It’s been an interesting week for me with the high of meeting our new Bishop and being excited about her leadership to the remembering of 9-11 on Wednesday. I think the people of Oklahoma will love our cowboy boot wearing Bishop with her honesty and quick wit. On the other end of the spectrum, I sat at my desk weeping as I listened to a Rabbi chanting the last phone messages from different people on that dark and terrible day in September. That recording of the chanting Rabbi was made 10 years ago and yet the words that he wrote and the messages that were conveyed still evoke a world of feelin ..read more

As we have been focusing on our Faith Values, we approach Labor Day weekend with our focus on service. You may have noticed the very large banners in the hallways that say “Our service of worship has ended. Our worship through service begins.” What you may not know is that these banners were created for the sermon series “Follow Me.” It was the last series that we did before being shut down for the pandemic. We left them up during the closure because they reminded us that the church is not the building and our service to the world in Jesus’ name is who we are as the church. When I was in new c ..read more

I thought that I would write today about all the ways that we are serving the church outside of Faith UMC. Most of you do not know that we have members who represent us on committees at the conference level and in non-profits. Pastor Seungrok and I both serve on the district level to help shape new clergy and church revitalization. Let me explain the connection at it’s best. Our Lay members (that’s people that are not clergy) are actively involved in extension ministries and conference leadership. Blake Steudtner represents Faith and serves on the Annual Conference Pensions Board securing the ..read more

Yesterday I was wrapping up my work for the Nominations Team and I decided that I should write about what is going on in my blog. You see this new Simplified Accountable Structure has changed the way we operate in more ways than many people have wrapped their heads around. Each committee or Team that I work with has changed and we have spent much of this year learning how to do it correctly. I have found it to be much more intentional and clear about what we are asking people to do. It also sets clear boundaries around responsibility. As with anything new, it is getting easier the further that ..read more

In January of 2023, I did a sermon series called “Dare to Dream” where I reflected on how far we had come as a congregation and how it was time to dream about the next 45 years. We celebrated survival when so many churches and pastors didn’t make it through the pandemic. I challenged you to share your Jesus sized dreams with me. I went back and read these sermons last night thinking about the difference between a programing idea and a Jesus sized dream. 1) Jesus sized dreams do not just benefit us but also benefit the community. 2) Jesus sized dreams require faith and listening for where God i ..read more

On occasion, I have a night like Wednesday night where sleep is impossible. I got home after a long day of meetings about 8:30 pm. I saw the youth group at Josh’s and honked and waved but I was ready to get home and eat some dinner. My husband gets up really early every morning so he went to bed at 9:30ish and I got ready and laid down with a book. I finally fell asleep about 11 and then woke up at 2:35. I made sure not to look at my phone and laid in the dark until 3:30. Then I got up and tried some melatonin gummies but they did not quiet my mind and so I decided to take something off my to ..read more

With the retirement of Rev. James (Jimmy) Nunn, Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference needed a new Episcopal leader. Last week at the South Center Jurisdictional Conference, we were assigned our new bishop who will also continue to serve the Arkansas area. This group of conferences include Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Here is the letter sent out to every church: Dear Oklahoma United Methodist Friends in Christ, With great joy and excitement, we welcome Bishop Laura Merrill to the Oklahoma Annual Conference as she steps into h ..read more

Seungrok and I are excited about our summer series “Popcorn Theology” and the way we look at stories in our world. I took a class in seminary called “Christ and Culture” with Rev. Dr Brandon Scott. Brandon asserted that the moral learning in our country had for many years come from reading books. Books helped shape our identity and caused us to consider other ways of seeing things in our world. He talked about the power of books to shape us as a country and a people. Those that are fighting to ban books would agree with this argument and they are trying to control what we read because they rec ..read more

I know many of you are enjoying time with friends or traveling during this long weekend of national holiday. I have heard stories from members about where they were going and who they were going to gather with. I know several people who are fleeing the heat and heading to someplace cooler than Oklahoma. Jon and I actually took some time away this week in Colorado. It was so lovely and the weather was perfect. Fireworks with the rocky mountains in the background are pretty impressive. As I think about this holiday and the bravery that it took to claim independence, I can’t help thinking about h ..read more

Even though it wasn’t as hot as it has been last night, it was still hot. Thirty two members of Faith, both youth and adults, hosted the meal under the bridge for Night Light Tulsa. It was so hot that the cheese that I was attempting to put on the burgers was melted into a blob that made that (seemingly easy job) much more difficult. Four hundred hamburgers were made and given away to the guests under the bridge. I was so very pleased to see new members who had never tried serving in this way before enjoy themselves and make such a beautiful impact on hungry people. This is the tenth year that ..read more