Educators help Bolivians write kids’ curriculum

Children in Bolivia gather for a Sunday school class in January. They were joined by two Christian educators from Oklahoma. Two Oklahomans are leading a project to help children in Bolivia grow spiritually. Christian educators Janet Boone and Leslie Long are spearheading a ministry...

Local Church Leader Workshops:

Photo by Holly McCray   Camping out for VBS Sparx the Fox and Cokesbury consultant Marjorie Monnet welcome visitors to their Vacation Bible School model...

Save the date

What: The Big Fun Thing Includes RedHawks baseball game When: April 18 Where: Oklahoma City Sponsor: Oklahoma Conference’s campus ministries Contact: Phil Jones, pjones@okumc.org, 405-530-2013 What: Children’s Choir Festival When: April...

A lesson plan for new faith explorers

Churches extend welcome as schools open: Left, Sunday school class members and their children gather at their display table during an ice cream social at Enid-First. Their cookies-and-cream entry won first place. The event, held to boost interest in Sunday school groups, was successful and will be held again, said David Wiggs, pastor at the church.  story> Freeze Off is cool idea At right, rituals at Okemah-St. Paul’s mark the start of the new school year. The "Blessing...

Freeze Off is cool idea

A novel ice cream contest recently promoted Sunday school at Enid-First church. Each adult class produced an entry for the “Freeze Off,” akin to a chili cook-off. The contest was part of an ice cream social designed by the church’s Adult Ministry Leadership team. More than 125 people attended. Class members staffed table displays in fellowship hall, offering information about each class, such as types of studies and mission projects—plus cookies, brownies, and samples...

Contact Front page March 21 2008

Three overnight retreats, held concurrently Feb. 29 at the United Methodist camps in the state, drew youth members, mostly junior-high age, to a Conference Confirmation experience. Campers at Cross Point used mosaic tiles to create a cross, above, used during their worship services. Below, campers cluster for a Bible study session at Camp Egan.   The story of the Prodigal Son comes vividly to life for retreat participants at Canyon Camp, near Hinton. At left, to...

Retreats confirm junior-high ministry need

See photos here On Feb. 29, young United Methodists participated in three concurrent Confirmation retreats at Oklahoma’s church camps. Attendance exceeded expectations for the planners, and they were asked to repeat the event in the future. Leaders at Egan reported 107 youths and adults from 10 churches in northeast Oklahoma. At Canyon, 96 people came from 14 churches. Leaders and campers at Cross Point totaled 47, from eight churches. Most of the young people were junior-high age. Camp...

Children's voices will be heard at festival

Registration has begun for the 2008 Children’s Choir Festival, on April 12 at Oklahoma City University. The festival is open to all church children’s choirs that prepare and memorize selected anthems prior to attending the event. OCU faculty members Timothy Olsen and Jeanne Clewell are organist and accompanist, respectively. Festival director is Kathlyn Reynolds. The musical selections for this year’s festival are arrangements of "All Things Bright and Beautiful," "Praise the Lord Who Reigns...

Summertime training in Tulsa for Disciple Bible Study

LuAnn H. Charlton witnessed firsthand the transforming power of Disciple Bible Study as a member of her church’s first Disciple I class during 1987-88. She has since completed other classes in the series: Disciple 2, 3, 4, and Christian Believer. She became a Disciple study leader, even teaching classes in a maximum security prison for women. On July 12-13 in Tulsa, United Methodists can delve into the Bible with Rev. Charlton and with Flo Sapp Martin, members of the national Disciple...

Training topic is Disciple-- Bible study

 Tulsa-Boston Ave. to host July event Cokesbury and Disciple Seminars will present training in Disciple Bible study on July 12-13 at Tulsa-Boston Avenue United Methodist Church. This event will have four sessions. Training on July 12 will focus on "Christian Believer" and "Disciple: Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study." The July 13 sessions will be "Jesus in the Gospels" and "Beyond Disciple I." Disciple is a program of disciplined Bible study aimed at developing strong Christian...

Fellowship of Christian educators reorganizes, plans May 30 luncheon

The Oklahoma Christian Educators Fellowship (OK-CEF) will gather for a luncheon at noon May 30 in the parlor at OKC-St. Luke’s UMC, as part of the 2007 Annual Conference events. An invitation to attend is extended by Mary Lue Eastmond, Conference director of Christian Education. The fellowship is reorganizing. A one-year membership is being offered free. Rev. Eastmond said, "This group was highly influential in my personal development as a Christian Educator in my early years. It is a...

'Can Do' awards programs for children

The "CAN-DO" Award will be presented at the 2007 Annual Conference to recognize exemplary church programs for children. Deadline to apply is May 15. Churches will be honored in three categories: small, medium, and large-membership sizes. Application forms are online at www.okumc.org; send to Tim Bodenstein of Stroud, tpbodie@yahoo.com. Honorees will be announced during the Children’s Ministry report at the conference, on May 30....

What do United Methodists believe?

Curriculum choices teach ethos of denomination By Mary Lue Eastmond, Christian Education director Oklahoma ConferenceI did not grow up Methodist. When I made a decision to join a United Methodist church, it was an intentional decision, based on my understanding of what The United Methodist Church is all about. Before I made that decision, I had been singing songs from The United Methodist Hymnal. I had been hearing sermons from pastors who were educated in United Methodist seminaries. I had...

Puzzled? Come and see!

Take the following quiz to see how much you know about United Methodist curriculum. Then attend "Come and See! A United Methodist Curriculum Extravaganza!" on March 10 at Stillwater-First UMC to learn more. Where can you find the answers for this crossword? * You could pull out your Cokesbury catalogs and mailers from recent several months. * You could call Curric–U-Phone (800-251-8591). * You could browse the shelves at a Cokesbury store (in Tulsa, at 6024 S. Yale; or Oklahoma City,...

March 1: deadline for children's choir festival

By Amy Muegge Children’s choirs are invited to participate April 21 in the 2007 Oklahoma United Methodists Children’s Choir Festival. Pre-registration deadline is March 1. The festival will be held in Bishop Angie Smith Chapel on the Oklahoma City University campus. The children will rehearse during morning and early afternoon, then perform at a concluding worship service at 2 p.m. Directors will participate in a workshop designed for them, during the morning rehearsal session. For more...

Come and see!

Dr. Parker is speaker Professor Evelyn L. Parker is featured presenter at the March 10 "Come and See!" training for Oklahoma Conference. Dr. Parker is a faculty member at Perkins School of Theology. Her teaching specialties are Christian religious education and adolescent spirituality as influenced by sociocultural context and social policy. She earned her doctorate degree from Northwestern University in 1996. Among her published works are: "Starting Right: Thinking...