The Messenger
COLLEGE HILL
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Progressive Theology, Traditional Worship, Inclusive Congregation (PCUSA)
Affiliated with More Light Presbyterians and the Covenant Network of Presbyterians
August 2022

712 S. Columbia Tulsa, OK 74104
918.592.5800



Church Office Hours:
Mon - Th, 9 am - 3 pm
Closed on Fridays

Rev. Freeman is now working from home on Mondays.

Worship Schedule:
11:00 am Sundays
Worship services have resumed in the sanctuary.
Services are also live streamed.

Church Email:

Pastor Email:

Website:

YouTube Channel:
Word From the Pastor
Well, more changes in plans to get away for a while. As most of you are aware, I have postponed by 6-week sabbatical until next spring, realizing the trip I had planned to Ghana was simply an overreach on my part. I will plan something more geared toward the nature of a sabbatical next year, with its purpose of rest, renewal, and refocus.

However, I will be taking the first two weeks off in August for just that purpose - a week, of which, will be spent in Santa Fe! I look forward to taking some hikes and doing lots of photography, perhaps even a day trip to Ghost Ranch.

Speaking of rest, I encourage you to be intentional in giving yourself permission to seek rest and renewal during these times that remain stressful, and oftentimes overwhelming.

Blessings to all students, parents, and teachers as school starts up again in August!

I want to thank all those singers and musicians who provided such inspirational music while the Chancel Choir took their summer break. The choir will be returning on Sunday, August 14.

Blessings, Rev. Todd
Our Office Manager Lisa Hays will celebrate
12 YEARS at College Hill on August 9!

Congratulations!
Covenant Network of Presbyterians

Covenant Conversation Workshops:
Building a Real Welcome for All God’s People: LGBTQIA+ People and the Church

Saturday, August 27, 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Workshops will be held held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.

Scan the code or click here to register for this
in-person or live-streamed event.
Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless
Needs Your Help!
A recent email from Mark Haltam, Tulsa Day Center’s executive director, is well worth sharing:
 
 … a mom and her young son come through our doors. He was 9 years old and had only the clothes on his back.
 
His mom came to get day services, a meal and a new set of clothes for them both. What breaks my heart is that a toy dinosaur we gave him was his ONLY toy. He was thrilled, and even asked our security officer to run it through the x-ray machine to make sure he is healthy. Not sure who enjoyed it more, the little boy or our security officer seeing him smile. This is a rough story, but this is reality for many families.
 
As much as we’d like this story to be a rare occurrence, it has been happening with alarming frequency. With the lack of affordable housing in Tulsa, we work very hard to find apartments, rentals and even sometimes extended-stay motels to house our clients. This all takes money.
 
$.91 cents of every dollar donated to the Tulsa Day Center goes to programs and housing. We are asking for YOUR help. Please consider a financial donation today.
 
We have made it very easy to give:
 
You can text-to-give
“DAYCENTER” to 44321
 
You can mail a check to:
PO Box 1019, Tulsa, OK 74101
 
You can sponsor a housewarming basket online:
 
You can set up a FB Fundraising page
You may contact the Day Center if you
need help setting it up.
Next Step in our Help for
Afghan Neighbors:

The vast majority of our Afghan neighbors have arrived in Tulsa (nearly 750 of our 800). College Hill has donated a Narthex and van full of food, clothes and supplies to help. 

Now though, our neighbors need core volunteer “wrap-around” groups to help them orient to Tulsa and through whom to report needs as they come up. Pursuant to Session approval,
Outreach & Mission invites you to participate in a College Hill “wrap-around” group to support an Afghan family in a number of ways that range from minimal time commitment to nearly a part time job. 

Our service might not be needed for months, or it could be needed in days. Having a “wrap-around” group ready to deploy will let us meet the call when it comes. 

Click here to learn more about “wrap-around” group roles. 

After that, click this link to sign up to join a group.    

If you want to know more about this initiative, please (click name to) reach out to:
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) Response to
Ukraine War:

To support emergency relief for those fleeing Ukraine, you may designate monetary gifts via text, online, or by phone:


You may also pick up a flyer on the table in the Narthex, that provides all the details.
1st Sunday Food Collection
for Kendall Whittier
Emergency Food Pantry
Sunday, August 7

Our First Sunday Food Collection for the Kendall Whittier Food Pantry is in need of breakfast cereal (Cheerios, Corn Flakes, or other less sweet cereals) and 1-2 lb. bags of rice

Cash donations are also accepted and appreciated!
2022
Birthday Endowment Fund

A meaningful way to celebrate your Birthday, is to donate an amount equal to your new age to the Endowment Fund.

This donation is also a wonderful way to honor others such as children, grandchildren and friends and allows the church to have funds available for special projects.

Checks can be made payable to College Hill and marked "Birthday Fund" on the memo portion of the check.
Flower Chart
Sign Up

If you would like to bring flowers to decorate the sanctuary for an upcoming worship service, please sign up on the Flower Chart on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall.

There are many open dates available for the new year. Your dedication will also be announced in the worship bulletin.

