First Christian Church Edmond recently celebrated the ministry of Reverend Dr. Jerry Black, who is retiring after eight and a half years of service as an associate minister.
Jerry was also very active in the Regional church, serving on the board in many capacities. We wish him well!
Associate Regional Minister Leslie Dotson will be on sabbatical this summer from June 1st through August 31st. She will return to her regular schedule of tending to the Northeast and Southeast areas on September 1st. Leslie will be attending to rest, reflection, and renewal during these three months, some in New Mexico and some in her new home. Please pray for her to experience the Holy in this ordinary time.
In her sabbatical time, both Assoc. Regional Minister Michael Davison and Regional Minister Pam Holt will be serving clergy and congregations in the northeast and southeast areas of our state. They may be reached by cell phones or by e-mail. Lori Heldmann Richcreek will also be available for administrative support to the Northeast Area and can be reached at 918-872-7807.
Erin Hopkins is working as a summer intern for the Regional office and also with the Oklahoma Disciples Foundation. Erin is a senior mass communications major at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva,Oklahoma. She enjoys creating and listening to music, reading and trying new activities or cuisine.
Erin traveled during high school on the International Affairs Seminar trip to Washington, D.C. and New York. Erin and her family have been involved with church camp in Guthrie for many years, and the church camp in Anadarko for a couple as well. She resides in Fairview, OK where her father, Ronnie Hopkins, holds the pastoral position at Central Christian Church. Erin is excited to learn and grow under the leadership and guidance of these administrative offices serving Oklahoma Disciples.
Per the bylaws of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma, the nominations for the 2016-18 Regional Board were voted on and approved at the 2016 Regional Assembly, held April 30, 2016. These positions have two (2) year terms. We encourage you to get acquainted with these individuals who volunteer their time and talents to support your Regional ministries.
| Board Position | Name | Congregation/Ministry Site |
|---|---|---|
| Moderator | Rev. Donna Gilchrist | Northwest CC, OKC |
| Moderator-elect | Pastor Tom Stanley | FCC Cherokee |
| First Vice Moderator | Cynthia Cope | New Covenant CC, OKC |
| Second Vice Moderator | Rev. Shannon Speidel | Central Christian, Enid |
| Secretary – Treasurer | C.D. Payne | FCC Moore |
| Parliamentarian | Elaine Schuster | Crown Heights CC, OKC |
| Commission on Clergy | Cheryl Aspy | Southern Hills CC, Edmond |
| Commission on Children,Youth & Young Adults | Rev. Daniel U’Ren | Western Oaks CC, OKC |
| Commission on Evangelism | Rev. Andy Campbell | Yale Ave. CC, Tulsa |
| Commission on Faith in Action | Marilynn Knott | Crown Heights CC, OKC |
| Commission on Laity | Rev. Aaron Krueger | Crown Heights CC, OKC |
| Commission on Worship & Spiritual Growth | Rev. Jenny Wynn | Southern Hills CC, Edmond |
| Personnel Committee | Rev. Don Heath | Trinity CC, Edmond |
| NW Area Moderator | Rev. Ronnie Hopkins | Fairview CC |
| SW Area Moderator | Rev. Chuck Pettigrew | Liberty Heights CC, Lawton |
| SE Area Moderator | Pastor Tim Kowalski | FCC Sulphur |
| NE Area Moderator | Rev. Kelli Driscoll | Bethany CC, Tulsa |
| Central Area Moderator | Rev. John Malget | FCC OKC/Restoration Church |
| Member-at-Large | Sandy Malget | FCC Cherokee |
| Member-at-Large | Rev. AnDrea Walker-Skye | Cushing Valley Hope, Cushing |
| Member-at-Large | Rev. Noel Gray | Refuge Fellowship Church, OKC |
| Member-at-Large | Rev. Christy Moore | Stone Soup Community, Tulsa |
| Disciples Men President | T.J. McCrite | FCC Ardmore |
| Disciples Women President | Rev. Loma Sullivan | Woodlands CC, Ponca City |
Women 16
Men 14
NW 4
NE 4
SW 1
SE 3
C 18
White 26
African American 3
American Indian 1
Hispanic 0
Asian 0
The Oklahoma Region is pleased to announce the recent ordination of five pastors who are serving in ministries in Oklahoma and with the general church.
