November, 5, 2022
The Regional Board met November 5, 2022 and received reports from the Regional Ministers, Commissions, and ministry partners.
Read Regional Minister Rev. Pamela Holt Report
Read Associate Regional Minister Rev. Michael Davison Report
By Pamela G. Holt, 09.09.2022
Finally, we gathered in-person! After two years and five months, on July 21-23, 2022, the College of Regional Ministers and the Fellowship of Regional Moderators gathered in Fort Worth, Texas to learn, to worship, to fellowship, and to eat good food! We had such a good time being in one another’s presence!
On Saturday, just the Regional Ministers met together, and our meeting opened with worship and a time to get re-acquainted. The first exercise invited each of us to name two gifts we bring to the College. The following is a list of just a few of the various gifts we share together in our ministries.
Wisdom
Generation x representation
Strength
Saying hard things
Intersectionality
Flexibility
Listening
Openness
Diversity
Quirkiness
Teaching
Joy
Memory
Vulnerability
Energy
Organization
Forthrightness
Love
Curiosity
Spiritual direction & formation
Honesty
Holy impatience
Compassion
Presence
Gentleness
Leadership
Planning
Transparency
Sense of humor
Brokenness
The second exercise invited each of us to name something we have done recently that was inspiring.
Helped my mom to make end of life decisions
Got a new puppy
Attended my best friend’s wedding
Sold a home
Served as a church camp counselor
AquaFit
Enjoyed a beautiful sunset during summer camp worship
Sabbatical
Read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy for the first time
Learned to quilt
Made a “hole in one” while playing golf
Completed a major life goal
Pilgrimage to Ghost Ranch
Trip to Martha’s Vineyard
Read the US Constitution and Amendments
Traveled back to my hometown NYC
Hiked the Continental Divide to an elevation of 11,800 ft
Attended granddaughter’s graduation
As you can begin to see, Regional Ministers together reflect a diverse, extraordinary group of individuals with a variety of gifts and passions, just like our diverse Regions. Regional Ministers also bring a vast collection of ministerial experiences. We are often referred to as consultants or administrators, but also we are pastors. We hope and pray we are still alert in our vocation as pastors who, Martin Marty writes, “are daily engaged in discovering, as [we] unearth old, often ancient stories for the light [we] throw in an otherwise shadowy or dark world of human activity.” Cynthia G. Lindner, Varieties of Gifts, (Roman & Littlefield, 2016), forward vii-viii, (adapted).
I am grateful to serve as a Regional Minister and to be a part of this very gifted group of colleagues! Enjoy!
Greetings Faithful Disciples!
Thank you for your generous giving to the Regional Church! We are always grateful for your financial support that helps our Region equip and empower Disciples to tell this amazing story of God’s love and grace, which is for everyone.
Below is a glimpse of how your gifts are working for congregations and clergy to make a difference in simple and profound ways. You may see more of the Region’s activities by browsing our website or our monthly Regional Roundup newsletter. (You may sign up here)
Fall is an exciting time for your congregations with outreach into your local communities: backpack blessings, teacher blessings, Pride activities, planning for Fall festivals and Pumpkin Patches, as well as new bible studies and retreats. Thank you for loving your church. Soon we will be preparing for the holy season of Advent and Christmas!
Remember, we are in mission and ministry together, and we cannot do this ministry without you! So we are inviting you to prayerfully consider a monetary gift to the Regional Church Annual Fund. Please click this secure link to give online, or return your gift in the envelope we mailed to you recently.
Note: If you have a retirement account where you are required to take a distribution, you may make a charitable donation directly from your “required minimum distribution.” Please contact a financial advisor to learn more and if eligible, please include the Christian Church in Oklahoma as one of your gifts.
