Join us to celebrate Richard Keith’s 20 years of service and retirement with the Christian Church in Oklahoma. A reception will be held at the Regional Office at 301 NW 36th Street, Oklahoma City from 2-4pm on March 22nd. Cards and a love offering are welcomed.
Each Lent I put together a program called “Soup for the Soul” and as you might guess we gather for some good hot soup and then engage in a discussion. I bring in a different guest speaker each week to talk on the same topic that has been selected as the theme for Lent. This year Western Oaks Christian Church will take a closer look at the passages of “Love your neighbor” and the question asked of this “who is our neighbor?” To lead the discussions we have invited our neighbors to come and talk to us about how we can better love our neighbors and their views on these passages found in the gospels as well as Leviticus.
The series this year will begin on March 19th with Dr. Imam Imad Enchassi leading the discussion. Please check out the attached flyer Soup for the Soul 2017 for details.
Please rsvp to the church office (405) 789-8812 if you plan to attend.
Thank you and Shalom,
Daniel
Rev. Daniel U’Ren
Senior Minister
Western Oaks Christian Church (DOC)
8100 NW 23rd
Oklahoma City, OK 73127
(405) 789-8812
Saturday March 4 Lecture & Workshop
(This training qualifies for Clergy Continuing Education Credit)
As part of the 125th Anniversary celebration of First Christian Church of Norman, Dr. Anna Carter Florence, the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia will lead a lecture and a workshop on Saturday, March 4, 2017.
The lecture is entitled “Reading and Rehearsing the Script in the Scripture”, which will be followed by a workshop in which participants will have the opportunity to engage and interact with the script in the scripture.
The lecture and the workshop are based on Dr. Carter Florence’s new book Come Back When You’ve Found Something True: New Ways to Encounter Scripture. Eerdmans Publishing has written of the book, “How do we read scripture for moments of encounter? Is it possible to do more in a Bible study than fight over what the text means? Can groups really gather around scripture and speak to one another about what they see and hear there?”
Dr. Carter Florence offers a faithful proposal that this is possible. “Reading and rehearsing the verbs” in the text is a way to move through differences into experiences of deep encounter with the God we meet in scripture. Dr. Carter Florence offers practical guidelines to help groups and individuals including preachers implement reading strategies that are easy to learn and simple to adapt, documenting the process and showing the strategies at work through lively readings of the Biblical texts.
In addition, Dr. Carter Florence will offer a round table discussion with clergy over lunch on Saturday, addressing the challenges and issues of teaching, preaching, and leading in a politically charged and divisive time.
Sunday March 5th Worship Services:
Dr. Carter Florence will also preach at the 8:40 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Sunday services on March 5th, preaching from Exodus 1: 8 – 14, 22 and 2: 1 – 10 with the sermon entitled “The Girls in the Reeds.”
The Saturday workshops and the Sunday worship are free and open to the public.
First Christian Church Norman • 220 South Webster Avenue • Norman
For more information or questions, please call Rev. David Spain at 405-329-2192 or email david@fccnorman.org
Verla Miller’s ordination was held on January 21, 2017 at Bethany Christian Church. Leslie Dotson presided over the ordination ceremony. Please join us in congratulating Verla on her accomplishment and support her in her ministry.
You are warmly invited to join the Christian Church Commission for dinner on February 23rd at 6:30pm at New Hope Christian Church. Join us for a meal as we thank God for all that was done in 2016 and discuss what 2017 has in store for new church growth!
This will be a pivotal year in the Commission’s history, and we’d love for your faith, creativity, and passion to be a part of it!
Read more about this event with the attached brochure CCC Dinner.
RSVP Sandy at NWCC 405.691.5366 newhopeccokc@sbcglobal.net
The Minister’s Guide for 2016 Income Tax is now available for download through Pension Fund’s website. This year, as part of the Excellence in Ministry program and partnership with the ECFA, Pension Fund is also providing two new eBooks for minister’s and their congregations: Ministers’ Taxes Made Easy-2017 Edition and Church Reporting Made Easy-2017 Edition. Find all three resources HERE.
Misty Foley-McKenna and Rev. Shannon Speidel (Associate Minister, Central Christian Church Enid) have been featured in Oklahoma Gazette for their work for the Coalition for Reproductive Justice, advocating for women’s, family health care rights.
Article written by Laura Eastes on February 1, 2017
Article published by Oklahoma Gazette
Picture by Garett Fisbeck
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) came into existence on the American frontier through immigrants. Our teachings of faith and practice come first from scripture which call us to offer radical hospitality: to welcome and provide for the stranger in our midst, and to love our neighbor, stranger or enemy, as ourself. As followers of Christ, who fed the hungry and the thirsty and who welcomed the stranger, our faith calls us to do the same.
As our General Minister and President, Sharon Watkins, explains, “we have upheld this commitment to offer hospitality to well over 40,000 refugees since the time of WWII, and have done so by providing housing, employment, mentoring, contributions, prayer, and friendship,” and we have offered and experienced many faces of God’s grace and love through our faith and practice.
While we are grateful for our national security which strives to keep our nation safe, and while we support their system that oversees and implements the vetting process, an executive order by the POTUS that unnecessarily oppresses our brothers and sisters who are refugees or immigrants strikes the very core of our faith teachings and practices as ambassadors of Christ.
Our pastors and congregations strive for unity and cooperation among diversity, and we will continue to ardently pray and advocate for the rights and welcome of the vulnerable immigrants and refugees to be in our midst.
Pam Holt
Regional Minister
Mark your calendar for April 7-8, 2017 for the Oklahoma Disciples Men’s Retreat at Central Christian Camp & Conference Center in Guthrie, OK.
The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Thomas Jewell. The theme for this year is “Are you Afraid!!!”.
Please complete and return this form with payment, payable to Disciples Men, by March 15, 2017.
You may mail your registration form (2017 retreat registration) and payment to:
Christian Church in Oklahoma
Attn: Disciples Men
301 N.W. 36th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
You may also register online at this link
It’s that time of year again! Congregations are requested to submit the annual Year Book report to the General Church for publication in the 2017 Year Book.
Why It’s Important – Your congregation is granted 501(c)3 status thru the General Church of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) uses the Year Book to verify your congregation’s non-profit status.
You may submit your form online or complete the form and mail it to the Regional Office and we’ll do the online submission for you. All information is transmitted electronically so your help in taking the quick and easy online steps is a great help!
The deadline is March 15th. Click here to locate the Congregational Reporting Login (or refer to the instructions that accompanied the blue Year Book form.)
Questions? Call Jennifer or Ellen at the Regional Office (405)528-3577 or email us at office@okdisciples.org
To mail your form please send it to Atten: Year Book, Christian Church in Oklahoma, 301 NW 36th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73118-8661