Community connection

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer - 11/7/2009


Presbyterian Churches in Brookside, a partnership of three independent churches, has invested $4.1 million in a Community Life Center that is part of their vision to become more "missional."

They expect the center to be a place where the community can come to meet, work out, play and learn.

The 23,000-square-foot facility in the heart of Brookside is a light, airy building with high ceilings, ample windows, a regulation basketball court with a second-story jogging track around the perimeter, weight room, exercise areas, spacious commons areas, classrooms, youth rooms, meeting rooms, outdoor patio area and a commercial kitchen.

It will be available to a variety of community organizations, including other churches and para-church organizations, for meetings and retreats. A number of groups already are meeting in the center.

"This is 90 percent for the community and 10 percent for us," said the Rev. Sam Haun, pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church, one of three independent church partners that meet in the Southminster building at 3500 S. Peoria Ave.

American culture has changed since he was growing up, and church was the center of community life, Haun said.

"It's time for the church to reconnect with its community," he said, "to reconnect with people on an emotional, physical and spiritual level.

"We need to be in conversation with our neighbors, to see what's going on with them. ... We haven't done that very well. It's up to us to be out there with the people."

The Rev. Ann LaMar, pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, one of the three partner churches, said the center is part of an effort to become more missional, to be more concerned about the needs of the community than focused just on what goes on in the church building.

"How can we be more expansive, how can we be the good news to the people around us?" she said.

The Rev. Bill Webb, pastor of St. Giles Presbyterian Church, the third church in the partnership, said the center expresses a "wider understanding of God's care."

"We're thrilled about the possibilities," he said. "We're delighted. We don't even know what good things could come."

St. Giles is a church that reaches out to people who are disabled.

Webb focuses on health and wellness. He oversees programs that include exercise regimens in nearby River Parks.

The three churches came together two years ago in an unusual partnership in which they retain their own pastors and congregations, but share worship, ministry and outreach.

The three pastors alternate preaching in the 10:30 a.m. Sunday traditional service and the 5 p.m. contemplative service. The congregations share in educational classes and missions efforts.

"I think partnerships like this will be the future of Christianity," LaMar said. Community Life Center

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 15

Where: Presbyterian Churches in Brookside, 3500 S, Peoria Ave.

Bill Sherman 581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com




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