50 Years of God’s Faithfulness
The Chapel Digest - March 2024
2024 marks the 50th Anniversary of Christian Chapel. In 1974, Christian Chapel began with a few couples in an apartment near 61st St & Peoria Ave. The church was founded with an emphasis on worship, practical Biblical preaching, next-generation ministry, and purposeful investment in missions. Those guiding principles have remained essential to Christian Chapel for five decades.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s we met in apartments, offices, business parks, and schools. We often had to set up and tear down before every service. We rode the ups and downs of changing attendance patterns and staff changes that are a normal part of many new churches. Amid the uncertainty, Christian Chapel continued to grow as we remained committed to preaching the scriptures, engaging in worship, serving our community, ministering to the next generation, and investing in missions.
In the 1980s Christian Chapel continued to grow and expand. We purchased our first building in 1981, it was a missionary-in-residence home in Broken Arrow. This enabled us to provide housing to missionaries during their one-year furlough from their field of service for them to reconnect with supporters and raise funds. In 1985, we moved into our current facility at 7807 E 76th St.
The 1990s brought new ministries like Royal Family Kids Camp, and a season of moving fully into our congregational life as an established church. In the early 2000s we made a renewed commitment to multi-generational ministry, navigated changing worship styles, and continued to add on to our building and ministries to have a greater impact in our community.
This September, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. On Sunday, September 8, 15, and 22, we will remember our past, reflect on God’s faithfulness, and look forward to the future. These three weeks will be a great time for us to express our gratitude for all that God has done and look toward the future and all that He has in store for us.
As we enter this milestone year for our church, I’m asking you to pray with me about what God might ask us to do in the coming years to set up the next 50 years of ministry at Christian Chapel. I do not know exactly what God has in store, but it seems that our current season of growing ministry impact is preparing us to take actions that will continue to serve the generations that follow us.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for September 8, 15, and 22, 2024! I’m excited to celebrate with you!
Chris Dow
Lead Pastor
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.
- Sir Isaac Newton -
The Power of HomeGroups
Submitted by Aletha Oglesby
My husband Raymond and I have been at Christian Chapel for a long time. During our decades here we have been involved in HomeGroups and find them a wonderful way to make friends and enjoy Christian community. This year we unexpectedly benefited from being part of a small group of people who believe in the power of prayer and community.
Over New Year's weekend, Raymond was feeling unwell. He planned to see our family physician that week. But on Tuesday evening, January 2, 2024 he began feeling much worse with lost appetite, weakness, and difficulty breathing. I took him to a local hospital emergency room. After he checked in and we were waiting, I sent a message to our HomeGroup. I told them that Raymond was ill, and I didn't know how long it would take for him to be seen because the emergency room was busy that evening. I asked them to pray for him to feel better, to see the doctor soon, and to find out what was wrong.
Immediately, I began receiving replies that people were praying. Several people posted specific prayers asking that Ray would be seen quickly and that the cause of his illness would be easily determined. Raymond was soon admitted to the treatment area, but because he was so sick it took a while for them to complete all the tests he needed. Finally, at midnight, I posted an update. I told them the tests found a tiny kidney stone, an eighth of an inch in size, had caused an infection which had spread to his blood. He was admitted to the intensive care unit with septic shock. Because it was so late, I doubted anyone would see this news until morning, but I was wrong.
Immediately I received a reply from one of our group leaders, Karol Miller. Knowing that someone was still awake and praying for us, reminded me that we were not alone. Raymond was in septic shock, a life-threatening medical emergency that has a substantial risk of mortality, especially if it is not recognized and treated immediately. We had made it to the hospital just in time. After Ray was settled in the ICU, I said goodbye to him and drove home to sleep.
When I woke up around 7:00, there were messages waiting on my phone from my HomeGroup who were already awake and praying. When I returned to the hospital that morning, Raymond was already looking better than he had the evening before. I was still getting text messages throughout the day and for the entire 10 days he was in the hospital. He was able to leave the ICU after just three days and steadily made progress. Because Raymond felt weak and tired, he was not able to welcome visitors, but we never felt alone because every day we received messages of prayers and encouragement. We felt the support of our current HomeGroup, and of many who we had been in a group with us previous years. Our Christian Chapel prayer team and staff also stayed in touch and continued to pray.
With all the medical issues Raymond dealt with in the hospital, I fully expected that he would need care in a rehab facility or home health care. But he didn't. He came home on a walker which he only needed for two days before he was able to walk around our house on his own. After Raymond was discharged, the love and care from our HomeGroup and others at Christian Chapel continued. Several people brought meals to our home, giving me one less thing to manage. The food nourished both our bodies and our spirits, along with the human connection as they took a few minutes to chat and pray for us when dropping off a meal. Even streaming the Sunday services each week helped us feel less isolated and fed our souls as we worshiped from home while Raymond recovered.
