Prominent Oklahomans to be Honored at OCC Annual Dinner on Nov. 10, 2016
Register now to be present when seven prominent Oklahomans will be honored for their outstanding contribution to religion and the community!
Dr. Robin Meyers
Bishop Floyd M. Schoenhals Distinguished Ecumenist Award
Dr. Carl Rubenstein
Interfaith Award
Mohammad and
Jalal Farzaneh
Community Service Award
Bishop Robert E. Hayes, Jr.
Communion Leader
Emeritus Award
Bishop Edward J. Slattery
Communion Leader
Emeritus Award
The Rev. Aaron Carland
Communion Leader
Emeritus Award
(no photo available)
The keynote speaker for the Annual Dinner will be Allen D.
Hertzke of the University of Oklahoma who will speak on the timely topic of "Why Religious Freedom Matters--Especially Now."
The 2016 OCC Annual Dinner will be held Thursday, Nov. 10 at
the Embassy Suites Hotel, Downtown/
Medical Center located at 741 North
Phillips Ave, 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! The deadline to register is Nov 4, 2016.
For questions about reservations or event sponsorship, please contact the OCC office at 405-525-2928.
The Oklahoma Conference of Churches and Mental Health Association Okla-homa hosted a two-day seminar called "
Ministry During a Mental Health Crisis" on October 25-26 at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. The event, designed for faith community leaders, staff, chaplains and lay leaders, helped dozens of faith leaders learn how to address mental health issues in their congregations.
"Mental health and faith specialties use very different healing modalities but they have a great deal to say to each other," said the Rev. Mary Hughes Gaudreau, the Director of Emotional and Spiritual Care for the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. "Faith communities are among the first places Oklahomans struggling with mental health issues turn to for help," Mary said. "It's not uncommon for clergy to be dealing with someone who has had thoughts of suicide or is experiencing another crisis. Faith leaders recognize the importance of their role in the community. They know they will be called upon to help in crisis and want to learn how to respond more effectively."
Event attendees learned skills to help someone who is developing a mental health issue or experiencing a mental health crisis. They also learned about practical, local information and resources.
Class attendees participate in a training exercise during "Ministry during a Mental Health Crisis."
Click
HERE for an update on OCC's disaster spiritual care program.
Click HERE to receive e-mail notification of future trainings.
The Rev. Mary Hughes Gaudreau
Director of Emotional and
Spiritual Care
(405) 315-1528
mgaudreau@okchurches.org
The first illuminated, handwritten Bible of monumental size to be commissioned by a Benedictine monastery in the modern era will be on view at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art this fall.
Sacred Words: The Saint John's Bible and the Art of Illumination will open October 15 at OKCMOA and include seventy selected folios from The Saint John's Bible as well as other historical illuminated manuscripts, such as a Book of Hours, Quran pages, and Torah scrolls. Sacred Words will include a selection of original, unbound illuminated manuscript folios on calfskin vellum from The Saint John's Bible, as well as sketches, drawings, inks, and tools used to create the manuscript.
Sacred Words presents the concept, historical context, technical execution and significance of The Saint John's Bible and illumination as an art form. This exhibition, open through January 8, 2017, will examine the revival of a millennia-old tradition of meticulous hand-craftsmanship that incorporates advances in modern technology. See
OKCMOA for tickets.
On Sunday, October 9, over 100 Oklahomans of diverse faith traditions and ages gathered at St. Paul's Cathedral for an afternoon of Interfaith dialogue and discussion.
Sponsored by OCC's Religions United Committee, the simple Mediterranean style finger-food meal was catered by RU member Heather Baer, with Turkish baklava provided by the Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City and Raindrop Turkish House. Dr. William Tabbernee welcomed the attendees and invited them to use the interfaith questions provided to spark their table exchange.
Following casual, and lively, interfaith discussions during the meal, each table was asked to choose one tablemate to share highlights of their conversations with the room at large. From one table of Christian, Muslim and Jewish participants, the representative reported "we all agreed that Jesus was a great guy!"
It is obvious that everyone present learned a great deal about a variety of different faiths. Many misunder-standings were cleared up by people who could speak authoritatively about their own faith. Lots of new friends were made. A number of people spontaneously invited their new interfaith friends to their own homes for subsequent meals and continued conversation.
The Interfaith meal was so successful, another one is slated to be planned for spring of 2017.
SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY
An important ministry conducted by OCC on behalf of all member churches is providing information concerning matters of social concern. With the upcoming elections only days away, we encourage all eligible voters to vote and, before doing so, to become as informed as possible about the State Questions on the November 8 ballot.
OCC cannot and does not tell people how to vote. You will be interested to know, however, that OCC has taken a formal, public position opposing SQ 776 and SQ 777 and supporting SQ 780 and SQ 781. For a more detailed statement about OCC's public stance on these four State Questions, see this link to the OCC website.
The October issue of OCC's Social Justice Ministry Network e-newsletter also provides additional information about these State Questions and the reasons why OCC opposes 776 and 777 and supports 780 and 781.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
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.
November 16
Developing Healthy Boundaries for Clergy and Those in the Helping Profession. Integris Baptist Medical Center Conference Rooms J & K. 1:00-2:30 p.m. Details at
PASTORAL CARE. Phone:
(405) 949-3195.
January 14, 2017
Adult Mission Trip to Uruguay by Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma. Details, cost, and application at this link:
URUGUAY
Hosted by Paul J. Kirbas, senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in OKC and founder of the Kirbas Institute,
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
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.
The Rev. Dr. William Tabbernee
Executive Director
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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.
