Camp Creek Church of the Nazarene

 

     What a lovely time we spent worshiping with the congregation of Camp Creek Church of the Nazarene in basically the middle of nowhere in Western Oklahoma's Dewey County.

    In all honesty, we left the house thinking we were on our way to Leedey, Oklahoma to attend church at Harvest Fellowship (which we plan to attempt again sometime), but after following a giant snail-paced oversized load most of the way to Chester, we realized we were never going to make it on time, so we had to adjust our plans, and since Camp Creek was on our list of places to attend and landed us between our various family members to visit, we decided it was the morning to head that way, and I'm so glad we did.

    We passed through Lenora where my family was worshiping, and stopped my brother's house to drop our puppy off for a visit, and still had some time to drive past the church, wonder aimlessly for several miles, and turn back around and return in time for service to begin. It's pretty exciting to be greeted by squeals of delight from friends who have been following your blog and hoping you would stop by some day. And getting to sit in front of your childhood vocal teacher and her husband just makes for an even more special worship experience.

 

    If there's one thing I'd have to say for the congregation of Camp Creek, it's "Boy can those people sing!"  The music was simple with only a guitar as accompaniment that morning, but with my friend Abby leading the singing, and generations of her family members, along with the rest of the crowd, which must all be musically talented as well, joining in harmony, it felt like we were in the middle of a heavenly choir. The music was a mixture of traditional hymns and more contemporary choruses and lasted nearly 30 glorious minutes, and I couldn't help but wonder if previous generations of congregation members who walked from the school house to the newly built church building in 1927 singing Marching to Zion sounded just as beautiful.

    The rest of the service went pretty much as expected. There was a fantastic sharing of joys and concerns as members shared in the miracles of healing and protection in their lives and lifted up friends and family in need. We took part in the giving of our tithes and offerings and shared in Holy Communion as it was passed from person to person down the pews.

   The pastor, Reverend Ron Berkley, was very personable with an easy going preaching style that drew me in and made me want to know more. The sermon was enlightening and thought provoking, and my husband and I had much to discuss as we drove away.

     All in all, our experience at Camp Creek Church of the Nazarene was very enjoyable. It's a fantastic little country church with wonderful people, wonderful music, and a wonderful message. Praise God for opportunities like this on our Steeple Chase this year! Thanks for having us, Friends! Until we meet again!