Peace and God’s Grace,
Pamela G. Holt, Regional Minister
A Community Service of Remembrance and Hope
upon the demolition of the iconic building of
First Christian Church Oklahoma City
Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 4:00 pm
at Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma
The Disciples Center
301 NW 36th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73118
On Monday, September 26, 2022, the iconic sanctuary built and owned by First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Oklahoma City was demolished. This demolition was surprising, shocking, and unbelievable to many. And yet, over the years this sacred space had become an unhealthy building with more overhead than First Christian Church of Oklahoma City could manage. Interestingly, this building took years to build and only hours to demolish.
As you know, this demolition was quickly reported in the media who primarily focused on the generosity of the congregation to open the space back in 1995 to serve as the gathering space for the families of the Murrah bombing victims. This is a significant part of this building’s story, but not the only story.
Over the years, the unique building of First Christian Church has been a sacred place of worship. It is a place where members and friends have come to sing and praise God, to pray for the sick and the vulnerable, confident that no prayer would go unheard or unanswered, to hear and be transformed by a Good Word from the Lord, to gather around the Lord’s Table every week and to receive God’s grace and mercy.
This sacred space has served as a gathering place over the years for families to celebrate baby dedications, baptisms, graduations, weddings, and funerals, as well as installations of new ministers, and ordinations of clergy. This space has been a place of faith formation with members as well as gathering the entire Region of Disciples of Christ in Oklahoma for our Leadership Training School and for Regional Assemblies. This building has been very visible to the community in its iconic structure, and it has drawn the community into its Jewel Box Theatre for amazing musicals.
Six years ago, First Christian Church listed their entire property, 31 acres, for sale on the commercial market. Only then did they realize the community impact. There was mighty opposition from a segment of the community who desperately wanted to save the iconic architecture and design and did not want anyone who purchased the property to demolish the building.
As of this date, the property has not been sold. Over the years, this building has become a heavy burden with maintenance and upkeep, and very costly to the worshiping community of First Christian Church. Thus, the congregation decided to undertake the demolition, knowing the impact this destruction would have on so many people’s hearts and memories.
To honor this difficult time and to recognize the surprise, shock, anger, dismay, and deep grief, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma, also known as the Regional Church, will be hosting a Community Service of Celebration of Remembrance and Hope on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 4:00 pm on the grounds of the Disciples Center located at 301 NW 36th Street, OKC. This is the building just east of First Christian Church.
We lament the unique, iconic building is gone, but the joy of remembering is always with us. Please join us as together we grieve and invite the Holy Spirit to bless whatever will rise next from this sacred ground.
Peace and God’s Grace,
Rev. Pamela Holt
Regional Minister
View a video from ABC affiliate KOCO 5 about the service.
In November of 2023, the Lease Agreement between OKC First Christian Church and the Disciples Center comes to an end, and the Disciples Center will revert back to OKC First Christian Church. This has been a long-held relationship between the two. For sixty years, the Disciples Center has been the home of the Regional Church, Oklahoma Disciples Foundation, Oklahoma Conference of Churches, and Oklahoma Interfaith Alliance, working together to share space, collegiality, and oftentimes collaboration.
As this Lease Agreement comes to an end, that means that all four entities will be transitioning to other locations some time in 2023. This does not mean that our collegiality and collaboration will go away, just the shared space!
Over the 60 years, the Regional Church has collected many, many, many paper files such as Official Board Minutes, Financials, Clergy Files, Congregational Files. Over the summer, the fabulous staff has been going through files, cleaning them out, in preparation for all of our files to be scanned and digitized into a database. It has been and still is an overwhelming process.
We have secured the services of eFileCabinet for our digitized filing system, and plan to do the scanning in three to four phases. Last week, the first phase began. We boxed and shipped to the scanning company in Utah all of our active “clergy and congregation files.” The team there is in the process of scanning our documents and uploading them into the system so we can have access. It is a remarkable process and also requires us to re-imagine our thinking and workflow processes! All of the Regional Church files should be in the new system by the end of 2022. This will allow us to significantly reduce our square footage for a future space.
