Allen D. Hertzke,David Ross Boyd Professor of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma, will be the keynote speaker at the OCC Annual Dinner on November 10, 2016. Professor Hertzke is an internationally renowned expert on Religion and Politics. The title of his keynote speech will be "Why Religious Freedom Matters - Especially Now."
Prof. Hertzke's most recent work is two companion volumes (co-edited with Timothy Shaw): Christianity and Freedom: Historical Perspectives andChristianity and Freedom: Contemporary Perspectives (2016). His earlier books on the topic are The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges (2013) and Religious Freedom in America: Constitutional Roots and Contemporary Challenges (2013). For a more complete bio and his curriculum vitae, click ALLEN HERTZKE
The 2016 OCC Annual Dinner will be held Thursday, November 10, 2016 at the Embassy Suites Hotel - Downtown Medical Center located at 741 North Phillips Avenue, Oklahoma City. Check-in and reception will start at 5:15 p.m., with dinner and program commencing at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $50 each. REGISTER NOW!
For questions about reservations or event sponsorship, please contact William Tabbernee at the OCC office (405-525-2928).
Record turnout at the 2016 Interfaith Youth Tour
The Oklahoma Conference of Churches conducted its 9th annual
Interfaith Youth Tour in Ok
lahoma City on September 25, 2016. The tour had stops at East Sixth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Masjid Mu'min, and Vien Giac Buddhist Temple.
Along with educating the participants on aspects of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, this year's tour also gave great insight into the experience of the historically African-American congregations of East Sixth Street Christian Church and Masjid Mu'min.
Nearly 400 students participated in this year's Interfaith Tour!
OCC ANNOUNCES FALL DISASTER SPIRITUAL CARE ACADEMIES
Team Leader Academy: November 1-3, 2016
OCC's Disaster Spiritual Care Team continues to be active in response to disasters around our state. Registration is now open for our next Disaster Spiritual Care Academy.
(NOTE: The October Academy has been postponed until early 2017). These academies are offered in multi-day formats, allowing participants to take necessary courses in "blocks" of days to earn their disaster spiritual care credentials.
All trainings will be held at
Oklahoma Disciples Center/OCC Offices located at 301 N.W. 36th Street, OKC. Click to REGISTER.
Click for
Description of OCC's three credentialing categories, training, qualifications, and accountability requirements.
Click to
READ UPDATE on OCC's Disaster Spiritual Care Program.
To receive e-mail notification of future trainings, click
HERE.
We are thankful for our partners who train across disciplines, especially the Stress Response Team (Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corp), the Oklahoma National Guard Chaplain's office, and the Mental Health Association Oklahoma.
OCC's disaster spiritual care program is compliant with National Voluntary Organiza-tions Active in Disaster Spiritual Care Guidelines and Points of Consensus. Our program is possible as a result of the generous financial support from our national, state, and local faith-based partners.
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CARING FOR YOUR CONGREGATION'S MENTAL HEALTH
Oklahoma City - October 25-26, 2016
St. Paul's Cathedral, 127 N.W. 7th Street, OKC
The Oklahoma Conference of Churches and Mental Health Association Oklahoma are working together to help educate congregational leaders about issues related to mental health. A two-day seminar will also teach leaders how to connect with important resources to help them navigate a mental-health related event, including a suicide crisis.
Day 1 - Mental Health First Aid
This 8-hour course teaches the skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem, or experiencing a mental health crisis.
* What symptoms might a person experience or display when struggling with a mental health issue, or when experiencing a mental health crisis?
* How should congregational leaders respond?
* Learn a 5-step strategy to assist an individual until appropriate professional help arrives.
Day 2 - Suicide Prevention, Post-vention, and Resources for Help and Healing
* QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) - Often referred to as the mental health version of CPR, learn three simple steps anyone can take to help save a life from suicide
* Learn best-practice responses in the wake of a suicide, including appropriate language and responses, help for the grieving, and more
* Connect w/ resources in the community
* From children and youth, to adults and seniors, learn about accessing services, how to make a referral, and crisis intervention
Join us for one day, or both. This training is appropriate for senior church staff as well as youth ministers, lay leadership, and others who are in a role where someone may turn to them for help, or where they may be aware of life stressors that could contribute to a mental health struggle.
Registration is now available at
okchurches.org.. For more information, contact
Karen LaPlante at klaplante@mhaok.org.
The Rev. Mary Hughes Gaudreau
Director of Emotional and Spiritual Care
(405) 315-1528
mgaudreau@okchurches.org
Pictured above are speakers and participants after the Oklahoma City news conference held on Sept. 7 at Church of the Open Arms UCC. The Rev. Dr. Mark Davies spoke on behalf of OCC's
Committee on the Environment. Participants were supporting the
Standing Rock Sioux Pipeline Resistance and other pipeline resistance movements in Oklahoma and elsewhere.
Photo credit: Nathaniel Batchelder, director of The Peace House.
This award-winning film regarding the U.S. war on drugs will be shown at Mosaic United Methodist Church,102 E. Hefner Road,OKC,
Friday evening, October 7 at 6:00 p.m.
