In honor of Reconciliation Sunday, pastors swap pulpits. On Sunday, September 29, 2019, Rev. Dwayne Rogers of Wildewood Christian Church, OKC and Rev. Daniel U’ren, from Western Oaks Christian Church exchanged pulpits for the day.
The Thanksgiving Offering benefits the Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, and Divinity Houses affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Higher education has been an important focus for Disciples since the very beginning of the movement.
Watch a short video to get reacquainted with Disciples Higher Education! Click HERE
Throughout our history, Disciples have founded institutions of higher learning to educate students and form leaders to make a difference in the world. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is still committed to higher education. Your gift to the Thanksgiving Offering helps support the education of thousands of students at our fifteen colleges and universities as well as our seven seminaries and divinity houses.
The Colleges and Universities of the Christian Church provide quality education through classes offered by some of the nation’s top undergraduate and graduate faculty. Many of the campuses are comprised of state-of-the-art facilities, offer diverse degree programs, include dynamic student life activities, offer exciting athletics programs, and much more. The Thanksgiving offering supports everything from scholarships, to religious life offices, to faculty growth and development. By giving to the Thanksgiving Offering you are helping our institutions invest in students as they prepare themselves to become leaders.
The Thanksgiving Offering also provides scholarship and support for our theological education institutions. Each of our seminaries and divinity houses is committed to educating and forming Christian leaders for church and society. Generations of pastors, community leaders, and agents of social transformation have been educated at our theological institutions. They have flourished and made a difference in the world, thanks to gifts from Disciples congregations and individuals throughout the ages. These institutions continue to prepare leaders for the present age and the age to come.
Support for Disciples Mission Fund and gifts to the Thanksgiving Offering are a critical part of the ongoing collaborative work of church and higher education that is such a foundational part of the heritage of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Please give generously to this offering. Your gift makes a difference in the lives of our students and it makes a difference in the world.
The Thanksgiving Offering is received in many congregations on November 17 and 24, 2019.
You may read more about the Thanksgiving Special Offering HERE.
Donate HERE
Phillips Theological Seminary’s Ministry Training Program has room for you! Register today!
Click HERE to see a full list of the courses offered.
Please join Oklahoma Family Empowerment Center for their Annual Dinner and Awards Program on Friday, November 8, 2019 at 7pm at Harvard Avenue Christian Church (5502 South Harvard Avenue, Tulsa, OK). Keynote speaker, Rev. Sandhya Jha will speak about “Transforming Communities – Healing Neighborhoods”.
A workshop will be held at Harvard Avenue Christian Church on Saturday, November 9, 2019 from 9am – 3pm.
Click here to download the flyer. Email https://www.ofec.co/ for more information.
Central Christian Church – Enid, partners with “Foster Feet“, which is a program that provides shoes to children in the community who need them. The original goal for the Foster Feet was to provide shoes to foster children who enter foster care with very little. The ministry has been expanded over the past couple of years to provide shoes to any child in need. Last year, the ministry provided shoes to over 700 children at the local schools and the church.
Enid Public Schools currently supports a student population of which almost 80% receive free or reduced prices lunches. To qualify for this, students and their family’s income must be less than 200% of the federal poverty level. The need was clear to Central Christian Church – Enid, and their ministry team.
On August 12th, they gave away 925 pairs of shoes to kids and families. Rev. Tom Stanley, (Senior Minister at Central Christian Church – Enid) says, “One of the most amazing things I have ever seen is the look of pure joy when a child receives a new pair of shoes.”
Thank you to Lauren Anderson who had the vision to create Foster Feet. Thank you to Central Christian Church – Enid, for partnering in this ministry and providing such an amazing outreach ministry to the Enid community.
What’s Gratitude Got to Do With It?
Join the Kansas-Oklahoma UCC Annual Conference in welcoming the Rev. Diana Butler Bass! Rev. Butler Bass will use her latest book, Grateful, as the basis for her presentations, What’s Gratitude Got to Do With It: Embracing Thanks as a Path to the Future.
Saturday October 19, 8:00 a.m.—3:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, 616 West Seventh Street, Tulsa, OK
DIANA BUTLER BASS IS AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, PREACHER, AND PUBLIC SPEAKER on issues of spirituality, religion, culture, and politics. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. She has been featured in Time, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. From 1995 to 2000, she wrote a weekly column for the New York Times Syndicate. She was a founding blogger for both Beliefnet and Huffington Post religion. Her bylines include The Washington Post and Atlantic.com. She has preached and taught in hundreds of venues around the world.
SCHEDULE:
Download the flyer HERE
Register at https://tinyurl.com/KObutlerbass Select the “Saturday ONLY” option on the tickets page: tickets are $60 and include both presentations by Rev. Butler Bass, plus breakfast and lunch. Registration deadline: Oct. 11.