After the first of the year, we will also need assistance in packing what we need to keep and selling the remnants. The Regional Church Board is on task to help! After the first of the year, there will be a sign-up schedule for volunteers!
We will keep the Region posted here on our ongoing office transition! Thank you for your patience and your prayers as we continue to do our work in the midst of all of this.
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty gathered on August 20th for their 30th annual dinner. The Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene hosted the dinner and the event featuring keynote speaker Shane Claiborne. Several Disciples of Christ were present including Rev. Don Heath, Chair of the OK-CADP, Rev. Pamela & Randy Holt, Rev. Dwayne & Ye’Maya Rodgers, Rev. David & Cherie Wheeler, Rev. Marilynn Knott, Pastor Israel Hogue, and two tables of members of OKC Simplicity Church.
Learn more about the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty on Facebook or on the OK-CADP website.
Israel Hogue and OKC Simplicity CC members
Guests at the 30th Annual OK-CADP Dinner
Guests at the 30th Annual OK-CADP Dinner
Guest Speaker Shane Claiborne at 30th Annual OK-CADP Dinner
l-r David & Cheri Wheeler, Don Heath, Pamela & Randy Holt
Over the years, the sense of the Disciples of Christ assemblies have opposed the death penalty. Here are the Resolutions from past general assemblies: 0324, 9131, 8554, 7534, 7344.
Oklahoma currently has 25 people on Death Row. Executions are scheduled for the next 25 months, and their names are listed below. Copied from Death Penalty Information Center.
James Coddington (August 25, 2022; Oklahoma County) experienced poverty, trauma, and abuse from the time he was born. He has severe mental illness and drug addiction, and immediately expressed profound remorse for killing a friend while in the throes of a crack-cocaine binge. Executed on August 25, as scheduled. Executed August 25, 2022
Richard Glossip (September 22, 2022; Oklahoma County – Rescheduled to May 18, 2023) maintains his innocence in the 1997 murder-for-hire of Barry Van Treese. An independent investigation found that police urged the perpetrator to say Glossip paid him to kill Van Treese. A box of evidence was destroyed, at the order of Oklahoma County prosecutors, before Glossip’s second trial.
Benjamin Cole (October 20, 2022; Rogers County) has brain damage and has been diagnosed with severe and chronic schizophrenia with catatonia. His attorneys have initiated proceedings to have him declared incompetent to be executed. Executed October 20, 2022
Richard Fairchild (November 17, 2022; Oklahoma County) experienced repeated head trauma as a teenager and has schizoaffective disorder. Evidence of his brain damage, which impaired his impulse control, was never presented to his jury. Executed November 17, 2022
John Hanson (December 15, 2022; Tulsa County) has multiple mental illnesses, brain damage, and autism. He was manipulated by his co-defendant, whose death sentence was overturned and is now serving a life sentence.
Scott Eizember (January 12, 2023; Canadian County) Executed January 12, 2023
Jemaine Cannon (March 9, 2023; Tulsa County. Rescheduled to July 20, 2023) was allowed to represent himself at trial, despite his severe mental illness.
Anthony Sanchez (April 6, 2023; Cleveland County, Rescheduled to September 21, 2023)
Phillip Hancock (May 4, 2023; Oklahoma County. Rescheduled to November 30, 2023) says he killed in self-defense, but his trial court refused to admit evidence relevant to his self-defense claim. His trial judge has been disqualified from multiple criminal cases due to her pro-prosecution bias.
James Ryder (June 1, 2023; Pittsburg County) has untreated paranoid schizophrenia. His jury heard no evidence of his illness, even though his delusions directly contributed to the crime. The District Attorney says that if she had known how severely mentally ill Ryder was, she would not have sought a death sentence.
Michael Smith (July 6, 2023; Oklahoma County) has lifelong documented intellectual disability, but was denied a hearing on the issue. He was 19 years old at the time of his arrest.