For more information or to RSVP, send email to
rsvptothili@gmail.com. To view the film trailer, click
HERE.
2016 Willson Lectures Featuring
Dr. Warren Carter
Professor of New Testament
Brite Divinity School - Fort Worth, TX
Oklahoma City University invites you to the
2016 Willson Lectures featuring Dr. Warren Carter on October 6. The topics for these free lectures are:
1:00 p.m. - King Herod: Bad Boy or Astute Ruler?
Location: OCU Bishop Angie Smith Chapel, Sanctuary
2:30 p.m. - So Many Sick and Healed Folks in the Gospels: Why?
Location: OCU Bishop Angie Smith Chapel, Watson Lounge
7:00 p.m. - Governor Pilate: Manipulated and Weak or Pragmatic and Strong?
Location: St. Stephen's United Methodist Church, 1801 W. Brooks St, Norman, OK
For more information, contact Lisa Wolfe at (405) 208-5284.
After careful consideration, we have decided to cancel the Evening of Listening originally scheduled for October 20, 2016. If you put it on your calendar as a result of our earlier "save the date" notice, please remove it and give yourself a night off! The topic that evening was going to be all the State Questions which will be on the November ballot. There have already been numerous public forums on the issues related to these State Questions recently. The popular
Evening of Listening series, co-sponsored by OCC and St. Paul's Cathedral (which hosts the events) will start again in the Spring of 2017.
A MEDITERRANEAN AFTERNOON TEA
Sunday, Oct. 9, 2-4 p.m.
OCC's
Religions United Committee will host an Interfaith Meal entitled "A Mediterranean Afternoon Tea" at St. Paul's Cathedral's Dean Willey Hall, located at 127 N.W. 7th Street in Oklahoma City.
In order to facilitate interaction between people of different faiths, and to build bridges of under-standing, printed questions will be provided at each table to stimulate discussion during the meal.
This event is free, however donations will be accepted. Pre-registration is necessary for catering purposes; the deadline is October 5. To REGISTER, click this link!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
October 1
"Solar Summit" - Sierra Club, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the OSU-OKC South Conference Room, 901 N. Portland, OKC. E-mail
Johnson Bridgwater with questions.
October 6
OKC Labor-Religion Luncheon, held at Fairview Baptist Church, 1700 NE 7th, OKC at 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Free event. Donations accepted. Contact (405) 634-4030 or cocforum@sbcglobal.net.
October 7
The House I Live In
Film Presentation
Mosaic United Methodist, 102 E. Hefner Rd, OKC 6:00p
October 20
Interfaith Alliance Annual Dinner, 6:00p, Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, OKC
November 3
OCU's Dead Sea Scrolls Research Team Presentation
12:00 Noon, OCU Watson Lounge, Contact Annette Harper with questions.
November 12
Church Women United
World Community Day,
Sharing Gifts at the Table.
9 a.m. at
Del City Community of Christ Church, 3333 Vickie Drive, Del City. Contact Karen Buntin for more info at (405) 314-8348 or kbuntin@ou.edu.
Labor-Religion Luncheon
October 6, 2016
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Guest Speaker T
amara Draut,
Author and Vice President,
Policy & Research, Demos
Tamara will be speaking about her book
Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Trans-form America. The event is free of charge, but reservations are required! RSVP with the names of those who will be attending. Call 405-634-4030 or e-mail cocforum@sbcglobal.net
Provided by AFL-CIO Community Services at United Way of Central Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, and others.
Central Oklahoma Community Forum Co-Chairs: Tim O'Connor and Nancy Cain
Phone 405.634.4030
Fax 405.634.3732
OCC ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
OCC is conduct
ing a $5 million endowment campaign. Funds raised will provide enduring support for OCC's programs in disaster spiritual care, social justice, and interfaith understanding.
Endowment opportunities include endowments ranging from $5,000 to $1 million. For the news release announcing the campaign, click HERE.
If you would like more details and a campaign booklet, please call the OCC office at (405) 525-2928.
FAITH AND FEAR is the title of the 8-week series featured this fall on the television program
The Exchange - Where Faith and Science Meet. Shown on OKC television station KSBI on Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. (or anytime on their website at
THE EXCHANGE "Faith and Fear") this special series brings together lessons of science and faith. Learn how the brain processes fear and how our culture overloads that process. The videos will feature several faith traditions to see if there is a clear path to living a fear-free life. Included are:
Kris Ladusau - Buddhist faith
Imad Enchassi - Muslim faith
Vered Harris - Jewish faith
Lawrence Stasyszen - Christian faith
Hosted by Paul J. Kirbas, senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in OKC and founder of the Kirbas Institute,
FAITH AND FEAR begins on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016.
The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma Annual Dinner and Awards Presentation
October 20, 2016
6:00 p.m
The Featured Speaker will be the Honorable Robert E. Bacharach of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. "The Importance of an Independent Judiciary in Preserving our Democracy."
The dinner will be held at the Oklahoma History Center located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, OKC.
The Oklahoma Conference of Churches connects, motivates, and empowers the witness of Christian communities and individuals through-out Oklahoma on issues of faith and social justice.
1:00 p.m. - King Herod: Bad Boy or Astute Ruler?
