Join us in congratulating Colton Lott on his recent ordination. Colton was ordained on June 30, 2018 at First Christian Church Ada. Colton is a graduate of Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago. Rev. Lott will begin congregational ministry as Sr. Pastor of First Christian Church El Reno on July 15.
You are invited to join us for breakfast on August 9th at 8:30 am at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. This will be a time to learn more about hunger in Oklahoma and to interact with other religious leaders that partner with us to provide food and hope to our neighbors facing hunger each day.
Did you know the Regional Food Bank provides enough food every week to feed 136,000 people in central and western Oklahoma? This is possible through a network of over 1,300 community-based partner agencies, 60% of which are faith-based organizations.
Today, your community of faith has the opportunity to ensure that hungry Oklahomans have the nutritious food they need to thrive. You can get your organization involved in fighting hunger in Oklahoma through a variety of activities. We offer programs for kids of all ages, have numerous volunteer opportunities and can provide a speaker if requested.
September is Hunger Action Month, a time for food banks across the nation to come together to not only share the great work being done, but also raise awareness of how far there is still to go to provide food for our neighbors.
Please contact Natalie Wood at 405-600-3174 or by email at nwood@regionalfoodbank.org.
“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:1-2, NRSV)
Over the past several weeks, new policies for the implementation of immigration laws have resulted in family detention and the separation of thousands of children from their parents across the United States. We, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), have proclaimed ourselves to be a pro-reconciling/anti-racist church, which extends welcome to all people, recognizing that every person is created in the image of God.
Please read the complete article from Rev. Terri Hord Owens, General Minister and President, Indianapolis, IN, HERE.
Happy World Refugee Day!
Please join us in celebrating refugees’ resilience and strength and urging our Members of Congress to do everything they can to protect the U.S. refugee resettlement program. We have a number of events and actions planned for today.
Prayer Service at 12pm: A prayer service will be offered at 12pm today across from the Methodist Building at the U.S. Capitol Building Area 8 (Senate side park). Here is the event invitation https://www.facebook.com/events/195031097818965/
Over the past two years, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has reached out to communities in more than 30 states across this nation to join in fighting against systemic racism, inequality and poverty, ecological devastation, war economy and militarism, and national immorality. As stated on their website, “When confronted with the undeniable truth of unconscionable cruelty to our fellow human beings, we must join the ranks of those who are determined not to rest until justice and equality are a reality for all.”
For the past few weeks, this campaign has committed itself to “40 Days of Moral Action,” which is scheduled to conclude with a mass rally on Saturday, June 23rd at 10am on the National Mall.
On the morning of the June 23rd rally, National City Christian Church is hosting a Disciples Gathering at 8:15am. We invite you to join the Disciples Center for Public Witness for this important rally—and in the struggle for justice that will continue long after the rally ends. This movement is growing fast and gaining more support everyday. We hope that you will take action and try to get involved.
Let us know you’re coming to DC for the event: https://disciples.org/sign-up-for-washington
Let us know you’re coming to the pre-gathering: https://goo.gl/forms/hAF7A2WsQb6bbmJA3
The CPE Center at the Oklahoma City VA (Veterans Affairs) is recruiting for fall interns. One unit of CPE may be earned from September to December 2018.
Additionally, if there is enough interest they are considering a community-based CPE unit where pastors may use their time with congregations as clinical hours.
For more information please contact:
Chaplain Megan Alleman
ACPE Certified Educator Candidate
Mental Health Fellow
Oklahoma City VA Health Care System
Email: megan.alleman@va.gov
Office: 405-456-3256
June 2018
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Please consider a gift to the Annual Fund of the Christian Church. Whether your gift is large or small, every gift we receive is a generous gift and is blessed by God. Also your gift, joined with others, sustains the life and work of our Region as we seek to glorify God together.
The 2018 Regional Assembly and Leadership Training School was well attended. Over 350 Disciples assembled at New Covenant Christian Church, OKC, and represented 79 of our Region’s congregations. That is quite a gathering!
We heard challenging and passionate words from the Rev. Virzola Law who invited us to “handle one another with care” in these days. Workshops and exhibitors equipped folks with resources and ideas to take back to their church. We installed new board members and empowered them to lead this Region with dreams and passion. People went home that day energized and grateful for their “church.”