Oklahoma Disciples Foundation is pleased to offer a free seminar titled “FAITH UNDER FIRE: Teaching and Preaching Generosity”. Please plan to join this one day stewardship and generosity seminar featuring Guest Speaker, Rev. Dr. Dale McConnell with Horizons Stewardship.
Click HERE to view the flyer
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 • 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Location: Yale Avenue Christian Church, Tulsa
Cost: Free, plus complimentary lunch
Continuing Education: 4 contact hours
Register Online: HERE
Registration Deadline: 9/18/19
Questions: call Julie 405-525-6530 or jabowers@okdfdn.org
Rev. Dr. McConnell will present these topics:
The Foundation holds many worthwhile endowments benefiting the church, the Region and its missions and ministries, including funds for grants. Click this link: “Together We Touch Lives” if you would like to make an honorary or memorial donation to one of these funds.
The East Sixth Street Christian Church, a (Disciples of Christ) congregation, will celebrate 100 years of ministry this fall. The congregation has a rich history filled with service to this city and indeed the world. The celebrations have been designed to reflect that local, state and national manifestations of ministry.
The church is delighted to have as its special guest for this celebration, the Rev. Teresa Hord Owens, the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. Rev. Owens is just the second woman, and the first African American to be elected as General Minister and President. She will be the speaker for the Centennial Banquet on Saturday, October 12th, at the Embassy Suites Hilton, OKC Downtown Medical Center, on NE 8th and Phillips. The banquet is from 6pm-9pm. Tickets are $60.
The Centennial activities begin this Saturday, September 7th with a church cookout, music and games at Edwards Park, beginning at 11am. The next day, former Pastor Rev. Boyze Edwards will preach an Ancestor Memorial Service honoring those who built East Sixth Street. Pastor Edwards served as pastor from 1986 to 1996.
Our next event will be a Children’s Choir Musical on September 15th, at 3:30pm. On Sunday, September 29th, the celebration goes statewide as we host the Oklahoma Convocation of Christian Churches musical. Congregations across the state from Tulsa to Chickasha and in between will join us for a grand celebration of gospel and inspirational music.
We will cap the musical portion of the celebration with a Reunion Musical on October 6th at 3:30pm. If you were ever a member of any one of East Sixth Street’s choirs, the congregation wants and needs you to participate in celebrating 100 years of ministry. Rehearsal workshop will run from Tuesday, October 2nd – Friday, October 4th from 7pm – 8:30pm. Cost of the Workshop is $20 which includes ALL music and your official reunion t-shirt.
Wednesday, October 9th, Pastor Dwayne Rodgers and the Wildewood Christian Church family will join us in worship for our UNITY Service at 7pm, with Pastor Rodgers as the guest speaker. East Sixth Street and Wildewood were one congregation for the first 53 years of East Sixth Street history. “This ‘Reunion’ service not only recognizes a shared past but looks towards an unknown future with excitement and wonder”, said Rev. Jesse Jackson, pastor of East Sixth Street.
The celebration will conclude with Rev. Teresa Hord Owens preaching the Centennial Sermon on Sunday, October 13, at 11am at East Sixth Street Christian Church (located at 1139 N.E. 6th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73117). The congregation invites the entire community out to all these events, especially former members, family and friends.
Centennial Events at Glance:
Wildewood Christian Church in collaboration with the Oklahoma Disciples Foundation Inc. would like to invite you and your youth congregants to participate in a one day symposium at Wildewood Christian Church for 9th-12th graders entitled: Removing the Walls Together: A Racial Healing Symposium.
Each week brings more unsettling news stories about race relations in our country. Recent high profile racial incidents justify a great need for faith based racial healing throughout the country and we believe youth groups in the Christian church and area schools can bring a fresh perspective and response to this conversation. We can undertake this healing process collectively as we acknowledge the truth of past wrongs and yet build new, authentic relationships capable of transforming our communities and shifting our national discourse.
During this one day activity, the interracial youth participants will:
We are preparing for 30 youth; therefore, please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to participate in this extraordinary event. Please call 405-478-0781 or e-mail wildewoodchristian@gmail.com for registration.
Large Conference Room – Lunch and T-Shirts provided
Our mantra: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, And gave us the ministry of reconciliation: God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed us to the message of reconciliation.”- The Apostle Paul, II Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV)
Rev. Dwayne Rodgers
Senior Pastor
Please join us in celebrating all of the churches with big anniversaries this year. We thank you for many years of ministry, fellowship, and outreach. We wish each of you a blessed celebration!
100th Anniversary:
125th Anniversaries:
Does your church have a centennial celebration this year? Let us know! We would love to celebrate with you! Email us at office@okdisciples.org
First Christian Church Claremore celebrated their 125th Anniversary on September 8, 2019.
West Point Christian Church Yukon celebrated their 125th Anniversary on September 8, 2019.
