‘Philippians is a meantime epistle,’ David said. ‘It’s Paul saying there is joy to be found, always, where we are.’ And it went from there. How can we create something that is meaningful, useful, connecting with people where they are, and connecting them to each other?
WE created six short videos (12-15min) and brief study guide. We will post all the videos and the complete discussion guide at once, so you can proceed at any pace you like.
YOU sit down with family, friends, or on your own.
Since we’ve all been inside so long, may we suggest your backyard?
Harvard in the Backyard is a chance for you to invite someone to church without ever coming to 5502. It’s a chance to say ‘This is something that matters to me. I think you might like it too.’ This is your opportunity to grow the church and expand our reach without needing to add a brick or break a sweat (weather depending, of course). Invite someone to church – just by asking them over to your (appropriately distanced!) backyard!
Joy, No Matter What
a study of Philippians
6-session video & study guide
available June 4
If you plan to host a group LET US KNOW. Tell us who’s joining you! (And send us a picture of your group together!)
And if you plan to study on your own, let us know that too!
This is our season of the meantime, and in God’s presence, there can be joy, no matter what.
Held every 6 – 8 weeks, the Be Here! event is a great evening of casual conversation, questions and answers, time with pastors, and meeting others who are also sort-of-new to the Harvard Ave community. If you’ve wondered about connecting to Harvard Avenue, what it means to be a member, why that kind of thing even matters, then BE HERE events are for you.
Ordinarily,
our Harvard Avenue families created a ministry to host casual gatherings in their homes, providing a relaxed atmosphere and great time together. This is a wonderful opportunity to explore connections in church life; learn about our programs, practices, and ministries; and consider what it might means to become a member of Harvard Avenue Christian Church.
But IN THE MEANTIME,
even though we can’t gather in someone’s living room like we usually would, we can each ‘gather’ in our own! Our first Be (Virtually) Here! event will be Tuesday June 2 @ 6pm. If you’re new-ish to Harvard Ave and ready to find our more, this is for you!
To RSVP (you’ll receive the link for an online meeting room) – or with other questions about the people and ministries at Harvard Avenue Christian Church – contact Connections Pastor Courtney Richards.
Receive a short daily prayer, a brief spiritual discipline, a simple quote or thought, to focus your intentions, actions, and words for the day. Prayers arrive via text message at 10:00am CST (8:00am on Sunday).
Text the keyword HarvardAve to 88202 to join. (Standard message rates apply.) (If you have previously joined our daily text prayers, you are still included in the list. You can reply STOP at any time to discontinue.)
You are also welcome to email your cell phone # to Connections Pastor Courtney Richards, to be added into the list.
We look forward to praying together, wherever we are.
I want to share with you two very important things today.
One, just an encouraging word from the Psalms. It’s so relevant.
And also, just a word about some decisions we’re making about opening up our church facilities for public worship.
Well, on the Psalms:
Psalm 42. Read it. It’s just incredibly relevant. It really gives expression to what a lot of us are feeling right now. The psalmist is writing and talking about the grief he’s feeling for not being able to be in the house of God to worship with his friends and his community. And he says
I’m hungry for you, Godand I’m thirsty for your presence.And when I think about the way that it used to be, how we used to be able to gather together in the house of God and to sing you our praise, and how we used to march together into your holy sanctuary… When I think about how it used to be, it just makes me sad. My heart is discouraged, and I’m sad.
I think that just gives expression to what we are feeling right now. It is a difficult time, not to be able to be together in worship. But then in this psalm he also just talks to himself and gives himself some hope by reminding him who our God is. He said
Even though all of this is happening in my life and in the world around us, I will put my hope in God.
And it’s true. Everything around us may be changing, but God is eternal and unchanging. God is our strength and we will put our hope in God.
And we’re a strong church. We’ll get through this. Even though we are not able to worship together, we are still the church.
Now for a word about the reopening of our building.
