Dear NEO family,

Dr. James J. Jr. and Mrs. Geneva Stark will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary on Dec. 24. Congratulations and best wishes for the years ahead!

Congratulations to Keith and Nancy Cole on the birth of their second granddaughter, Charleigh Rose Makayla Cole, 6 lb., 10 ou., 18 ½ inches long.

Congratulations to Aaron and Becky Horton on the birth of Landen Aaron Horton, 6 lbs, 2 ou. And 20 inches long.

Update on Spiritual Renewal Weekend: Dr. Jack Eyestone is taking a pastorate in California and will not be able to speak. Rev. Nathan Covington has accepted our invitation to speak. Nathan is deeply loved on the NEO District and has a passion for renewal in our churches. He authored most of the devotionals in the Devotional Guides that are being distributed to our churches for use beginning January 1. He also was already planning to help lead our times of corporate prayer at the Zone Cluster meetings, January 3 – 11. It seems God had prepared us for this before we even knew what was happening. Let’s anticipate a great season of renewal as we get “Back to the Basics: Finding Satisfaction, Security and Sustenance in Growing Intimacy with Christ”.

I love to read the monthly reports of our pastors. I especially like reading about what each are celebrating and about how they are working to be a high-impact church. Below are some of the things they are celebrating:

I want to celebrate...
David Stevens, Vinita. . . In spite of seasonal attendance fluctuation and illness the church is doing well. We have had several visitors who were very positive in their response and some said they would return. The spirit of the church services has been very good. Vinita Nazarene is a loving, friendly, caring church.

Gordon Smith, Dewey. . .We had a family join our church! The baptism of Jeff Goodnight! We had a wonderful and insightful service on Nov. 9th for the International Day for the Persecuted Church, it was a challenging service and yet an encouraging service as we became more aware of those Christians around the world who are being persecuted for the sake of Christ!

Gerald James, Claremore . . . Another great month of God’s blessings. We have a lot to be thankful for! We are getting ready for a Christmas concert with The Talley Trio. It is Sunday night Dec. 14th starting at 6:00 pm. Anyone is invited to join us for this exciting event! We are also having a chili dinner that night starting at 4:00pm. Proceeds will benefit Christmas gifts and meals for families.

Brad Farnsworth, Connection. . .We provided six families of Rosa Parks School with complete Thanksgiving dinners (turkeys & trimmings), as well as (16) $25 WalMart Christmas gift cards for Rosa Parks families in need (funds provided by congregational giving). Record attendance of 140 on 11/9/08.

Larry Morris, Broken Arrow. . . Small group preview night with 15 groups meeting around the city and 131 in attendance. Started a new style of worship service in the 8:30 a.m. slot. Using more classical worship elements. Attendance has been up and the service is well received.

Howard Johnson, Cushing. . . For several weeks we have been praying for the salvation of three friends or acquaintances. One of our church ladies, Betty, has been praying for a young mother named Mollie. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Betty and I had the privilege of leading Mollie to the Lord!!

David Rogers, Mannford. . . I want to celebrate that we have a couple of people who want to know more about the Nazarene Church, and are interested in becoming members.

Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life. . . The implementing of our new vision: A church w/ no walls. We’ve begun to see this taken on as our church’s vision. We held a Sunday evening service at the home of one of our church members, Bill, who was involved in a near fatal accident a year ago. The accident left him in a non-responsive state and confined to a wheel chair. It was great to see the house packed with church people and an awesome sense of God’s presence was there as we worshipped together and had special prayer for Bill. We also participated in some work projects cutting wood for a stroke victim and constructing a wheel chair ramp for an elderly woman in our church.

Richard Reese, Pryor. . . We paid off our mortgage raising $53,000 in less than 4 years and are officially debt free as a church.

Angela Bentley, Bristow. . . Our new van, donated by Central Church, is serving us well! The kids love it! Our church was broken into but nothing was stolen or destroyed.
Our Wednesday Night Live ministry continues to grow and present new challenges.
For the first time in many years, our young people will have a float entry in the Christmas parade this week. Even though attendance has decreased, God has been faithful to meet our every need.

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central. . . Joel Ross has stepped forward to provide leadership to our Building Committee. We believe that in the next two weeks we will have a permit in hand to commence construction on the shell. Also, a $30,000 donation was received to be applied toward a new road sign to be placed along 81st St. We have a design for a new sign---the cost is around $40,000---and we hope to raise the additional $10,000 needed with some special year-end gifts.

Don Nichols, Tahlequah. . . Preparation for our Native American Camp Meeting is beginning in earnest. We are asking the people to pray and fast for the District Spiritual Renewal and Native American Camp Meeting.

Dwain Young, Horton Chapel. . . On November 16, we had a special Sunday of praise and worship. Sandy Hendley organized a our local talent with solo's, duets and trio and a ladies quartet. We enjoyed praise and worship and pastor had a short message. We followed this with one of Horton Chapel's famous potluck dinners which served as the churches Thanksgiving dinner! We had a wonderful day.


Stephen Hundley, Cleveland. . .our Community Groups are going very well. People are growing spiritually and enjoying one another. We were averaging less than 30 in our Sunday Evening Services, now we usually have in the 40s through Community Groups.

Alan McBroom, Davenport. . . Everyone is excited about Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year!

Don Cowan, Sapulpa. . . The excitement of providing a Thanksgiving meal for more than 100 families in our community. Actively supporting our NewStart South County Community Church in Glenpool.

Wayde Normandin, Chelsea. . . We are moving forward on accomplishing our goals this year. On Sunday, November 2nd, we came together as a church to begin The Quest, a 40-day spiritual adventure. Every family is reading the book, The Power to be Free, Discovering Life in the Spirit of Christ by Frank Moore. We are more than half way through our "adventure" which will end on December 14th.The members seem to be enjoying the journey we are taking together spiritually. The book lends to a variety of age groups as well as spiritual maturity levels. We are continuing to build a strong financial picture at the church. We are on track to have our budget allocations paid in full by March 1st and are adding to our emergency fund monthly. This month, thanks to Jim Reeves, we have new outdoor lighting on the sidewalk in front of the church along with several new concrete parking blocks.


NEO Top Leaders in Sunday School/Small Groups Attendance Gain Over '07
Broken Arrow +52
Claremore +38
Tulsa Family + 30
Tulsa Fuente de Vida + 19
Owasso +17
Drumright +15
Dewey +14
Sand Springs +9
Tulsa Regency Park +8
Chelsea +4
Hominy +4
Tahlequah +4

NEO Top Leaders in AM Worship Gain over November '07
BA Connection +92
Claremore +49
Broken Arrow + 24
Drumright +22
Tulsa Fuente de Vida + 20
Sand Springs +20
Owasso + 19
Tulsa Regency Park + 13
Tahlequah + 10
Davenport +5
Chelsea +4
Skiatook +4

Grace and Peace,
Dave McKellips