Monday we were on the campus of Oklahoma City University for their Involvment Fair.
Archive for August, 2009
OCU Involvement Fair
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Guest Musician: Tim Sean
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
I grew up in Cheyenne, WY. When I first moved to Oklahoma at the age of 18, I was struck immediately by how gregarious people seemed. Some of that might have been attributed to the shy nature of my mother, who isn’t one to willingly glad-hand any crowds. And so our family wasn’t thrown into many of those conventional social gauntlets you often have to learn to maneuver.
After moving to Oklahoma at the age 18, I ventured out one night for church “visitation.” An older gentlemen and I took the information card of someone who had previously visited and were going to make a house call. As we turned to go I asked him, “Aren’t we going to call them first?”
“Oh no. They’ll ask us not to come.”
I venture to say there is a lot less of that in Wyoming. People respect privacy. Intrusion is a way of life in the south.
But is Oklahoma southern?
I met my wife while working in a church in Baton Rouge. The two of us landing in Shawnee suits us in that Oklahoma isn’t quite the south nor the west, but a strange hybrid of the two. If I were to wear a bolo tie to church in Wyoming, the only thought any one might have is how nice I looked. If I wore the same in Baton Rouge, it might stir up a quiet embarrassment. In Oklahoma, the reactions would be mixed.
Shawnee, OK is a county seat once considered a farming town. The two religious universities it hosts, one Southern Baptist, the other Catholic, now mostly define it to outsiders. And their presence creates an interesting mix of progressive thinking and small town religious hesitation. Not entirely a bad place to live if you think walking the narrow path means balancing your life between extremes. I think that is exactly what it means.
I am a husband, a father, a friend, a minister, and an artist. I like rain and cloud cover, baseball, and the sound a banjo makes. I wish I could sing harmony better than I do, and I live under the suspicion that the better I get at hearing and singing harmonies, the more mature I am growing spiritually. That applies only to me, in my estimation. Your gage is surely something else entirely.
Tim Sean Youmans
April 2009
Shawnee, OK
Read more about our guest and listen to his music here.
College Welcome Sunday
Thursday, August 27th, 2009This Sunday we welcome college students at the beginning of the school year.
Pastor Scott will be preaching on “Doers of the Word” from James 1:17-27. How can our lives and our communities be transformed by spiritual practices? How can we grow up as people of faith?
Continuing our August MusicFest will be local musician Tim Sean. You can listen here to his music, which combines sacred and secular elements to express deep truths of human longing and striving (note: down under “Songs from 2002” the song “Go Away” was written about Pastor Scott).
After worship will be our Ice Cream Social complete with homemade ice cream, cookies, brownies, etc. Enjoy the sugary delights!
Diaper Dash Continues
Thursday, August 27th, 2009This Sunday we will continue collecting diapers to be donated to the Department of Human Services for use with foster children and their families. DHS is desperately seeking this help from local congregations and was very excited that we offered to help. Tom McDonald is coordinating this drive for us. Contact him if you’d like to assist. We will continue collecting through Sept. 6. All sizes are needed.
Women’s Retreat
Thursday, August 27th, 2009K-O Women’s Fall Assembly
KOWF is so blessed with the line-up of guest presenters for this year’s Fall Assembly,
September 11-12-13th.
With the theme, “Freely on a Journey of Faith,” we all will
have an opportunity to learn and grow.
Rev. Dr. Kathy McCallie will be enlightening us on the relationships between the Book of Joshua and issues in the Middle East yet today and how people of faith should prayerfully respond.
Deborah Bailey, Minister of Women’s Concerns in Cleveland, will also be with us, sharing her experiences on the Global Ministries Women-to-Women-Worldwide trip to Israel and Palestine last fall and the concerns of women globally.
What a blessing to hear from these two gifted women!
Many other activities are planned during our carefree stay at White Memorial Camp during this weekend event.
You will not want to miss it!
For the early bird rate, registration forms should be returned bySeptember 1st
Link to: K-O Women Fall Assembly Registration
Sharing Ramadan
Thursday, August 27th, 2009LOCAL MUSLIMS HOLD ‘SHARING RAMADAN’ EVENT
People of all faiths invited for dinner celebrating Ramadan
WHAT: On Saturday August 29th, members of the local Muslim community will reach out to their neighbors of all faiths by hosting a traditional Ramadan iftar, or fast-breaking dinner, at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City (ISGOC).