It was a very difficult decision we had to make about the closing of our building, and we had to rush to make a very quick decision. But it’s an even more difficult decision to open the building. And because we have to take so many things into consideration, we are not going to rush and make a very quick decision.
We therefore feel it is in the best interest of our congregation, spiritually and physically, for the well-being of our church, to not open our building through the month of May. We are going to be paying close attention to the Tulsa Health Department in discerning our best step forward, and putting together a careful plan to phase ourselves back into worship over a period of time.
We’re going to keep you informed along the way as we discern what our next steps are.
But meanwhile, know this: Just because we can’t be together doesn’t mean we’re not church. We’re just learning a new way of being church. We have our hope in a God who holds us together. And we’re going to continue to send out to you meaningful worship services, and we’ve got some other things planned that we believe will be helpful to you and encouraging to you. Meanwhile we’ll pray for you and you pray for us as we discern what’s next.
We’re an awesome church. I love you Harvard Avenue Christian Church, and we’ll see you soon.
Over the 16 years I lived in Indianapolis, I was immensely blessed to work with, hang out with, and support a ton of local (and ridiculously talented) musicians. My friend Kevin Anker – who can pull more funk/blues/soul/rock goodness out of a piano than anyone I know – has been sharing a song every few days during this stay-at-home season. The selections show his style, love for and taste in music, and a great sense of humor (just look at the list of titles).
Ashley, Isaac, and Kelly have all shared some wonderful song choices (see those below this entry) to calm and soothe your spirits.
THIS list, borrowed from Kevin’s daily posts, and gathered into a PLAYLIST for one-click listening, is a little less sacred, but might feed your spirit and soul just as well. Enjoy!
– Courtney Richards
One of my all time favorite hymns is, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” The language is a bit old fashioned, but that adds to the to its effectiveness, for me. In times when my soul is weary, or in times of pain and anxiety, this hymn is a real comfort to me. One of the verses says,
“I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.”
This is a gorgeous arrangement performed by The Westminster Chorus. Let it wash over your soul!
– Kelly Ford
Westminster, singing a David Phelps arrangement of the George Matheson Hymn, “Oh Love, That Will Not Let Me Go” in the Petrikirche, a Protestant church (start of construction 1322) in Dortmund, Germany. The church is famous for the huge carved altar (known as “Golden Miracle of Dortmund”), from 1521. It consists of 633 gilt carved oak figures depicting 30 scenes about Easter.
O LOVE THAT WILT NOT LET ME GO (George Matheson; arr. David Phelps)
O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee; I lay in dust lifes glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be.
April 2 Isaac Herbert, leader of the The Rising worship band, is living the Tulsa #SafeAtHome life with Sarah Grace (who is an elementary school music teacher), and their daughter Autumn (who is almost 3!). Here are some of his favorite soul-soothers (and he likes listening in this order!):
March 26
Children’s Music Director Ashley Pease is a member of our Chancel Choir and Avenue a capella ensemble. Obviously, music is a big part of her spiritual life.
Here are some her favorites on repeat right now, settling her soul in this season :
IMPORTANT NOTE: Our congregation takes seriously the risks involved with ANY travel or close interaction with others during the COVID-19 outbreak. We ask you first read this entire info sheet and then use utmost discretion in deciding if this volunteering is responsible.
While this service opportunity makes use of the best protocols for health and safety during this season, there is inherent risk. Please consider your own risk factors as well as those within close proximity of you, before volunteering.
Hunger Free Oklahoma is pairing locally-owned restaurants with Tulsa Public Schools sites to provide free meals to struggling families in this time of unprecedented crisis. The program goals are to keep local kitchens open, keep workers paid, and keep local families fed. Tulsa Kitchens Unite is mutually beneficial as it provides relief to the service industry by paying kitchens to produce low-cost dinners which will be pre-chilled and distributed at Tulsa Public Schools and other community sites at no cost to the recipients. Tulsans who are struggling during this unprecedented economic downturn will have an additional resource to help feed their whole family. With the goal of producing 30,000 meals per week, it’s an ideal donor/public/non-profit/private collaboration.
