Church at the Crossroads: Kingfisher UMC

                                      

    I remember sitting in the backseat of my parent's vehicle on the way home from a trip to the city, starting out the window as we turned the corner towards home, and seeing this church. Giant and ancient with incredible stained glass windows, it was far different from our little country church, and I truly can't remember a time when I didn't dream of worshiping there. In fact, it was this very church that I was driving by in December, and once again thinking of how I wanted to go inside, when God began to place in me this desire to Steeple Chase this year. It was a few weeks later when the plan fully developed within me, but it was the Kingfisher United Methodist Church that first sparked the flame.

    So to say I was excited about visiting on July 12th would be something of an understatement.

     According to the website, worship starts at 9:55, so we got there in plenty of time to look around a little and take some pictures. The parking lot is located behind the church with an obvious entrance there, but wanting to get the girls' weekly sign picture and use the original entrance, we decided to walk around to the front. Unfortunately, after walking up the numerous stairs to the front doors, we discovered that we would have been smarter to use the more obviously used modern entrances as the old double doors were locked and we later found that the original entrance has been converted to a storage area. We walked backed down the stairs, took the side door at the bottom of the stairs, and entered into an empty foyer which provided both elevator and stair access to the sanctuary.  As we stood there debating where to go, an elderly woman and a young lady walked down the hallway, greeted us warmly, and the youth member offered to show us around. We excitedly followed her down the hallway as she pointed out parts of the church.

        The building dates back to 1917 and has some of the most beautiful windows I've ever seen. It's two stories tall with an exposed basement and an addition which houses the church offices and Sunday School rooms. The hallways and rooms in the educational wing are painted with the most incredible murals that we were told were done by a college student. We discovered that we had arrived the day the youth group had left for their mission trip, so many of the classrooms were empty and we were able to peek them. My girls absolutely loved the paintings!

     Still having plenty of time before worship (which we found out doesn't actually begin until 10:05), we followed our guide to a morning fellowship area located inside the back door (which we should have taken in the first place) where coffee and snacks were provided and friendly members greeted us and one another.  Our girls, who always seem to be hungry, really enjoyed plates of fruit and cookie bars and the sweet ladies who were serving helped make us feel right at home.

     As worship time grew closer, more and more of the congregation began to enter (including some dear friends who we had invited to join us at the last minute and were thrilled to get to worship with), and we all threaded our way down the hallway to the historic sanctuary. The gorgeous round sanctuary is located on the upper floor of the building so both the stairs and the elevator are put to good use.

     Some of the members told us that the congregation is in the process of raising funds to build a new sanctuary that doesn't require an elevator with expensive maintenance fees and outdated electrical wiring, which I can completely understand, but in all honesty it breaks my heart to think of replacing this amazing building where faithful followers have worshiped for nearly a hundred years. The woodwork, and the pipe organ, and the brass-railed balcony, and the windows....oh, be still my little history-loving heart. I'm pretty sure I will cry big buffalo tears when I drive by and find it all modern and updated and yes, probably more user-friendly.

     We took our seats (which of course ended up being someone else's seats, but they were kind enough to give them over with a smile), and the service began. Due to the mission trip, the regular pastor and youth pastor were gone, so guest speaker, Reverend Dane Lemmons lead the service which was a mix of the traditional and modern. A praise band lead us in both hymns and modern worship songs and the Chancel Choir shared special music. We joined together for the Affirmation of Faith, Lord's Prayer, and giving of our tithes and offerings, and listened attentively (except for my youngest, who drew pictures and played on my phone) to the sermon entitled "Sheep and Goats."  We were inspired to reach out to the "least of these" and blessed with this opportunity to worship God in  this beautiful sanctuary with this faithful body of believers. I am so grateful that God lead us on this Steeple Chase this year and that I finally to the opportunity to visit this historic church. It was truly a blessing and morning to be cherished.

   

Isabella Church of the Nazarene

  

      Our July 5th Sunday Steeple Chase was almost the opposite of the week before. We decided to stay close to home and headed to the community of Isabella and the only church in town- the Isabella Church of the Nazarene.
   
