God of mercy, we confess that we tend toward selfishness and pride over selflessness and humility. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. Have mercy on us and forgive us; restore us and enable us to live more fully for you. (adapted from The Book of Common Prayer)

Dear NEO family,

What a beautiful day it is in NEO! This week many of us basked in the beauty of holiness as we attended services at the SNU Holiness Summit. For those of you who missed it, I bought four of the DVDs. How could these be utilized? I am wondering...would it work to have a quarterly Holiness Summit on each NEO Zone? We could have a combined service with lively music and a chance to experience one of these challenging and hopeful messages on holiness. Let me know if your Zone is interested.

I encourage you to let me know about significant days of celebration or revival emphases in your local church. Here are a few I know about:

South County Community Church will be celebrating their one year anniversary with worship and a birthday party on Sunday, October 4 at 11 a.m.

Claremore Church has called this Sunday “Chelsea Sunday.” They are sending their praise team along with many of their members to be an encouragement and blessing to this neighboring church. (I rejoice in our “connections” – we really do need each other!)

Hominy Church invites you to join them for their 100th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration. The Homecoming will be on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2:00 – 6:00 p.m., Come and Go, Visiting and finger foods. The Jubilee Celebration Worship Service will be on Sunday, October 11, 10:30am, followed by lunch and fellowship. Call Pastor Carl or Sandra at 918.885.6262 with questions.

Tulsa Central and Tulsa Hills are both having a “Serve Sunday” on October 11, seeking to impact their communities through loving service in Christ’s name.

Cleveland is having Rev. Bob Huffaker for revival services on October 14 – 18.

Tulsa Regency Park is having Lennie and Joy Wisehart for revival services on November 15 – 18.

Tahlequah Church of the Nazarene will be celebrating the ministry of Don and Lois Nichols on Sunday, November 15. Don and Lois are retiring. A reception for Don and Lois will be held at 3pm at the church so those from other churches can join in honoring this dedicated couple.

I WANT TO CELEBRATE. . .

H. Gordon Smith, III, Dewey…A couple of new families have been coming and they are on fire for evangelism!

Nathan Burns, Owasso Silver Creek… On Sept 20th we began our new Home Teams (small groups) and we have 30 more adults in these groups than we did with traditional Sunday School.

Saul Ramirez, Fe y Esperanza… I want to celebrate our first Anniversary was the last week and we have 50 persons celebrating with us the mercy of our God in the last year.

Oto Dannemann, Fuente de Vida… I want to celebrate that the church is encouraged. The new families are coming with regular attendance and some of them are taking responsibilities like make a breakfast each Sunday morning before Sunday School. Others decide to change the carpet for tiles in the kitchen and the entrance of the sanctuary. Others are going to care for the yard of the church. Really God is God with us.

John Whitsett, Central… An incredibly well received local church Women’s Retreat … a very positive staff/board planning session on Saturday 9/26 where a number of board members committed to lead by example when it comes to more fully establishing a culture of corporate prayer in the life of Central.

Don Cowan, Sapulpa…Nine (9) new members (8 – Profession of Faith; 1 – transfer); Associate of Families/Students (Mark and Ashley Sanford & two daughters ) have begun ministering; New families coming to Church

Dwain Young, Horton Chapel…We had a very good week end with Rev Stan and Pat Meek with the focus on Missions, renewal and revival.

Harold Johnson, Cushing… We had the largest Alabaster Offering in years with the offering totaling $293!

Stephen Hundley, Cleveland…Having Spirit-filled services every week. Praise God!
Looking forward to an excellent Fall Revival with Rev. Bobby Huffaker!

Angela Bentley, Bristow… A very successful VBS! Due to our summer basement disaster, we had to postpone VBS until now. We had over 42 kids and teens attend, which yielded many new contacts. Thursday night 18 children and one teen accepted Christ as their Savior and Best Friend. Praise Jesus! Our VBS program, which happened to be the final Sunday of an equally successful Sunday School drive, was attended by 88 people, our second highest attended service in four years. Our church board has decided it is time to hire a bi-vocational youth pastor to help us grow and develop our children and youth. The Spirit is moving in Bristow and we are privileged to be a partner in what He is doing.

Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life… Held our first ever ‘New Life Men’s Retreat’ in Branson, MO. The men were able to connect with God and with one another in an amazing way. We saw some life transformations take place during the time we were together.

Gerald “J.J.” James, Claremore…We hosted the Isaacs in concert and had the biggest crowd we have ever had on our property. Six hundred and forty three people came out that night. It was quite a night for our church! My wife and I were able to enjoy a seven day spiritual retreat last week. We spent the week just enjoying the Lord and resting. It was wonderful and very much needed.

David Stevens, Vinita…Two former members of the church have been attending for over a month and are asking to renew their membership. The sense of God’s presence in our services is strong and a great blessing. The Holiness Summit at SNU helped me step back and review my own beliefs and to remember why I choose to be a Pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. If a person really is a disciple who obediently follows Christ in all areas of his or her life, empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, that disciple will have peace in all circumstances, victory in their faith-walk, and hope everlasting. Not only that, but that disciple will also have a High-Impact life.

Randy Schuneman, Bartlesville…I baptized a young man Sunday Morning who I had worked with for the last four years. Jimmy's story is amazing! Before coming to our church, he had only been to church when he was 7. The pastor decided to baptize every child that day in an old stinky creek. Jim is 6 foot 5 now, but he cried like a baby after the baptismal service.

Rodney Durr, Muskogee…over $25,000 committed to Faith Promise, exceeding our goal of $18,000 by more than $7,000. The amount promised was about double our World Evangelism Fund.

Doug Gunsalus, Glenpool South County Community…We have had such a wonderful month. The spirit of the lord had been with SoCo. We have seen 2 more come to christ and several raised their hands their hands when asked if they wanted Jesus to be lord of their life. We also have had around 20 respond to our first membership classes. We will be having our membership ceremony this Sunday as we celebrate our first year! We also have several that will be baptized at the end of October. I am really looking forward to that. Like I said,
God is blessing SoCo and he is really continuing his work in me! I love him with all my heart and I wait in eager anticipation for what he is going to do next.

Cole Weston, Okmulgee… Our wonderful prayer group, faithfully attended by 12 folks each week; my mother’s delivery from a tumor, which was removed by capable surgeons; our Teen/Youth Group event which brought 9 teens. The Youth Group functionally did not exist prior to this, so starting a new one is a big priority.

Brad Farnsworth, BA Connection…Sept. 13th we celebrated our one year anniversary. What an incredible day of celebrating what God has done. 150+ gathered to celebrate, 3 were baptized, and we raised $2,800 for the Kenya Water Well project (we needed $2,500). The stories of life change were amazing.

NEO TOP LEADERS (in average attendance over September, 2008)

Sunday School/Discipleship
Broken Arrow First +34
Bristow +25
Wagoner +21
Sand Springs +14
Skiatook +10
Hominy +7
Miami New Life +7
Okmulgee +6
Horton Chapel +5
Mannford +4

AM Worship
Bristow +25
Horton Chapel +16
Sand Springs +16
Hominy +8
Miami New Life +8
Collinsville +7
Okmulgee +7
Mannford +5
Wagoner +4
Broken Arrow First +3
Muskogee +3

It is a joy to be a part of the NEO team! You are loved!

Dave McKellips