Better Together

I have read a few articles this week on Nazarene ecclesiology (it will be a point of discussion at upcoming gathering of District Superintendents). One writer referred to our representative form of government as “congregationalism modified by episcopacy”. Local churches largely retain control of their own affairs but are subject to a common government. A lot happens in each of the 28,130 local Nazarene churches, but what happens when we work together is amazing. ·Together we have 2.15 million members in 159 world areas. ·Together we recorded 2,789,928 evangelistic contacts last year which led to 728,286 decisions for Christ. ·Together we support 712 missionaries and sent 9,307 mission volunteers last year.  ·Together we sponsored 60 medical clinics and hospitals. ·Together we provided 5 graduate seminaries, 31 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 14 liberal arts institutions, 2 nursing training colleges and 1 teacher training college. All schools combined had 52,439 students. I am thankful to be a part of a connectional church. We are better together. Of course, we see the benefits of working together on the District as we provide camping programs like we did this summer for our children and youth, as we join in spiritual renewal efforts, training of pastors and laity and missional endeavors. Recently, two of our pastors sent me unsolicited notes that spoke of the camaraderie we seek among our pastors. One new pastor mentioned a neighboring pastor who he said is becoming a “treasured friend”. He spoke of how excited he was that the church he pastors was speaking more of being a part of the global church rather than just an isolated congregation. Another fairly new pastor shared information about a fellow pastor who was hurting and said, “This is a close group of pastors in NEO.” I pray that this sense of being on a team, with others walking alongside us to encourage and support, will grow. One of the reasons we have Ministers and Mates retreat each year and insist on your pastors participation is because we have to spend time together to develop this sense of “connection” and “team”. Thanks for making it possible for your pastors to attend this year’s retreat, August 23 – 25, in Branson. We are better together!

Dr. Gresham to be Honored

Congratulations to Southern Nazarene University President, Dr. Loren Gresham, who will be inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame, on October 15, 2013. We are so blessed to have Dr. Gresham as our leader.

Living the Life: Spiritual Formation Defined

Monday, August 26 7:00 p.m. CDT This webinar with Dr. Mark Maddix will explore a definition of spiritual formation and the associated practices needed in order for someone to be formed and transformed into faithful disciples. Attention will be given to engaging in a holistic approach to spiritual formation that includes inward, outward, and corporate practices. Click here to register. Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with all the information you will need to join the webinar

Prime Time Event

August 30 Please promote this event at your church.  Dinner reservations must be PREPAID by August 25th.  Contact John Williamson at johnw10021@yahoo.com or 918-859-3600 with questions or reservations.

Thank You

NE Oklahoma District, Thank you so much for the love expressed to our family through your generous giving to make it possible for our family to be together for my Dad’s home-going.  It was a glorious time together and God was truly honored! Blessings, Harmon & Cindy Schmelzenbach & the family of Joe Thornton

God is Answering Prayer for the Bristow Church a report from Pastor Larry Allen Two months ago our board, as a part of the goals for this year, decided that our church needed more prayer. As a result of this, we asked for a church-wide commitment for our church to fast one meal a week and pray for our specific church needs. We open the church up on Mondays and we have had several pray partners either praying at our church or at home each Monday. Some of the many prayers that God has answered are as follows: 1. We had an awesome VBS with over 40 children attending, many from non-churched environments. Thirteen of these children gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. The entire expense was collected from outside funds and contributions and our kids raised $191 for Manna House. 2. We have had a couple come forward to begin working with our teens.  We have cleaned out and set up an area in our back building for teen meetings and we have already set up an outreach program for them to help us recruit Sunday school children in a public housing area. 3. We were able to hire a talented and spirit-filled worship leader for our Sunday AM services. He will begin in two weeks and has a full band that says they will follow him to Bristow. We already have a drummer and our new worship leader wants to renew a praise team for our church.  His band will play for all of our outreach events beginning with our fall festival. 4. We have a professionally-trained couple that will begin teaching CLT classes next Wednesday night. 5. We will begin a membership class also next Wednesday night and take in new members next month. 6. We had a great VBS/Sunday School picnic last Sunday in our local city park and concluded it by baptizing 3 adults and 4 children in our city lake. Our next prayer request is for a dependable van to pick up 21 children for our Sunday school. We have two old vans that neither will pass inspection. We have a man that has volunteered to pick up children once we have a dependable mode of transportation.