Wade Lay (August 3, 2023; Tulsa County) has schizophrenia, but his trial judge allowed him to represent himself without ever having him evaluated by mental health professionals.
Richard Rojem (October 5, 2023; Washington County)
Emmanuel Littlejohn (November 2, 2023; Oklahoma County) has lifelong brain damage as a result of his mother’s alcohol and drug abuse while pregnant. His jury did not hear evidence of his brain damage or his childhood of neglect and trauma.
Kevin Underwood (December 7, 2023; Cleveland County) has autism spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bipolar II disorder, none of which were presented to the jury.
Wendell Grissom (January 11, 2024; Blaine County) has severe brain damage resulting from oxygen deprivation at birth and traumatic brain injuries during childhood. His brain damage affects his impulses and explosive behaviors, causing an otherwise non-violent person to commit a single crime for which he immediately showed great remorse.
Tremane Wood (February 8, 2024; Oklahoma County) was represented by an attorney who was addicted to cocaine, alcohol, and prescription pills at the time he represented Wood. The attorney presented no evidence in Wood’s defense. Wood was a lesser participant in a murder committed by his older brother, who confessed to the crime and is serving a life sentence.
Kendrick Simpson (March 7, 2024; Oklahoma County) has PTSD as a result of the trauma he experienced as a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. His trial court refused to admit evidence of his mental illness.
Raymond Johnson (May 2, 2024; Tulsa County) “is a devout Christian whose Indiana church deeply values his role in the life of their congregation.”
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez (June 6, 2024; Oklahoma County) experienced sexual abuse, poverty, and homelessness during his childhood in Cuba, leaving him with PTSD and brain damage.
James Pavatt (July 11, 2024; Oklahoma County) is an 18-year Air Force veteran with no prior criminal record before the crime for which he was sentenced to death, where it is disputed whether he or his co-defendant was the shooter.
Clarence Goode, Jr. (August 8, 2024; Tulsa County) was sentenced to death while his co-defendants, who may have been the actual shooters, received life sentences.
Ronson Bush (September 5, 2024; Grady County)
Alfred Mitchell (October 3, 2024; Oklahoma County)
Marlon Harmon (December 5, 2024; Oklahoma County) was neglected and sexually abused during his childhood. His victim’s family did not want the death penalty, but prosecutors intentionally kept that information from the jury.
The Regional Church Board met on Saturday, August 20, 2022. For our newly elected board members, Regional Minister Pam Holt provided an orientation which included the Regional Church’s Purpose, Board Member Responsibilities, and our work together in Covenant both financially and in ministry.
Pam also reported that despite the cultural, political, educational, and pandemic challenges of ministry in Oklahoma, there are some exciting and new ministries emerging. Associate Regional Minister Michael Davison reported on the success of summer camp and anticipating the Intersections Trip to Washington, DC.
The Board received an update from Jacqueline Bass, the First Vice Moderator and General Board Representative, on the 2024 Regional Assembly at Sea. Because the cruise lines will be releasing their 2024 summer calendars in November we cannot get too many details yet. However, Jacque will be ready to negotiate some details as soon as she can.
The Board ratified the Executive Committee’s selection of new Commission on Clergy members and the Release of the Region’s interest in the Deed of Broken Arrow Fellowship Christian Church.
We received the Financial Reports given by Robert O’Kelley and celebrated the generosity of congregational giving to Disciples Mission Fund. The Regional Church Board will meet again in November of 2022 to receive reports and to approve the 2023 Budget.
Who is on the Regional Board? Click here!
The Covenant Project is exploring changes in how we gather and how we make decisions as church so that more people are included in shaping the priorities of the church.
Over the course of the summer and early fall of 2022 the church – congregational pastors, chaplains, elders, church boards, regional boards and congregation members – are invited participate in digital town hall meetings.