The next time we will gather will be on February 23, 2019 for Leadership Training School. The Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, our General Minister and President, will be the featured speaker. We will be offering exciting workshops once again. Your gifts support this ministry of the Region.
This spring, congregations in Oklahoma have welcomed over 50 young people in the life of the church through baptism. On June 3rd, camps for our young people in the Region begin with about 275 youth and children registered. First Christian Church in Ada will celebrate the ordination of Colton Lott on June 30th. Vacation Bible Schools will be happening all over our Region to welcome and introduce God and Jesus to many in the communities.
Our three newest congregations, Refuge Fellowship, Iglesia Cristiana de Capitol Hill, and Simplicity Church, are becoming stronger every day. The Region has engaged Terrell McTyer with New Church Strategies to help us establish additional congregations in Oklahoma.
The Region has made giving easier for you. This spring we subscribed to Givelify, an app that can be downloaded to your mobile device. With Givelify it’s easy to become a recurring donor.
In this season of Pentecost, may the Spirit continue to fall afresh on you, your congregation, and our Region.
Peace & God’s grace,
Pamela G. Holt, Regional Minister
P.S. You may securely donate online here.
The Oklahoma Region is selling golf shirts with the Oklahoma Regional logo with our mission words, “Connect! Empower! Equip!”
The shirt sales benefit the Annual Fund. Shirts are a 60% cotton/40% polyester blend in “coastal blue” and cost is $20.
To purchase a shirt, stop by the Region’s Office at 301 NW 36th Street, OKC, OK 73118 or call 405-528-3577.
Rev. Micah James, lead consultant of AdminIsMinistry will facilitate the conversations about church administration topics each third Friday starting in June 2018. Each conversation is aimed at bringing ministry leaders together to share their wealth of wisdom and knowledge in a collective conversation.
No registration required. The link to the chat will be posted on the AdminIsMinistry Facebook page 30 minutes before each conversation.
The first three conversations are scheduled as follows:
● June 15, 2018 @ 1:00pm CST – Social Media Management
● July 20, 2018 @ 1:00pm CST – Supervision 101
● August 17, 2018 @ 1:00pm CST – Child Care Ministry.
The conversations are FREE and will be ONLINE in roundtable format. Mark your calendars and join in the conversation!
Our goal at AdminIsMinistry is to resource congregational pastors and leaders with bite-sized resources on church administration. We are pastors and we know that you have limited time, so we want to make sure the time you are spending in ministry is spent in the most effective way possible.
Let us help you be the best minister or ministry leader possible! Learn more at
www.adminisministry.com.
AdminIsMinistry Contact:
Rev. Micah James
Tel. 405.694.1818
Email: micah@adminisministry.com
Dear Sisters and Brothers –
I want to invite you to join me in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 23. After 40 days of direct action in our respective states, we will gather to hold the nation accountable. We will sing. We will pray. We will show where we stand – with those impacted by poverty and systemic injustices. From 10 am and into the afternoon, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will be on the National Mall to demand solutions to the issues that compound poverty – economic injustices, ecological devastation, the impact on women and children, systemic racism and classism.
Disciples have a long history of fighting alongside those who have no voice, joining our voices to cry out for justice, and committing ourselves to transform the world according to the gospel of Jesus. Just as Jesus was on the side of the widows and those society ignored, this is a chance to make it clear whose side we are on. Our nation has enough resources to ensure that all have a living wage, that all have affordable, decent, housing, that we all have healthcare and education. There is ENOUGH! The earliest Christians came together and distributed all the resources they had, from each according to what they had, to each according to the need. They understood that together, they had ENOUGH for all. We are called to love, called to care. On June 23, let’s answer the call with a show of compassion in action.
You can sign up here to let organizers know if you will be joining the rally in Washington on June 23. We are gathering contact information so we can keep you up to date on the latest details about Disciples gathering before or after the rally.
I look forward to standing with you and Disciples across the country as we lift our collective voices, and bear witness with our Disciples Public Presence, standing alongside those impacted by poverty and injustice.
Terri Hord Owens