Congratulations to Regency Park on a Great Faith Promise Pastor Geoff Gunter reports: “Our faith promise goal was 55,500. We had commitments totaling $73,300, with 4 regular families out of town. Our missions council planned for months and Dan Ketchum did the best job I have seen in years.”

There is a Tulsa Journey Guide cookout on Thursday, August 22nd, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at 7420 E. 46th Place in Tulsa. We will be recruiting and equipping 100-200 Journey Guides to lead men AFTER the Promise Keepers event.  If you would like to be a part of this movement, join us at the cookout.  RSVP to Frank Khalil at 918-595-3592 or at fkhalil@influencers.org. Contact Jason Powers with any questions: 918-316-5899.

Join us at Clary Fields Golf Club on September 23, 2013 in support of sending our district students on a mission trip to Nazarene Indian Bible College in 2014. All proceeds of this tournament will go to supporting that mission. Info / Register

Guymon Church of the Nazarene Guymon Church of the Nazarene is inviting any and all to a Prayer Encounter on September 19 – 22. Cory Jones and Daniel and Carol Ketchum are facilitating and leading this Encounter as we pray: “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” For more information, go to www.guymonnazarene.org. info current newsletter

Dear NEO Family, Many NEO Churches are becoming true houses of prayer! Pryor is certainly one of those. Two weeks ago the Pryor Church had a daily prayer meeting, believing God was interested in answering big prayers. Pastor Dan Hazelton shared some of the ways God worked that week: “We have had four people saved, one man released of a lifetime issue with anger, another releasing unforgiveness and another in the hospital with neurological damage receiving instant help.” The week was so productive that the daily prayer continued a second week. We rejoice with Pastor Dan and the Pryor Church!

Spiritual Formation and Discipleship

Another key emphasis of our movement is discipleship and Christian education. In Carl Bangs' book, Phineas Bresee, Pastor to the People, he speaks of the Methodist classmeeting: “The Methodist 'classmeeting' was a time for personal testimony, soul-searching, and spiritual counsel. It was led by a layperson – a 'class leader' – who faced the members and asked each in turn about his or her spiritual experience of the past week.” It is still vital that we get people together in classes or small groups to “watch over one another in love” (John Wesley’s phrase). What is working in adult Sunday School, Small groups and discipleship in NEO in 2013? A few pastors have expressed interest to share best practices, methods and resources. If you would like to be a part of this discussion, contact me dmckellips@neonaz.com. Living the Life: Spiritual Formation Defined, Monday, August 26th, at 7:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. This webinar with Dr. Mark Maddix will explore a definition of spiritual formation and the associated practices needed in order for someone to be formed and transformed into faithful disciples. Attention will be given to engaging in a holistic approach to spiritual formation that includes inward, outward, and corporate practices. Click here to register. Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with all the information you will need to join the webinar.

District News

·  Congratulations to Pastor Wayde Normandin and Tulsa Southwest for getting permission to occupy and use their new Family Life Center. ·  Pastor David Smith accepted a call to be the Sr. Pastor of the Seward Nazarene Church in Seward, Alaska.  His final Sunday as Youth Pastor at Claremore will be August 18, 2013.  We love David, Frances and their children, Jesus and Frances-Nicole, and pray God’s best for them in Alaska.  ·  Pastor Mike Howard will soon begin 7 and a half weeks of radiation treatment for cancer and will continue hormone treatment for 2 years. Mike will have an MRI on his back plus a bone scan before he starts radiation treatment.  Let’s continue to pray for Mike and Diane. ·  57 NEO pastors have signed up to attend our District Ministers and Mates retreat, August 23–25 in Branson, MO. Stan and Linda Toler will be our special speakers. Pray that God will make this a great time of renewal and refreshing. ·  NEO Primetimers are invited to join us for dinner and Guy Penrod concert on August 30 in Claremore. Dinner reservations must be PREPAID by August 25. Contact John Williamson at johnw10021@yahoo.com or 918-859-3600 with questions or reservations. ·  Broken Arrow First Church is taking a Work & Witness team to the Dominican Republic August 29 - September 3.

NEO July Statistics

Attendance for July                                  2012-13             2013-14         SDMI                               2880                           2362         Morning Worship            3755                     3379

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I Want to Celebrate. . .