The Covenant Project is an initiative of the Governance Committee at the direction of the General Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Read an overview of the project.
Two key areas of change being discussed include:
The Covenant Project town hall meetings aim to provide education around proposed changes, foster conversation and create opportunities for feedback. Town halls will last an hour and consist of a 30-minute presentation by Rev. Terri Hord Owens and other members of the governance committee, followed by Q&A. They are being held July through September 2022.
I am writing to explain a bit about where the General Church is and hopes to go with us. In 2019, under the direction of the Governance Committee, they developed a plan called “The Covenant Project to strengthen the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): to be more connected, to be in deeper conversation, and to reaffirm our covenantal relationship with one another and God.
The first step was the development of the Covenant Curriculum, a small group resource for congregations to explore their identity as covenantal partners in the wider church. If you have not seen this curriculum, please look at it. And, please think about utilizing this curriculum this fall. I hope that after many of our Oklahoma congregations complete the study and conversations, that we can somehow have a recognition and service of covenant as we do this ministry together.
The second step is happening now. It is called “The Covenant Project”, and it is a process to review “the Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)” to explore how the church’s structures and practices might shift to better serve the church. Part of this project is to engage members of all our congregations with “town hall” meetings for feedback and insight. We now have the capacity to do this online so that many of us across all regions can learn and participate. This will give the Governance Committee and the General Board an opportunity to review the proposed changes at the 2023 General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky. This will also give us the opportunity to know what all this is about BEFORE we get to General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky.
Michael Davison and I will be attending a Town Hall Meeting ourselves, and we hope you will not only join us, but that you will invite your church leadership to join you so that we can all participate and learn and grow together.
Peace & God’s Grace,
Pamela Holt, Regional Minister
This educational trip for adults 21 and older is an opportunity to study a topic in conversation with other disciples. Intersections is based in Washington D.C. this fall. Through group learning and personal reflection participants will consider how, if, their faith and discipleship following Jesus shapes their participation in a consumer driven culture.
This trip is sponsored by our Commission on Laity and led by Pastor Tara Dew and Rev. Michael Davison.
Cost is $850 per person and Registration is Open until June 30th.
The fee is based on double occupancy housing. (An additional $550.00 is required to secure a single room.) Rooms: 2 room suites with a king bed or 2 double beds.
Fee Includes:
Not Included:
Covid-19
As the variants continue to evolve, some Washington D.C. sites that no longer require proof of Covid-19 vaccination may alter their policies and entry requirements. Knowing this is a possibility, and that it would inhibit your participation in the trip once in Washington D.C., we recommend all Intersections participants be fully vaccinated (2 doses of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca) or Johnson & Johnson shot, at least 2 weeks before the beginning of the trip. We encourage a booster shot as well. Mask requirements vary by site, so we advise participants bring a KN95 or N95 mask. The final itinerary is dependent on the availability of site openings due to Covid-19.
Preliminary Itinerary
Thursday, Sept 1: Travel Day / Orientation to Washington D.C. / Group Dinner / Monuments & Memorials at Night / Evening Examen
Friday, Sept 2: Smithsonian Museums / African American History and Culture Museum / Monuments & Memorials / Evening Examen
Saturday, Sept 3: Holocaust Museum / Arlington National Cemetery / Monuments & Memorials / Evening Examen
Sunday, Sept 4: Worship at National City Christian Church / Free Afternoon / Hamilton / Evening Examen
Monday, Sept 5: NPR Tour / Capitol Tour / Free Afternoon / Group Dinner / Evening Examen
Tuesday, Sept 6: Travel Day to Oklahoma / Remember what you saw, heard, and learned.