If you have not yet joined a HomeGroup, I cannot urge you enough to join one and participate regularly. These groups are so much more than a twice-a-month social event. They are an opportunity to engage in community and develop deep and meaningful connections that sustain us through every season of life. I hope that you never need the kind of support that we have received, but through a Homegroup, you may have the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else
COMING UP THIS MONTH
SUNDAY Morning Services - 8:15AM, 9:30AM & 11:00AM
Saturday, March 2nd
12:00 pm I Chapel Kids Pinewood Derby
Sunday, March 3rd
8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00am I Donut Sunday
12:15pm I Next Gen Connect (Free Young Adult Lunch)
12:15 pm 2024 Zambia Adult Missions Trip Meeting
2:00pm I ORU Basketball Home Game (vs Kansas City) [reserve tickets]
6:00pm - 8:00pm I Home Groups I Chapel Kids I Nursery I Chapel Youth D-Groups [get involved]
Tuesday, March 5th
6:30am - 7:30am I Chapel Men Bible Study
9:30am - 11:30am I Chapel Women Bible Study [Sign Up]
Wednesday, March 6th
5:15pm - 6:30pm I Family Dinner
6:30pm - 7:30pm I Annual Business Meeting I Chapel Youth March Madness I Chapel Kids I Nursery
Sunday, March 10th
8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00am
9:30am I Next Steps Group (Learn More & Get Involved at Christian Chapel) [sign up]
Tuesday, March 12th
6:30am - 7:30am I Chapel Men Bible Study
9:30am - 11:30am I Chapel Women Bible Study [Sign Up]
Wednesday, March 13th
5:15pm - 6:30pm I Family Dinner
6:30pm - 7:30pm I Lent Wednesday Service I Chapel Youth March Madness I Chapel Kids I Nursery
Sunday, March 17th
8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00am
6:00pm - 8:00pm I Home Groups I Chapel Kids I Nursery I Chapel Youth D-Groups [get involved]
Wednesday, March 20th
NO GROUPS - SPRING BREAK
Sunday, March 24th
8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00am I Palm Sunday and Egg Hunt (after 9:30 & 11:00 services)
Wednesday, March 27th
5:15pm - 6:30pm I Family Dinner
6:30pm - 7:30pm I Lent Service I Chapel Youth I Chapel Kids I Nursery
Friday, March 29th
7:00pm I Good Friday Service
8:15pm I Chapel Youth Andy’s Takeover
Sunday, March 31st
8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00am I Easter Sunday
Wednesday Night Schedule
Join us for a family meal served on Wednesday nights, starting from 5:15pm - 6:30pm.
Adult Groups, Chapel Youth and Chapel Kids run from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. Nursery is available.
MENU
March 6 - Team Flo
Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches
Baked Beans
Mac & Cheese
Cole Slaw
Ice Cream
March 13 - Team Candi
Honey Ginger Chicken
Teriyaki Rice
Asian Slaw Salad/Corn for kids
Spring Rolls
Cinnamon Roll Cake
March 20 - No Wednesday Activities
Spring Break
February 28 - Team Marilyn
Baked Ziti
Caesar Salad
Garlic Bread
Dessert
Meet A Missionary
Richard and Sandee Farthing - Missionaries to Bolivia
God sees us. In every season and every moment. Even in our pain and brokenness, He has a plan to use our lives to build his kingdom. God comforts us, picks up our pieces, and rebuilds us brick by brick, and in the process we are transformed.
This is precisely what God did for Rich and Sandee Farthing. Sandee rededicated her life to Christ in 1984, followed by Richard’s radical conversion in 1985. Rich was delivered from bitterness, alcoholism, and smoking. During their first year as Christians, their twins Joshua and Jeremy died a week apart, and they lost their home. God found them in their pain and brokenness and He comforted them. It was a strange year as they were celebrating their new life in Christ while simultaneously mourning one of the greatest losses imaginable. As grieving new believers, they experienced God’s faithfulness in personal and powerful ways.
As they moved into their new God-directed life, Rich felt God calling him towards missions. When he shared this feeling with Sandee, her response was, “I know.” She shared that God had already called her as well. A year later, Rich and Sandee began attending Bible school in pursuit of God’s calling. Six years later, after finishing school and serving as pastors, they started their journey as missionaries to the people of Bolivia.
Thirty years later, they have seen thousands of people come to Christ through various ministries in Bolivia. The Farthings have witnessed the faithfulness of God through the planting and building of over 30 churches. They helped build and direct a Bible school to train future church leaders. The Farthings initiated ministries inside men’s and women’s prisons to reach a group of easily overlooked people. They also founded the Bolivian Hope Center, providing homes for children of prisoners and other abandoned children.
Rich and Sandee are dedicating their final years of the ministry in Bolivia to building churches in the backcountry. God has allowed them to reach the brokenhearted and the oppressed, comfort them, help them pick up their pieces, and build His church—brick by brick.