     This small but active church was started in December of 1948 and currently houses not only a Sunday morning worship service led by Pastor Nathan Twyman but a Sunday evening service called Isabella Espanol led by Martin and Irene Pizano. In addition, the church provides a weekly meeting place for Celebrate Recovery led by Rick and Ashley Chance. I was excited to see that unlike some small rural churches, this church has a very nice, informational website, and I would encourage you to visit to learn more about their beliefs and activities at www.isabellanaz.org.

    The worship service started at 10:45 and somehow even with a car full of cranky, July 4th walking dead kids (and parents) we managed to get there on time. The first person we saw happened to be our sweet friend who had invited us to attend, and we were pleased to walk in with her and let her show us where to go. 


Well, some of us were pleased anyway.

     The first glimpse of the sanctuary brought me back to my childhood at the original Lenora UMC with a stage at the front flanked by rooms on each side, and suddenly my mind flashed to a feather painted Sunday School classroom where I first learned of God's everlasting love for me. Sometimes it's the little things that make you feel at home.

    Church started with celebrating birthdays and anniversaries of the congregation by placing money in the offering plate and singing. Then the pastor made announcements with his sweet toddler girl (also suffering from the effects of too many late night fireworks) clinging to his leg or wrapped around his neck as he addressed the congregation. It was real and casual and endearing, and I could tell this Body of Christ is definitely a family of God.

    A teenage member who will soon be off to a church leadership camp read the morning's scriptures and then we began to worship with song. Having just celebrated the birthday of our nation, we appropriately sang God Bless America and America the Beautiful along with praise verse Step by Step and Great is Thy Faithfulness. We were accompanied by a piano, guitar, and drums and had several beautiful voices leading the way. We were also blessed with special music by a soloist singing a lovely song about being doubly blessed by God.

    The message came from the book of Ruth, and while the story was familiar, Pastor Skippy (as the website says he's called) brought to light several elements I did not know. For instance, did you realize that Boaz was the son of Rahab who helped Joshua's spies escape from Jerico by lowering them from a basket out her window?  And did you know that Boaz is in the ancestral line of  David that eventually begets Jesus the Nazarene? (Well I didn't! I love learning new things!)

     The message was enlightening, the people were friendly and welcoming, the music was uplifting, and we were feeling pretty complete when God went ahead pushed the service over the edge into fantastic with a beautiful, heartfelt testimony at the end of the service. We felt so blessed to be a part of this man's miracle morning has he shared with us how he had drifted away from God, become involved in a lifestyle of sin, and finally through the love and support of his mother and his church family has come back to a God who never turned away from him. I, along with most of the room, couldn't help but shed a tear as he proclaimed the love of Jesus and his new found life in Him.

     THIS is what church is all about! May God continue to bless this man, this church, and our family as we continue to seek to know the people within the walls of His Holy Sanctuaries and to discover Him beneath the Steeples that we Chase. Thank you, Readers, for taking this journey with us. God bless you as well!

Enormously Blessed: Crossings Community Church

     I have to admit I'm still a little bit in shock over our experience at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City this past Sunday morning. Nothing crazy or abnormal happened, even for my slightly abnormal family, but the shear enormity of the church complex itself continues to blow my mind!

    Let me recap: Small town girl. Grew up in small, small ghost-town church. Traveling from church to church each Sunday this year to experience worship of God in a variety of ways in a variety of settings. This church was WAY out of my element! I'm pretty sure it is actually bigger than my entire hometown. Literally! (As our oldest would say.)


   According to their website, the church offers 5 different opportunites for worship on Sunday mornings. There's a liturgical service in the chapel (which is approximately the size of a "normal" church back home), 2 blended services in the Sanctuary, and 2 contemporary services in The Venue (a more modern sanctuary setting with chairs instead of pews and a lighted stage, etc.).  I read the girls the introductions of each service actually thinking they would want the more contemporary style and was surprised when they chose the Sanctuary, primarily due to its mix of choir, symphony, and praise team for the music.

   We arrived about 20 minutes early because we knew we'd need a little time to find our way around and discovered that 20 minites was not nearly early enough. We planned to attend the 10:45 service and couldn't believe the number of cars in the parking lot when we arrived. We drove around and around searching for a spot to park, and finally as people started exiting from the previous service we pulled into a place as I joked that we were going to need a tour guide to find our way around. Turns out that was no joke!