Rev. Joy Naylor – Pastor at First Christian Church Stigler
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Jackson – Co-director of Seminary Worship at Phillips Theological Seminary and Associate Pastor at South Grand Lake Christian Church, Langley
Rev. Drew Kirtley – Youth Pastor at First Christian Church Duncan
Rev. Amy Grogan – Pastor at Disciplesnet Church, the online ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Rev. Josh Toulouse – Associate Minister at First Christian Church Tulsa.
Phillips Theological Seminary held graduation services May 15, 2016, which included four Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) students. Individuals receiving Master of Divinity degrees included
Those receiving Student Achievement awards and scholarships were:
These individuals have been under the care of the Oklahoma Region’s Commission on Clergy while attending seminary in their preparation for ministries.
Read more about the Phillips Seminary commencement services.
Preparations are underway for the annual Oklahoma Disciples Women Encounter. This year’s theme is “Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace Piece”. First Christian Church Moore is hosting the event July 8-9.
Online registration is available now, and you’ll find all the details on the Disciples Women webpage.
“Speak your piece,” and “Hold your peace” are two common idioms in the English language. The spelling is often confused. That is not the case when the theme was chosen for Encounter 2016. There is logic in the difference.
“Hold your peace,” generally means to keep silent or not to say anything about something. It is often in traditional marriage vows, and usually in wedding ceremony scenes in old movies. Generally it means hold your peace and accept the changes. If someone is “at peace” with the situation, he/she is then obligated to speak of it no more, to keep silent. That is to hold your peace. In those movie wedding scenes it is always a dramatic moment after the person performing the ceremony speaks the words, “If any of you has reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.” In the movies this may be the time when the ex-lover runs forward and declares his or her love or some other shocking information that stops the ceremony.
The word chosen for Encounter 2016 theme is Piece; as in, your oration. Hold your piece. If you were at peace with the situation it would not need to be held. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece implies that you have something to say on the matter, but if you do not share it at that time, you must hold it forever.
Speak your piece literally means to “speak aloud a piece of writing”. The understanding is we are encouraged to express our ideas, to make a statement.
To Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece also points us to scripture as the writing and wisdom on a situation, but if it is not shared, it must be held forever, perhaps lost to the situation. If scripture with God’s wisdom is held and not shared, we as disciples are not following God’s directive to share His word with the world.
Encounter 2016 is designed as your opportunity to be encouraged by the worship services, the keynote speakers, the workshops and your own reflective moments to be empowered to speak His word to the world.
The visual theme is PUZZLES. Why puzzles? Because living life as a Christian and striving to follow God’s plan for each of us, we encounter mysteries, enigmas, riddles, conundrums, posers, problems, dilemmas, and brain teasers; all puzzling. Each of us is a part of the bigger puzzle of society. We are all called to speak our piece with others and clarify our piece of God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Women’s status and freedoms were severely limited by Jewish law and custom in ancient Israel, as they were in essentially all other cultures at the time.
Christ overthrew many centuries of Jewish law and custom. He consistently treated women and men as equals. He violated numerous Old Testament regulations, which specified gender inequality. He refused to follow the behavioral rules established by the three main Jewish religious groups of the day: the Essenes, Pharisees and Sadducees. He ignored ritual impurity laws: Mark 5:25-34 He talked to foreign women: John 4:7 to 5:30 and in Matthew 15:22-28. He taught women students: In Luke 10:38-42, He taught Mary, sister of Martha.
Luke 13:16 describes how He cured a woman from an indwelling Satanic spirit. He called her a daughter of Abraham, thus implying that she had equal status with sons of Abraham. “The expression ‘son of Abraham’ was commonly used to respectfully refer to a Jew, but ‘daughter of Abraham’, was an unknown parallel phrase…It occurs nowhere else in the Bible.” It seems to be a designation created by Jesus.
He accepted women into his inner circle: Luke 8:1-3 describes the inner circle of Jesus’ followers: twelve male disciples and an unspecified number of female supporters (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and “many others.”) It would appear that about half of His closest followers were women.
He appeared first to one or more women after His resurrection: Matthew 28:9-10 describes how Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” were the first followers of Jesus to meet Him after His resurrection. Women were present at Jesus’ execution: Matthew 27:55-56 and Mark 15:40-41 describe many women who followed Jesus from Galilee and were present at His crucifixion.