Flowers can be purchased from any store or brought from home. Please bring them in two containers the morning of the service for which you have signed up.
AUGUST
1 - Esteban Valencia 
 1 - Laura Stanford
 1 - Lucus Medlock
 2 - Pat Valencia        
 2 - Elizabeth West
 2 - Ann LaMar        
 6 - Meagen Burrows
 6 - Cooper Thomason
 7 - Patrick Fox
 8 - Michelle Brobston
 9 - Rachel Fuller
10 - Kristy Wyatt
13 - Katy Walker
13 - Norman Gainey
14 - Jim Brady
15 - Judith Nole
16 - Cathy Elliott
20 - Kari White
23 - Adrienne Coleman
23 - Lori Clark
24 - Haley Brobston
25 - Susan West
26 - Celia Ketcham
26 - Dana Livingston
27 - Betty Coleman
27 - Keaton Lockhart
30 - Bruce Ketcham, Jr.
30 - Julie Buckley
30 - Allen White
   
   Remember the 
BIRTHDAY ENDOWMENT FUND!
Get to Know
Our Newest Members:

The Fullers
Joined College Hill on
October 12, 2021

to learn more about Rachel and Jerry!
The Lockharts
Married 3/16/22
Joined College Hill on 6/14/2022

to learn more about Jay and Keaton!
Equal Exchange
Coffee, Tea and Chocolate Sales
 
Along with other reunion activities, the Outreach & Mission Ministry team has reopened our Equal Exchange store, (on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, in Fellowship Hall), offering products such as coffee, tea, chocolate bars, chips and cocoa. These products are not only delicious, they also make great gifts. (and we all know the holidays will be here before we know it.) But most importantly, they provide a double impact on communities!
 
First, Equal Exchange provides small farmers with a better price for sustainably grown products, and with fewer middlemen, than the big corporate buyers.
 
Second, the profits (small, but significant) have for several years, been invested in JustHope, a local group founded by Leslie Penrose, which partners with inhabitants of three villages in Central America. The villagers decide what they need and provide labor, while JustHope provides some technical expertise, financial assistance and labor.
 
Bringing running water to these communities was followed by educational scholarships, a hardware store, a textile project and a model farm to help with adjustment to a dryer climate. One family has produced an impressive line of ceramics, while College Hill has been especially helpful in financing several microbanks for women starting small businesses (at 96% repayment with interest).
 
These items do cost a bit more than those similarly sold at Walmart, for example-but they make a huge difference in people’s lives!
One of the meaningful elements of our ministry that has been missing for so long is the causal gathering around a cup of coffee, etc, in the Fellowship Hall before the service of worship.

We are looking for volunteer(s) to help setup and prepare the coffee each Sunday morning before gathering around 10:30 am. There are many options to help make this happen, depending on the availability of one or several volunteers taking turns.

If interested, please contact/text Emily Oldham at 918-237-9592. Thank You!
A very special thank you to Susan West, Kye May and the Christian Education Ministry team, volunteers, and everyone who helps
lead the children of the church!
COLLEGE HILL
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC MINISTRY

Dr. Kim J. Childs, Director of Music
Mike Gibson, Organist

The Chancel Choir of College Hill Presbyterian Church rehearses Wednesdays at 7:00 pm in the second story choral room (next to the church office) for singing, fellowship and fun!

BELLissimo Handbell Ensemble of College Hill Presbyterian Church rehearses Wednesdays at 6:15 pm in Fellowship Hall (1st floor).

If you would like to sing with the Chancel Choir, or are interested in joining our Handbell Choir, (permanent member or substitute),
we are welcoming new members!
Please (click name to) contact our
Director of Music, Kim Childs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday Morning Music Offerings:
August 2022

AUGUST 7 ~ Quartet (Robert Babcock, Bill Major, Tim Smith-Redding, Todd Smith-Redding)

AUGUST 14 ~ Fight the Good Fight, W. Glen Darst
Chancel Choir

AUGUST 21 ~ O How Amiable, Ralph V. Williams
Chancel Choir

AUGUST 28 ~ Make Me a Channel, arr. Mark Hayes
Chancel Choir
Masks are again required because the CDC County Map has Tulsa County in RED.
Our beloved backyard visitor at risk of extinction?
 
Unfortunately, true! The Monarch was officially declared endangered late last month by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
 
Its threat? Human activity!
Habitat destruction
Pesticides
Climate change
 
However, all is not lost, Southwood’s Paul James declares.
“Insects, after all, reproduce rapidly (think aphids!) which means that with our help, the Monarch population, given time, can rebound,” he writes. “And you can play a role in their comeback.”
 
First, plant milkweed, available and easy to grow.
Second, substantially reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides
Third, plant nectar-rich flowers … such as Asters, Black-eyed Susans, Butterfly Bushes, Goldenrod, Lilacs, Zinnias. 

Note: Monarchs depend both on milkweed as host plants for its eggs and caterpillars and pollinators plants on which the butterfly feeds.
 
Also, know that about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on pollinators – bees, wasps, butterflies!
 
Monarchs fly through Oklahoma twice on a “tri-nation migration,” their legendary 2,500-mile journey across the North American continent between its summer and winter grounds.
 
Meanwhile, we can also continue support for programs that create and sustain habitats for monarchs. Check out:
 
Euchee Butterfly Farm (south of Bixby)
@ nativebutterflies.org –a fascinating story in itself!
 
Okies for Monarchs, a statewide group of 40+ organizations and citizens, @ okiesformonarchs.org
 
Kansas University’s program @ monarchWatch.org
 
AND, let’s add a healthy swatch of milkweed to our Pollinator Garden! 
A Monarch male (note small black dots on hind wings), one of 44 the Johnsons
released last September.
COLLEGE HILL
Mission Statement
~ Build an inclusive community of faith
~ Receive and openly share the love of God
~ Reach out with a compassionate voice for
peace and justice