“As more than one billion Muslims worldwide celebrate Ramadan by fasting and appreciating the blessings given to us, it is equally important for the American Muslim community to reach out to our neighbors as an example of true Islamic ideals,” said CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi. “We are here to show our friends and neighbors that American Muslims will continue to be contributing members of our society,” said Hashmi.
Ramadan is the month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from break of dawn to sunset. The fast is performed to learn discipline, self-restraint and generosity, while obeying God’s commandments. Fasting (along with the declaration of faith, daily prayers, charity, and pilgrimage to Mecca) is one of the “five pillars” of Islam. The end of Ramadan will be marked by communal prayers called “Eid ul-Fitr,” or Feast of the Fast-Breaking, on September 20, 2009. (Because Ramadan is a lunar month, the actual date is governed by sighting of the new moon. Ask local coordinators for exact dates and times.)
There are an estimated 15,000 in the Greater Oklahoma City Metro Area and some seven million nationwide. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in this country and around the world.
WHEN: SATURDAY AUGUST 29, 2009. 7:30PM
WHERE: ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY (ISGOC). 3815 N. St. Clair Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73112
CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi. Phone: 405-415-6851. E-Mail: info@ok.cair.com
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR-OK Chair Michael Aziz Gipson, E-Mail: mgipson@cair.com.
CoH Hosts Leader of Historic German Churches
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
This week the Cathedral of Hope, United Church of Christ, was excited to host the current leader of the German churches which were formed during the Protestant Reformation, Bishop Ulrich Fischer.
Bishop Fischer was in Oklahoma City visiting the local congregations of the United Church of Christ. His message was: “You cannot be a Christian on your own,” therefore all Christians should befriend one another.
Cathedral of Hope Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Scott Jones stated, “It is quite an honor for our congregation to solidify our historic ties with the founding churches of the Protestant movement.”
Rev. Jones made news last winter when his prayer before the State House of Representatives was objected to by some lawmakers. The Cathedral of Hope has many congregants from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
According to Rev. Jones the members of the Cathedral of Hope were very excited by the visit. “My congregants often feel ostracized by other Christians here in Oklahoma,” explained Jones. “The visit to our congregation by the leader of this world historic denomination demonstrates that we are within the mainstream of the Christian tradition.”
The bishop’s visit was intended to deepen the partnership between the churches and included an invitation to the Cathedral of Hope to visit Germany in 2012.
Bishop Fischer has been Presiding Bishop of the Union Evangelischer Kirken (Union of Evangelical Churches) since October 2003 and has been Bishop of his regional church, the Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden, since 1998. The Union of Evangelical Churches is composed of the Lutheran and Reformed churches originally born in the sixteenth century in the time of Martin Luther and John Calvin.
There has been a partnership between the United Church of Christ and its German counterpart since 1981. The United Church of Christ is itself the union of four denominations, including the Reformed Church in the United States and the Evangelical Synod of North America, both of which had historic ties to the German churches. The motto of the United Church of Christ is “That they may all be one.”
The Baden Church states in their constitution that they will be “Friends of all Christians in the world.” Bishop Fischer insists on ecumenical dialogue as essential to Christian practice. He has written,
“An evangelical church can only ecumenically live their Christian life. Since Christ, our Lord, is always ahead of us, it is also believed by us that truth is always greater than our faith. The plural form of the church properly reflects the fact that God’s truth is always given to us humans only in parts.”
Bishop Fischer and his wife Briggitte were in Oklahoma City following stops in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Tulsa. They are traveling in Oklahoma with the Rev. Susanne Labsch, ecumenical officer of the Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden.
The bishop’s delegation also scheduled events with Church of the Open Arms, Mayflower Congregational UCC, and Norman UCC.
The delegation will complete their American trip with visits to Topeka, Kansas and Kansas City.
School Supplies to be Delivered Today!
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009If you are free, join us at 10 a.m. as we deliver our school supplies to Wilson Elementary. We will meet at the home of Scott and Michael, load the supplies in our cars, caravan over to Wilson, and unload the supplies. It is always a lot of fun.