Bill Hilton, Tulsa Living Hope. . . We had a great 3-day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning) VBS with a total of 29 different children and 12 adults working in various capacities. We averaged 25 children per day and had several children and one adult respond to the invitation at the end of the Jesus Film for Children presentation. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. The Jewish blessing is true:  “Blessed art thou oh Lord God, King of the universe." Mark Hiehle, Claremore. . . We had a terrific VBS in July.  During VBS we had 5 children pray to receive Jesus for the first time. At our concert with Steve Ladd, a man recommitted his life to the Lord with a public confession and gave a wonderful testimony during the morning service. God is moving! Tony Siebels, Pawhuska. . . This month was exciting as we welcomed the Wests to share on the ministry in Indonesia.  The Cleveland Church joined us that night and we had a wonderful time of celebration and education.  We have seen vast improvements in finances and overall approach to ministry.  The vision meeting on July 28th was exciting and affirming as there is a newfound sense of hope and passion for reaching the community for Jesus. Scottie Behm, Chelsea. . . We want to celebrate taking 5 children to Kidz Kamp, for us that was 100% of are kids in that age group. A special thanks goes to the one couple in our church and our church board who intentionally helped make this accomplishment possible. Our children and the adult leader shared their testimonies from camp with our congregation. We had our second Saturday morning VBS - our kids had great fun using the new outdoor classroom and planted three raised beds, fall, vegetable gardens with the help of two master gardeners. We had a free breakfast, a worship service, horseback riding, a small group focused on witnessing/safety and we ended with a watermelon spitting contest. We had 15 children, 17 adults, and 4 horses participate. We have a new family of four participating. Dennis stopped one day to help me work in our outdoor classroom. We together now celebrate the birth of their son. Another family has returned and is taking an active role in leadership and sent a grandson to Kidz Kamp with us. Claude Guy, Sand Springs. . . We just finished a 6-session study with Tammy Slaymaker on Spiritual Gifts to help believers identify their gifts and learn ways in which their gifts can be developed and used in His Kingdom's Service.  We had a great turnout of adults and teens for each session. David Stevens, Vinita. . . I am thankful for God’s faithfulness to reveal His presence in our services. I am thankful for faithful people who not only attend, but love God’s Church and His people. I am thankful for workers who labor week after week to teach, clean and prepare the Church property, pray, and share God’s love with their neighbors. Brad Farnsworth, Broken Arrow Core Church at Aspen Creek. . . We dedicated 10 children, and baptized 1 teen and 2 adults.

Blessings

Want to get blessed by some really fun numbers from the USA/Canada Region? · 53 districts achieved 100% or more of their World Evangelism Fund (WEF) goal in 2012 · 13 districts achieved 100% or more of Pension & Benefits Fund goal · 33 districts were at 103% or more of goal for the World Evangelism Fund · Several USA districts were able to lower their district percentage; the regional average is now 5.75%. · The region gave $36.2 million of its income to WEF, $11.9 million to P&B, $14.6 million to the schools, and $30.6 million to district operations. · Including mission specials, the region gave $ 63.6 million to missions! The Northeast Oklahoma District gave $ 382,710 to the World Evangelism Fund last year! (105% of goal). NEO Churches also gave 103% of the goal to the District Fair Share Fund, 100% of the giving goal for Pensions and Benefits and 96% of the Education Fund to Southern Nazarene University.

FURNITURE OUTREACH REQUEST Sponsored by International Community Outreach

The world is here at our doorstep and you can help touch them for Christ. Your furniture and presence can be a blessing to international students at TU through the FurnitureFest. Used furniture (beds, chairs, desks etc) suitable for apartments will be picked up each week on SATURDAYS beginning July 27 - August 17. Contact Jerry at jerry@icotulsa.org, 918-345-2062 or Terry at terryligon@gmail.com 918-504-3489. Gifts are tax deductible. Thanks! (ICO also provides opportunites for hosting or mentoring international students.)

Join us at Clary Fields Golf Club on September 23, 2013 in support of sending our district students on a mission trip to Nazarene Indian Bible College in 2014. All proceeds of this tournament will go to supporting that mission. Info / Register

Guymon Church of the Nazarene

Guymon Church of the Nazarene is inviting any and all to a Prayer Encounter on September 19 – 22. Cory Jones and Daniel and Carol Ketchum are facilitating and leading this Encounter as we pray: “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” For more information, go to www.guymonnazarene.org.

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