Harvard Avenue Christian Church will assemble teams (5 volunteers + Team Lead) to work at one of the many locations where food is being distributed.
The role of volunteers is to:
receive the frozen meals at the site
package frozen meals together in grocery bags
distribute meals to families
At the beginning of the week for which you have signed up to volunteer, you will receive an email with the Tulsa Public School location where you will be volunteering as well as other reminders.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
Volunteers must adhere to ALL protocols to ensure health and safety at the volunteer site. These include:
use of a personal face mask at all times
use of gloves at all times (provided)
maintaining 6 feet of distance between all others during service
frequent sanitation of all surfaces being used to package and distribute food (sanitation items provided)
REQUIREMENTS :
Must be 16 or older
Each individual/family must provide their own transportation to and from the volunteering site.
Each volunteer must bring her/his own face mask to site and wear it at all times.
Volunteers must sign an agreement through Hunger Free Oklahoma at volunteer site on the first day of their volunteering.
We asked our Yoga instructor, Harvard Ave member Susan Hollingsworth, and our Fitness for Life trainer, Harvard Ave member Becky Young, to offer some suggestions of how we can stay healthy, strong, balanced while spending so much time at home. We’ll share their practices and suggestions with you in our e-news each week, and post them here on our website.
On our usual calendar, Becky teaches at the church two days a week, as well as in other studios. She has set up a video link to bring her classes into homes during this stay-at-home season.
My class meets daily at 8:00am.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday class is active (cardio, weights, resistance bands)
Tuesday-Thursday is power yoga
Anyone may tune in everyday or just to get ideas of things to do on their own. All participants can use this link:
Click here, and then follow directions to connect to Zoom. (You do not download the Zoom app first.)
With questions or for more information, contact Becky Young.
I found this list from Lori Deschene (tinybuddha.com) and it’s been so meaningful to me. I have it by my desk, and read it each day, to center my spirit, focus my ministry, and steady my family as we go. – Darlene Martinez
April 16.
Many of you have met Brad Lyons, president and publisher at Chalice Press, the Disciples publishing house.
As a general ministry unit of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Chalice is devoted to providing meaning and inspiration straight from authors and into the hands of individuals and congregations nationwide. Amid the fears and anxiety of this global pandemic, Chalice’s heart is for the hearts of the faithful.
Need a little inspiration? Hope?
Faith-builders for kids and families to do at home (not just now but anytime)?
Need a new devotional or biblical insight? Want to relax with coloring pages?
Taking advantage of the time to do some reflective thinking and justice seeking?
Our friends at Chalice Press have you cover-to-covered!
Find a new read, or enjoy one you missed before, all while supporting a ministry tied to your own church, denomination, and its ministry and mission worldwide.
April 9.
We asked HACC Book Group coordinator Charlie Bennettto share his thoughts on good reads to occupy us in this stay-at-home season. He offers fiction and nonfiction suggestions, and the current list of 2020 Book Group reads.
What people like to read is a very personal thing—I’ve learned never to say, “you will love this” or “you should read this” or “you MUST read this”. No guarantees, but these are books, on a variety of subjects, that this one reader, who happens to turn a lot of pages, found to be enjoyable and memorable—let these be a starting point—so, good luck!— I am always glad to tell about books that I enjoyed…
Charlie
All of Charlie’s suggestions are readily available, and we’ve linked to the publishers’ sites below, for summaries, reviews, and ordering information. (Ordering from the publisher supports the writer and their work most directly!)