                                              
   


















        Our tour guide came in the form of a sweet teenager who rather than attempt to explain where to take our youngest (who insisted once again on going to children's church) offered to lead us there herself. Thank goodness! So off we went across the city, uhm church. Our perky guide click-clicking her way quickly in front while I huffed and puffed and half drug our six year old in an attempt to keep up and my husband and older girls walked somewhere behind us refusing to be rushed. After passing by the Sanctuary and a huge Atrium, a Coffee Bar to rival any Starbucks, and a Library and Bookstore, our guide showed us to a children's hallway, shrugged her shoulders and apologized for not knowing exactly where we were supposed to go, and disappeared.

                                    

   Oh, well, no problem. We're adults. We can surely figure this out.


    So we continued down a long hall with a vast number of doors until I found one labeled "Kindergarten" and got in line behind some other kids and parents. However, when we reached the front of the line, we found out that we were not in fact in the right place yet, and were instructed to go to the main check in desk....down the hall, around the corner, up the stairs, and to the left? right?  We eventually found it and went through all the necessary paperwork to check our child into a classroom for one Sunday....including the entire family's birthdays and medical history. Whew! At last, we had a barcode for our child and another for ourselves and we went back from whence we came. Waited in line at the same door as before and discovered again that we were in the wrong place. Fortunately the new room was just two doors down because to be honest by this point, I was about to load everyone up and head home.


   We finally reached the sanctuary a couple songs into the service, entered from a side door, sat down, and breathed. Holy COW!! This place was incredible! Beautiful! Huge! (I know I keep saying that but really!) At the top of the stage was a choir loft a large choir, below them was an orchestra of instruments and their players, and in front of them about 10 men and women made up a group of worship music leaders. Screens all around displayed the words of the songs, and the music was astounding. There's was a mixture of contemporary music and hymns. Most we knew and the ones we didn't were easy to catch on to.

                                   

                                   



   When the music was complete, there was a time to greet those around us, and a few people shook our hands, but no one introduced themselves or asked who we were and I realized that in a church that size it would be next to impossible to know if someone was there for the first time. The bulletin provided a form for visitors and members to fill out and recommended that we turn in our questions, comments, and prayer requests and that we visit the information and welcoming centers throughout the church. We didn't, but I'm sure that if we weren't simply visiting we would have very much appreciated the opportunities to connect.

    Around this time, our middle daughter decided she absolutely couldn't wait to go to the restroom, so I slipped out the back with her and walked a block (slight exaggeration alert) to the nearest, returning in time to the hear the last of a beautiful song by a very talented vocalist and see a large screen lower in the center and a talking head come on. Jason and I looked at each other in surprise. We had been expecting a flesh and blood pastor, but it made since that with more than one service going at once, this was the only way he could be two places at once.

 

     The Senior Pastor at Crossings is Dr. Marty Grubbs who began his ministry with this church way back in 1981 when it was Westridge Hills Church as their youth and music minister. A few years later, he was named senior pastor of the church and had a congregation of about 100 people. By 1999, with Pastor Grubbs continuing to lead, the church changed it's name to Crossings Community Church and held their first service at their new location with 3,100 people in attendance. From that point on, the church has simply expanded and expanded to reach the needs of its growing congregation.

     This particular morning, Pastor Grubbs chose to preach from the book of Jonah, and our entire family listened and laughed and learned throughout the message. It was a truly great sermon about a God of Second Chances, and I'd encourage you to watch it at http://crossingsokc.org/mci/a-god-of-second-chances/.

    The service ended with an invitation to pray at the alter or light a candle at one of the many stations throughout the room, and mostly to consider our Nineveh's and ask God for a second chance to love them.

 

     We left feeling better than when we arrived and began our journey with a throng of followers across the vast complex to find our youngest and depart. She greeted us with a giant smile and completely marker-green hands and arms and we caught the nearest luxury golf cart to our vehicle somewhere on the horizon. And as our Steeple Chase came to a close this week, our hearts felt a little lighter knowing that while other parts of the world seem to be turning to the dark, there are masses of believers still flocking to the church to worship the Light. Praise God for his Bride. May we continue to draw ever closer to Him.