen said. “There’s a lot who don’t know how to use the computer to pay bills, make reservations, fill out forms, shop, e-mail friends and research their illnesses and medications.”
The pastor said the desire to give people that knowledge is what inspired the church to apply for the “Computers Made Easy” grant that financed the church’s two-month-old computer lab. Coming from the Waco Westminster Working Hands Legacy Fund of Grace Presbytery, the grant paid for nine new computers and some software.
Class instructor Tom Langthorn said he was happy to help the church accomplish its goal of providing computer education to the public. His computer skills are tested everyday at work; he’s an information technologist at Fort Hood.
One of the students, Ms. Ingrim’s mother-in-law, Norma Ingrim of Temple, said when she began the class, she knew what a mouse was but didn’t know how to activate the machine.
“I didn’t know how to make anything work,” Norma said. “I know so much more now than I did a few days ago. My goal is to be able to use e-mail to keep up with my correspondence.”
Wanting to be able to operate the Internet’s search engines is what brought Juanita Bodine to the class.
“I’m learning because I want to be one of those people who can find out about lots of things,” Ms. Bodine said. “If I want a recipe that I sort of remember, I want to be able to find it real quick. Just push a button or two and there it is.”
Patti Swaney, another woman in the class, is a nanny who’s looking for a new job, but she said she’s finding herself unequipped for the most basic of positions.
“Even at entry-level data entry, you’ve got to know how to use the computer,” Ms. Swaney said. “This kind of stuff wasn’t around when I first started working. I was never in a situation to learn it.”
Her words summarized the Rev. Allen’s reasoning for implementing the computer class at Grace Presbyterian. In the grant application, he said computer illiteracy is a true handicap to the generation that preceded computers.
When Grace Presbyterian’s computers aren’t being used to teach computer skills, Ms. Ingrim said the church staff uses them to communicate with Grace Presbyterian’s sister church in India.
“They are also being used in Sunday school classes,” Ms. Ingrim said. “Eventually, the computers will be incorporated into the children’s ministry.”
--tlunsford@temple-telegram.com