FICTION :
The River (Peter Heller) – two friends’ canoe trip is threatened by raging wildfire
Darktown (Thomas Mullen) – historical mystery about the 1945 integration of the Atlanta Police Department
The Rosie Project (Graeme Simsion) – for laughter, a warm, deep and hilarious romantic comedy
Peace Like a River (Leif Enger) – deeply moving, “a perfect book for anxious times,” family, kindness of strangers, love and faith
Last Bus to Wisdom (Ivan Doig) – 11 year old boy (a liar or ‘overflowing with invention’?) on cross-country bus trip in 1951—funny
NON-FICTION :
Killers of the Flower Moon (David Gann) – true story of exploitation and murder of Oklahoma Osage Indians
The Wright Brothers (David McCullough) – premiere biographer’s accessible account of aviation pioneers
It’s not what we planned, but here we are. We are blessed beyond words at the efforts that brought us to the point of having a new pastor. We are ready to go to work envisioning our future, but no one could have anticipated our current situation.
Instead of waiting for normalcy to return, let’s not waste this new beginning. This week, let’s celebrate the fact that we have been capably led by Courtney and Kevin through our transition, then through this time that none of us could have predicted. We are deeply grateful. Let’s not wait to show our gratitude.
This past Sunday, we would have publicly thanked our Search Team for their Herculean effort to bring us a new lead pastor. Let’s not wait to do that.
David has hit the ground running. He is calling and planning and praying over his new flock. He’s not waiting, and neither should we. In the words of Clint Eastwood, we will “improvise, adapt, and overcome.”
On our first Sunday together, I’m going to stand in the commons and watch Darlene smile as she welcomes the children into worship. Angela and Tammye are going to love our children as if they were their own. I will walk past the youth room and wonder again how Colt can grow young men and women out of that chaos.
I can’t wait to hug Nedean and Christy for their enormous effort to keep the organization functioning during a crisis. I will thank Marcia for having joined our staff in the fall, and serving at a crucial time to help with our building. Because of Tom’s good work, I can listen with gratitude to Kelly and the choir, to Susie’s postlude, and to Isaac, Andrew and Ashley as they help me worship.
Until then, let’s not delay our gratitude for the events that have brought us to this point, and let’s begin anew with our lead pastor. Let’s not wait.
We asked our Yoga instructor, Harvard Ave member Susan Hollingsworth, and our Fitness for Life trainer, Harvard Ave member Becky Young, to offer some suggestions of how we can stay healthy, strong, balanced while spending so much time at home. We’ll share their practices and suggestions with you in our e-news each week, and post them here on our website.
Outreach Ministry Team Lead Diana Booren, along with Community Pastor Kevin Howe, have created this quarterly update (click image below) to keep us posted on the ministries we are part of – and how to do more!
Fully committed to our ‘Become.’ core value, discover community engagement at Harvard Avenue as part of the ‘big picture’ of who we are.
Summer ’19: Support Grimes Elementary // A Letter from Francis // Coming Events : Family Promise, Bridges Out of Poverty, JustHope’s Wine to Water
‘What is the world like on the other side of the glass?’ Alice wondered. Author Lewis Carroll knew that after Wonderland, there was still more story to tell: there was something beyond the glass.
More than just colorful decoration, the colorful faceted glass windows in our Sanctuary (Wells Memorial Windows) and Music Suite (Gilpin Memorial Windows) tell the story of our life together: scripture, history, music, nativity, baptism, communion, resurrection, mission.
What do they say to others about who we are as a church, as people, as God’s beloved?
There’s more to learn on our side, and they call us to remember that there is still a world to explore on the other. Together we go, through the looking glass: Through the Looking Glass – our memorial windows
Did you know Harvard Avenue Christian Church is on social media? Get the latest information about and inspiration from your church family when you follow us!
Your Week at Harvard Ave, our Wednesday email, is a weekly connection to the events, news, ministries and more. (And it comes in a mobile-friendly format!)
Highlight links within items will lead you to more details on the Your Week page.
Email Communications Director Christy Southard to be added to the weekly email list.
Receive a short daily prayer, a brief spiritual discipline, a simple quote or thought, to focus your intentions, actions, and words for the day. Prayers arrive via text message at 10:00am CST (8:00am on Sunday).
Tulsa Kitchens Unite