Jesus called women to be an integral part of His ministry then and He continues to call us today.
Now more than ever before, it is time for us to speak our piece. The puzzles of the world are challenging us each and every day.
The stated Christian Women’s Fellowship Purpose calls us to be proactive in our ministries. The CWF Scripture, 1John 1:3, calls us to “declare” to others what we have seen and heard. The CWF Opening Prayer we recite at every meeting and event calls us to service. Our CWF Benediction sends us into the world to “Speak our Piece!”
It is the hope of all who worked to plan, implement and present this Encounter 2016 that you experience an encounter with Christ that inspires you to be a speaker of His word to the world.
Amen
Penny Hampton,
Encounter 2016 co-director
You are a man, active in leadership in a congregation, or you would probably not be reading this far. You may be wondering, “Is it worth the trip?”
We, the General Conference of Disciples Men, know that it is. We all struggle with many of the same problems in our congregations and we know the value of fellowship, exploring our calling as leaders, hands-on mission, and having fun while doing all that.
The Sessions agenda includes hearing about “Being a Man in the Local Church” from Todd Adams and “Three Big Mistakes Churches Make” from Newell Williams.
There will be workshops both introspective and practical, repeated so all can participate. We will learn about “Soul Repair” with Rita Brock and “Fiduciary Responsibility” with Todd Adams. And Bible study with Dr. Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament at TCU.
We will hang our hats out and about with optional activities, a bus tour of Fort Worth, a tour of the TCU athletics department, or a mission project at a local food pantry.
And we will worship Sunday morning with Alvin Jackson leading us in proclamation and hope as we set off for home knowing that we have been called by name and with new experiences to share where we hang our hats.
The program starts with dinner at 6:00 pm, Friday, July 8 and ends after 8:30 am worship on Sunday, July 10. Download a schedule.
Come and see—God is calling!
You can register online now at:
https://docgeneralassembly.webconnex.com/2016DisciplesMen
Or at the Registration link at Sessions2016.org Or by downloading the paper registration form and sending it in with your fees.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, former Speaker of the Oklahoma House Kris Steele and Rev. Jesse Jackson will engage in a panel discussion of “Mass Incarceration in Oklahoma: When Will It End?” on Tuesday, April 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at First Christian Church of Oklahoma City, 3700 N. Walker Ave.
Oklahoma has the second highest incarceration rate (behind only Louisiana) in the United States and it continues to grow annually, while prison populations nationwide have fallen each year since 2009. Oklahoma has had the highest incarceration rate for women since 2011 and incarcerates women at more than twice the national rate. Oklahoma also has the highest rate of prisoners housed in private prisons. Approximately 28,000 adults are presently incarcerated in Oklahoma. Another 31,000 adults are under community supervision (probation and parole). Oklahoma’s prison population in 1983 was 7,000.
The program will be moderated by Rev. Don Heath, pastor of Edmond Trinity Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The event is free and open to the public.
Rev. Jesse Jackson is the pastor of East Sixth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1139 N.E. 6th. He is the President of the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a national organization of African-American Disciples of Christ. Rev. Jackson last summer organized an initiative called Occupy the Corners–OKC to curb gun violence in northeast Oklahoma City.
David Prater has been District Attorney of Oklahoma County since 2007. He served as an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma County from 1993 through 2001 and as an officer in the Norman Police Department from 1980 through 1988.
Kris Steele is Executive Director of TEEM (The Education and Employment Ministry), a nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and incarceration in Oklahoma. Mr. Steele served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2001-2012 and as Speaker of the House in 2011-2012. He is the leader of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, a coalition of community groups that seeks to get two initiative petitions on the November ballot; the petitions seek reduction of sentences for drug possession and property crimes and community treatment for drug addiction and mental health.
The event is sponsored by the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, VOICE OKC, Respect Diversity Foundation, Center for Conscience in Action, Peace House Oklahoma City, United Nations Association of Greater Oklahoma City, Campaign Nonviolence, Restoration Church at the Dome and Edmond Trinity Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
We’re excited to see the creatively crafted quilt squares arriving for Regional Assembly. Congregations are asked to submit a quilt square representing their mission activities.
The squares will be assembled into a large quilt and displayed at Regional Assembly on April 29-30 at FCC Tulsa.
Want to be a part of this project? Look for all the details here – and hurry! Deadline for submission is March 15th.