We are particularly happy with the success of our Kirkpatrick Academic Conference, “Visions of Wholeness: Systemic Racism, Antiracism, and Reconciliation in Our Shared History and Tradition,” held in March at Phillips Theological Seminary (PTS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The links to the videos of the presentations are now posted on the Tulsa Conference link (click the name of the presenter) on the DCHS website. More than 250 people participated in-person and online via livestream in this historic conference that brought together scholars and church leaders for a day-and-a-half-long scholarly discussion of how the sinful ideology of white supremacy has had an impact on Disciples and the broader Stone-Campbell tradition and how, from the earliest days of our movement, many of us have sought to resist and overcome it. With major funding from DCHS’s Kirkpatrick Lecture Fund, Disciples Reconciliation Ministry, and the Oreon E. Scott Foundation, as well as all four Disciples seminaries and Disciples regions and general ministries, we were able to provide about $25,000 in travel assistance grants to help people attend and provide leadership for the event.
After a brief report on our church’s response to the Ukraine crisis from Global Ministries’ Peter Makari and Week of Compassion’s Vy Nguyen, PTS President Nancy Pittman, Reconciliation Minister April Johnson, and I opened the conference. Rev. Sandhya Jha offered an introductory lecture to “set the table” for the sessions that followed.
President Charisse Gillett of Lexington Theological Seminary moderated a discussion between President Newell Williams of Brite Divinity School and Dr. Doug Foster of Abilene Christian University, our leading contemporary biographers of Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell, on how white supremacy and resistance to it shaped the thought and witness of these two early leaders of our movement.
We heard outstanding papers from leading scholars of Disciples and Stone-Campbell history and practice. We discussed the impact of Disciples/Stone-Campbell missionary activities on Indigenous peoples, as the movement expanded westward across the North American continent. We told stories of African American, Hispanic, and Asian Disciples and Stone-Campbell church members and analyzed the impact of systemic racism on their communities through more than two centuries of our history. We asked what this all means for our work and witness today and into the future.
On Friday evening, Bishop Dr. William Barber offered a powerful keynote to close the day. On Saturday morning, after a brief prayer of remembrance and commitment to commemorate the racist Tulsa Massacre of 1921, we had a powerful question and answer session with the conference presenters.
We closed with worship featuring music by Revs. Dean Phelps and Eugene and Titus James, and prayers, reflections, and readings from Dr. Lisa Barnett of Phillips, DCHS Board members Rev. Janae Pitts-Murdock of Light of the World Christian Church in Indianapolis and Rev. KJ Kim of First Christian Church in Stephenville, Texas, Rev. April Johnson, and Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, Interim Administrative Secretary of National Convocation and Associate General Minister. We heard an excellent sermon by Dr. Frank Thomas, Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Academy of Preaching and Celebration at Christian Theological Seminary. We shared the bread and cup of the eucharistic table, led by General Minister and President Terri Hord Owens who also sent us forth with a benedictory call to action.
To follow up on this powerful and historic gathering, we are publishing, in collaboration with our partner Chalice Press, a book centered on the presentations in Tulsa and containing study questions for use in college and seminary classes and in congregational, regional, and other educational settings. We hope the book will be available for purchase from Chalice in electronic and print versions later this year. Stay tuned for further information!
We look forward to our DCHS Board meeting in September, the last for me as I move into retirement and, hopefully, the first for my successor. The deadline for applications has passed and the highly diverse Presidential Search Committee is following the “Executive Search Process” recommended by the general church to ensure that we have a diverse pool of highly qualified candidates to consider. The committee is proceeding with its work of interviewing candidates and reaching consensus around a single candidate to present to the Board for their vote. The new President will take the helm of a ministry that is programmatically and financially strong, with a competent and committed staff, wonderful facilities, and a rapidly growing global online presence through Journal of Discipliana, Disciples History Podcast and our Digital Commons website.
To mark the coming transition of leadership, the Board has established “The President’s Fund” to provide for the ongoing work of the Society. Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in contributing.
This all is thanks to the hard work, commitment, and faithful stewardship of countless people, as well as the generous gifts of prayer and financial support from you. Thank you, dear friends of DCHS!